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Sketch for Survival 100

We are delighted to announce the finalists for this year’s Sketch for Survival competition.

Huge thanks to our selection panel – Gary Hodges, Sophie Green, Sevina Yates, Alison Nicholls, and Mark Adlington. With such a diverse range of styles, including watercolour, pastel, charcoal, oil, paper cut, scratchboard, lino cut, acrylic, metal leaf, screen print, thread painting, pencil, digital brush and more, the selection process was incredibly challenging. All the longlisted pieces had merit, and narrowing them down to the final 100 involved much discussion and some tough decisions.

Congratulations to all the finalists and runners-up – and thank you to everyone who took part.

Which is your favourite artwork in this year’s Sketch for Survival 100 collection? Cast your vote in the The Leisure Painter People’s Choice Award before Sunday 26 October 2025.

SFS 100 FINALISTS

Many congratulations to the 100 finalists.

Thank you to everyone who took part. As organisers, it’s wonderful to see so many familiar names returning each year – the 2025 100 exhibition collection includes 40 artists who also made the 100 last year – alongside a host of newcomers.  This year’s 100 includes artists from 20 different nationalities, spanning the home nations, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand,  South Korea, and beyond.

These artworks will be exhibited this autumn at Nature in Art, Gloucestershire, and the Oxo Gallery in London, before being sold via our online auction in aid of our Campaign Fund, concluding on 23 November.

Every piece in the 100 exhibition collection features a threatened species, an at-risk wild space, or carries a wider conservation story. Cats once again dominated submissions, with 23 feline-inspired works making the final cut – a varied line-up that includes lion, cheetah, ocelot, three species of leopard and tiger. Birds followed closely with 15 bird-focused pieces, while great apes and monkeys also feature strongly, as in previous years.

The UK countryside is represented by an adorable dormouse, barn owl and bumblebee.

Lesser-known species in this year’s line-up include spectacled flying fox, horned marsupial frog, Chinese water dragon, Tasmanian devil, southern damselfly, binturong, Przewalski’s horse, ground pangolin and Cuban crocodile.

The shortlist, selected by head judge Gary Hodges, will feature ten artworks. It will be announced on 2 October, with all ten artists invited to take part in On the Brink during our 10th anniversary year in 2026 – a special collection sold on a 50/50 basis with the artist.

Thank you for helping us raise awareness through art.

SFS HIGHLY COMMENDED

Highly Commended artworks are pieces that only narrowly missed out on a place in the 100.

For the first time, because the standard was so high and final decisions often came down to the smallest details, we have awarded special Merits to a select number of Highly Commended artworks.

Highly Commended artworks awarded a Merit will be included in our online auction, concluding 23 November, alongside the Sketch for Survival 100 and On the Brink collections this autumn – although they will not be framed or exhibited on the gallery walls, they will be available to view in London in our art racks.

All other Highly Commended artworks are available to buy through our pop-up stores at this autumn’s events and exhibitions as usual,  and from our online shop, with every sale helping to support our central Campaign Fund.

Congratulations and thank you to all the artists for their support – we know it’s not easy being a runner-up, but every single piece plays a part in raising awareness and vital funds for conservation.

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