YOUNGSTERS with a passion for art are being encouraged to enter a prize competition commemorating a top Herefordshire artist.

Hereford College of Arts is inviting entries for the annual Young Artist Competition for 2019, which celebrates the life and work of Brian Hatton.

It is open to young creatives aged between 5 and 16, and there are prizes for category winners and schools.

Entries can be any kind of 2D art - from painting and drawing to illustration, collage and print.

There is no set theme this year, but participants are encouraged to draw upon the life and work of Brian Hatton as inspiration.

He was born in Hereford and lived in Whitecross and then later Broomy Hill. He started practicing as an artist at a very early age, going on to create over 1000 art works.

He used all sorts of mediums, including oil paint, watercolours, pencil and pastels. His subjects included landscape views, horses, agricultural activities and country people as well as imaginative subjects inspired by literature.

He had a studio in London, where he began a successful professional career as a portrait painter, before tragically losing his life in Egypt while serving with the Worcester Yeomanry in the First World War.

Some useful study materials about Brian Hatton, including school lesson plans, are at www.brianhatton.herefordshire.gov.uk.

Entries must be sent via post, or dropped off to Young Artist Competition, Hereford College of Arts, Folly Lane, Hereford, HR1 1LT. The deadline is Friday, March 1.

A joint Awards Night and Exhibition Celebration with the HCA Young Photographer Competition will be held May 8 at the Folly Lane campus.

The Brian Hatton Young Artist Exhibition will then continue at Folly lane Campus until May 24.

Categories and prizes are: 13-16 years: 1st Prize £75, 2nd £50, 3rd £25;

9-12 Years: 1st £50, 2nd £30, 3rd £20; 5-8 Years: 1st £25, 2nd £15, 3rd £10.

Special awards: £100 each category winner's school; £75 Brian Hatton award for school engagement; £50 award for creativity

For more information, email yac@hca.ac.uk and follow the Young Artist Blog at www.hca.ac.uk/journals/young-artist for competition updates, tips and inspiration!