Pastel Society of Southern California (PSSC)
8th ANNUAL “Make Your Mark!”
International Online Open Juried Exhibition
2026 Official Prospectus
The Pastel Society of Southern California (“PSSC”) is pleased to announce our eighth international online open exhibition, “Make Your Mark!” This juried exhibition is easy to enter and requires no framing or shipping of artwork. The final show is completely online, making it accessible for all to view and purchase artwork. This online only exhibition features multiple cash awards. You may even enter artwork that is no longer in your possession, as long as you have an image of it.
Our esteemed Judges of Selections are:
Masoud Habibyan SFCA, PSA, Masoud has dedicated his whole life to art. His paintings have a timeless quality and he has been awarded with 1st Place in several pastel organizations for his amazing portrait paintings. His artwork was chosen in Top 50 finalists in the prestigious Portrait Society of America. To read more and see his beautiful pastel works, check out his website - Masoud Habibyan
Marcia Holmes-PSA Master Pastelist, IAPS Eminent Pastelist, Degas Pastel Society Marcia was the Juror of Abstracts for the Pastel Journal Magazines 25th Anniversary Pastel 100. “To express in form through the power of gestural strokes, organic forms, neutrals and my love of color, I’ve allowed myself a new freedom-improvisation, that resonates from within, something close to my true nature.” https://www.marciaholmes.com/
Liz Haywood-Sullivan PSA Master Pastelist, IAPS Eminent Pastelist, Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod Signature Member, President of IAPS 2013-2017 Liz has won many awards and honors for her beautiful landscape paintings and she teaches workshops nationally and internationally much to the delight of many pastel students worldwide. Her award winning paintings are exhibited and collected around the world. Online lessons may be seen on epiphanyfineart.com.To learn more about Liz please see her website - lizhaywoodsullivan
Online Entry Opening – June 4, 2026
Online Entry Deadline - July 20, 2026
(Final day to submit digital images and pay jurying fee to OnlineJuriedShows)
Notice of Acceptance - July 28, 2026 (Approximate Date)
Online Show goes Live - August 1, 2026
Online Show closes - August 31, 2026
ELIGIBILITY:
• To be eligible to enter the show you must be 18 or older and working in the pastel medium.
• The show is open to both PSSC members and non-members worldwide. Each submitted image will be juried anonymously by our three judges of selection and assigned a numerical score. These scores will be averaged to determine which pieces are accepted into the exhibition. Similarly, several awards will be given to the top scoring artworks. Any numerical award ties will be broken by juror discussion. Acceptance is not guaranteed.
All work must be entered online through OnlineJuriedShows. Log in and click Enter This Show above to begin your entries.
• Member Pricing: $35 for up to two (2) images for members of the Pastel Society of Southern California (please make sure your membership dues are current for the 2026-27 membership year before entering the show). $10 for each additional image. There is no limit to the amount of entries allowed per artist.
• Non-Member Pricing: $45 for up to two (2) images for any artist who is not a member of the Pastel Society of Southern California. $10 for each additional image. There is no limit to the amount of entries allowed per artist.
• If you would like to become a member of the Pastel Society of Southern California, please visit our website at pastelsocal.org. Annual dues are $40.
SHOW RULES:
• You must enter online. All entries must be submitted as digital files on OnlineJuriedShows. For help with your entries, contact onlinejuriedshows@gmail.com or 888-666-1351.
• JPEG images must not show the mat, frame, etc., and must be cropped to include only the artwork. Make sure images are right side up. Images must be smaller than 4MB, and at least 1920 pixels on the longest side, at 72 dpi.
• Payment is online via credit card or PayPal; international entries are to use PayPal only. No checks accepted. All entry fees are non-refundable and must be paid by the entry deadline.
• The artwork’s final layer must be (80%) soft pastel.
• No oil pastels
• Artwork must be original and personally executed, not copied from other artists or from published or copyrighted materials or from someone else’s real life/still life set-up or photo. Paintings using reference photos taken by another photographer, even used with permission, will not be accepted.
• Works that appear to duplicate, or be closely derivative of a painting previously accepted into any PSSC show will not be eligible.
• Paintings of nudes will be considered.
• Artists who enter a painting which shows a recognizable likeness (face or figure) must have a signed model release from the person portrayed in the painting, giving the artist permission to exhibit the painting in a public forum. You do not need to provide the release, but you should hold it for your own protection.
• If the work is not for sale, check “NFS” on the entry form.
• Artwork may not have been accomplished in a directed, step-by-step class or workshop.
• Artwork must be originally drawn and not created on top of any type of photographic image.
• In the spirit of honesty and integrity each work should reflect human originality.
• Artwork must have been completed within the last three years (i.e., after July , 2023), and may not have been exhibited in any PSSC show before. Artwork submitted and accepted into this show that has been shown in a previous PSSC exhibition will be rejected, and the Artist will be ineligible for the next PSSC show. If there is a second infraction, the Artist will receive a two-year ban on entering future PSSC shows. A third infraction constitutes the Artist a lifetime ban from any future PSSC shows. These rules of ineligibility also apply to any Artist who does not use their own original material reference.
• PSSC reserves the right to exclude from exhibitions any artwork deemed offensive, or any artwork that violates the laws of the United States, or of state or local governments.
• There are no size limitations.
• A maximum of one painting per artist may be accepted into the show.
• Any one artist is eligible to receive up to a maximum of two (2) awards only (one ranked award and one PSSC Member award).
• PSSC reserves the right to refuse artwork that does not meet with any show rules or requirements even though accepted by the jurors.
SALES:
Prices may not be changed after submission is completed and after the submission deadline.
If an artist sells a painting during the show, each artist is responsible for any sales transactions according to the listed price. Once the image is entered and paid for using OnlineJuriedShows, it is considered “entered” in the show.
There will be no commission taken from sales. Artists are responsible for their own sales taxes.
PROMOTIONAL AGREEMENT:
Artist agrees to allow the Pastel Society of Southern California and OnlineJuriedShows to reproduce the accepted paintings on their websites, and for advertising and promotional purposes only. No images will be used or published for any purpose except as stated above.
LIABILITY:
Submission of online entry form and fee shall constitute agreement with ALL conditions set forth in this prospectus.
For questions about the exhibition, please contact Jolene Paige ocjolene@gmail.com, PSSC Exhibition Chair, or PSSC President Chris Stillians cmsdesignphoto@aol.com.