A NINE year old from Skipton has won an art competition with her portrait of Shakespeare.

Katy Hinchliffe, who goes to Bradford Grammar Junior School, won the individual entry, age eight to 11 category in the Children’s Shakespeare Portrait Competition and was awarded a prize of a family weekend away to Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford. Her work will also be exhibited at the Lowry alongside other winners.

She said; “I wanted to take part in the competition because I love art, it’s one of my favourite subjects. I used chalk pastels and I just let my imagination run. I wanted to do a funky portrait because I wanted it to stand out, so I gave him blue hair. I was really excited when I heard I’d won.”

Sally Morley, art teacher at the junior school, said: “A lot of the children produced beautiful drawings and paintings and Katy used a different art medium which really made her portrait stand out. Each of the children came up with their own, distinct interpretations, which was great to see.”

Thousands of schoolchildren took part in the competition, run by the independent charity, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which was held as part of Shakespeare Week.

Judges included artists such as Korky Paul, illustrator of the popular Winnie the Witch series, award-winning author and illustrator, Marcia Williams, Ricky Martin, presenter of CBBC’s Art Ninja, and Tim Cooke, CEO of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.