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| PAOTY Episode 7: lined up for shortlisting |
This week we reached the penultimate heat, had artists eager to show us
all - from boobs to two views of a self portrait. Plus Kate sprained her ankle,
missed the filming of the review of the self portraits at the beginning and was
on crutches throughout. So there was lots of sitting down....
As usual, this review follows the same format as all the previous ones in Series 11
(listed - with ALL REVIEWS FROM PAST SERIES - at the bottom)
Episode 7: Sitters
The three sitters in this penultimate heat were:
- Martha
Kearney (Presenter) - a well known journalist and radio broadcaster used
to the main presenter of BBC4's "The World at One" for 11 years and then
the Today Programme. She stood down from broadcasting the news after the
last General Election this summer - but continues to do nature
programming." She brought an ancient way to keep bees. - Kevin McCloud - (Designer / TV Presenter) - the presenter of Channel 4's Grand
Designs - since 1999 - much loved by all those aspiring to live
in nicer houses but terrified of the building costs! We've all
watched his hair disappear - but I want to know how can he be 4+
years younger than me? He brought a much loved axe - which the
risk assessment people determined had to be strapped to a board
to make it on set! - Heather Mills (Activist) - a former model and animal rights activist who is most
famous for being the ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartnery and throwing a
jug of water over his solicitor in the High Court. It turns out
that she has a new occupation - winning medals for winter sports.
She brought her prosthetic ski racing leg!
Episode 7: Artists
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| The artists sat on the steps of Battersea Arts Centre where the heats are filmed |
Given Sky Arts has given up on providing links to their website and social media sites, this blog is now the ONLY site where you can find them! The link to their main 'contact' site is embedded in their name and social media sites follow - if available. NOTE for Artist of the Year
If you're going to do social media marketing for a
series you have to:
- do it regularly - for every programme
- do it consistently
- add in extras (we like these) - BUT don't remove
essentials (introducing the artists) and
improvements!
This list took a lot longer this week as I checked subtitles....
-
Kitty Bellamy (Instagram) - a mother, self-directed artist and part-time
French Polisher living in York - who had some good news
three weeks ago about where her self portrait will be
exhibited next - at the upcoming Annual Exhibition of
the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the Mall
Galleries - opening next week. Clearly the selectors for
the ROI know quality when they see it!
.
- Jack Hewitt (Instagram) - a self-taught oil painter based in East London, primarily focused on figurative and portrait painting. He also works as a part-time supervisor at a music venue. He's also exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and NEAC.
- Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey (Instagram) She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, 2019-2022 from the Ruskin School of Art / Magdalen College, University of Oxford (so one of the "lockdown" graduates). Currently studying for a Masters of Fine Arts at Goldsmiths University and volunteering as a WiSER Peer Project Mentor.Kiana Manu (Instagram) is a London-based advertising student (at the time) who graduated with a first class degree this summer.
- Paul Martin (Instagram) - a retired creative director from Pembrokeshire. Paul graduated from Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1984 with a BA(hons) Degree in Art & Design. He had a 25 year career as a visualiser, storyboard artist and graphic designer, eventually forming his own design agency in London. He retired from design in 2007 and returned to his roots as a painter in Pembrokeshire. He has a studio situated on the foothills of the Preseli hills. This is his self portrait.
- Donna McGlynn (Instagram) - a painter and printmaker who is based in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. She is a Gray's School of Art Aberdeen alumni and taught art and design for a number of years. She won the prestigious £5,000 Sutherland Independent Scottish Portrait Award in Fife Art 2023
I'm on this series. I'll be watching through my
fingers as although it seemed like a good idea to
apply after a couple of glasses of wine, I was a bit
taken aback and regret-y when I got selected. Anyhoo -
the folks who make this show are A DELIGHT and I loved
them. They made all of us feel very special. I
understand why participants return - we're treated so
well.
Donna McGlynn
- Rosie Phillips (Instagram) - an art technician from North Norfolk.She participated in the 2022 series when she painted Big Zuu and was shortlisted. She completed her A Levels in 2019 and started her professional career as an artist. She likes expressionistic figurative paintings, and has an interest in storytelling and depicting moments and experiences from my life. In 2023, she participated in Royal Society of British Artists’ Bicentennial Exhibition (March), Affordable Art Fair Hampstead and The Jackson’s Painting Prize exhibition at Bankside Gallery
- Neil Rogers ASGFA (Instagram) - He has been painting for over 30 years and runs regular art classes and workshops in his studio in the village of Alrewas In Staffordshire. He lives in Burton upon Trent. This was his self portrait
- Fletcher Sibthorp (Instagram) - who lives in London. He's been painting on commission for over 30 years. His work has appeared in museums, offices album covers, theatre posters, company reports and even tattoos.
Recently, I participated in Sky Portrait Artist of
the Year 2024, a rewarding experience that challenged
me to create a portrait in just four hours. No mean
feat, considering you’re surrounded and bombarded by a
TV crew, an audience and interviewed constantly.
There’s no room for error… or paint drying!
Fletcher Sibthorp
The Self Portraits
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Artists and presenter with the self portraits in the background |
Wouldn't it be a great idea if this new view of the
artists had them lined up in the same order as their self
portraits are hung? I think Paul got the idea!
As you can see this is how the analysis of self portraits
worked
FORMAT - everybody plumped for portrait format in this
heat
- Portrait format x 9
- Landscape x 0
- Square x 0
SIZE - no extremes of size and most avoided smaller
sizes
- Very Large x 0
- Large x 1
- Large/Medium x 3
- Medium x 3
- Small x 2
- Tiny x 0
SCOPE - much more content than usual in this heat -
including two portraits with two portraits!
- full size or most of body (including hand) x 3
- head, shoulder and hand(s) x 4
- head and upper torso (no hands) x 1
- head and shoulders x 1
- head x 0
Themes
Painting yourself twice
It was rather interesting to find that two artists had both chosen to include two views of their portrait in their self-portraits.
- Jack Hewitt The link in his name sgoes to the artworks in question
- Fletcher Sibthorp - no link exists on either his website or Instagram - which is odd, but pic below.
When you think about it, it's a great way of showing people you can do different angles, perspectives and even treatments. But, I guess, there's always the danger of looking "a little too clever"?
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| Fletcher Sibthorp with his self portrait |
Replicating the pose from your portrait
We also had in this heat, artists who seemed to replicate what they did for their self portraits.
I think on the whole the Judges want to know
- what more you can do and
- in particular whether you can do more than one pose!
TIP: Replicating the pose from your self portrait is not a
good look
Changing your practice for the heat
Four hours is not a long time. For many artists it's way shorter than the sort of
time it normally takes them to paint a portrait.
That's why
many artists need to work out an approach to painting in
four hours. This is usually and adaptation of their usual approach so
it remains true to their technical expertise and
aesthetic.
Drawing / Painting the whole body
Interestingly in this heat,
all three artists who were shortlisted had
painted
- their whole body for the self portrait
- the whole body of the sitter in the heat
- created a background and set the scene
That's very unusual. I don't think I've ever seen it
before. I did begin to wonder whether they picked them
to make this point - because it was very odd.
So what would the point be? Well, the general sense I
got from the Judges was they do like people who make the
effort in the heat to:
- paint more than just a head
- portray the whole sitter
-
work out a relationship between the sitter and their
object -
it also indicates the kind of artist who is prepared
to try harder and/or innovate
When you think about it, it's kind of insulting to the
sitters to ask them to sit still for 4 hours and then
just take their photo and then never look up from your
tablet.....
Creating a scene
Setting the scene for a sitter is often something that
artists skip and just fill in the back.
Yet, the background - as in "a scene" - is not just
something that animators do. One of the artists in this heat
knows all about the latter!
TIP Good portrait painters are people who have learned their
art by studying very many other portrait painters - and
their paintings.
Look at many (not PAOTY) paintings by good portrait
artists. There are a number of alternatives ways you can set
a scene. For example:
-
The sitter is typically grounded and has context - review portraits in the National Portrait Gallery
where artists often seek to 'explain' their sitter -
The scene contributes to the explanation of who the
person in the portrait is - sometimes through an objects or objects (for example
the portrait of
Dorothy Hodgkin by Maggi Hambling
in the NPG) -
The scene is "what is" eg look at many of the
medium and larger portraits by Lucian Freud) hence
peeling paintwork and bare boards and turpsy rags for
Freud!
It's only small portraits these days which tend to lack
and detail in the background.
Do remember the object does not have to sit on the podium
next to the sitter. It can be represented in other ways as
has happened in past heats.
Also remember,
if you get to participate in PAOTY, that you do NOT
ever need to include the painted background to your
particular sitter.
Some of which are jarring and crass and unhelpful
(see the picture of the shortlisted artists below)
What are the issues of NOT setting a scene?
The main issue is yet another disembodied head. As in we've
had an awful lot of them over time.
TIP: For me the thing I detest the most is the sloppily
finished background where we still see the original colour of the ground -
which can often jar with the painting itself.
At the very least:
-
the head needs to be placed correctly for the
size of the support you work on i.e. make the profile
and the placement matter! -
the background needs to be completed in a way
which looks intentional and FINISHED!
Any less and it really doesn't matter how good your self
portrait was.
EXAMPLE: In this heat, an artist who I thought was an
absolute racing certainty to be shortlisted - because of the
quality of the self-portrait - opted for a "safe option" and
just painted the head and didn't even fill the whole canvas
with the colour painted for the background.
-
the former I found a reasonable proposition, since an
artist knows best how long it takes to get a likeness
and make a good portrait -
the latter was inexcusable. You just need to bring a big
brush and whack in the paint in the background fast! If
you don't know then practice!
I was really disappointed.
Doing more than you did for your entry
One artist (Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey ) did more in the heat than she did for her self
portrait
- she painted larger
- she developed a background with the sitter's object
-
she then researched the place where the sitter
associated herself with - and painted that as the
background as well!!
I think she also finished early.
In a lot of ways, she was my winner - simply for having
the nerve to go big and push the content and colour.
and get an email to your inbox every time I publish
The Portraits and the Judging
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| The Judges judging |
Below is:
-
which artist's portrait was chosen by which
sitter - who the Judges shortlisted
- the artist who won this heat
Who the Sitter Chose
This week I thought I was going to be unable to use the
Instagram summary of the three portraits for each sitter.
So left a rude comment on my Facebook page about their
absence - and guess what appeared a little while later!!
:)
Martha Carney
Martha Carney chose the portrait by Jack which I thought
was a good choice.
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| Bottom right - portrait by Jack Hewitt |
Kevin McCloud
Kevin went for his side glance at his axe by Paul Martin!
It was amazing how "alive" that portrait was. You can see
a better version of it below.....
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Bottom: a third of the painting of Kevin by Paul Martin |
Heather Mills
This was by far the best sections re portraits of the
face/head. Heather was very moved by the painting
top left by Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey who included
the prosthetic leg AND the scenery from the place where
Heather won her medals - because she looked up the
location on her phone! This was the one she chose.
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Portraits of Heather Mills by top left Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey top right Kitty Bellamy bottom: Fletcher Sibhtorp |
To me this was a face which has "had a lot of work" done
on it. Plus she kept a deadpan look throughout and was an
excellent sitter.
I thought Fletcher had the best head/face, with Kitty
probably being a close second for getting the best
likeness. Sophia's colours were great - but slightly comic
book like.
The big disappointment for me was Kitty's background which
was of course particularly highlighted given the
backgrounds on the two other paintings.
The Shortlist
This is about who the Judges chose for their shortlist.
Their comments would suggest there was no contest - but
that's not how I saw it - or a lot of other viewers.
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| Waiting to hear who is being shortlisted |
The shortlist for the place in the Semi Final
comprised:
- Paul Martin
- Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey
- Rosie Phillips
This is when the Judges need to work out which three
combinations of self portrait and heat portrait do they like
the best.
Below are the pics of the self portrait next to the heat
portrait for all three artists
Before you go on, which artist do you think won/should
have won?
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| Paintings by the shortlisted artists |
Paul Martin
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| Self portrait and heat painting by Paul Martin |
I liked Paul's paintings. He'd achieved a lot with his
self portrait was both a painting of him and his late
wife. Plus he's one of the very few artists, since they
introduced the "object" who created a painting which
made sense of it.
Plus proportions were
all correct (maybe Kevin's hands a bit too large) but to
me he was a confident painter who made good design
decisions and produced interesting paintings.
self portrait was both a painting of him and his late
wife. Plus he's one of the very few artists, since they
introduced the "object" who created a painting which
made sense of it.
Plus proportions were
all correct (maybe Kevin's hands a bit too large) but to
me he was a confident painter who made good design
decisions and produced interesting paintings.
I was leaning towards him as my winner and if he had
done I would not have been disappointed and I would have
been very pleased for him.
Sophia Kaur Hambleton-Grey
For me, her self portrait was good enough to get selected
but not good enough to provide an "ace combo" for the future
should she progress further. I think nudity in self portrait
is rarely going to progress beyond the heats.
I think the judges admired what she did with combining the
sitter, the prosthetic and the scenery from where she lives
in Austria - but maybe crammed it all in and somehow made it
work - but it didn't actually work really well as it was a
very busy painting. I kept thinking Heather's prosthetic leg
was going to hit her on the head!
I think the replication of the pose probably counted against
her. These Judges like to see something new.
Rosie Phillips
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| Self portrait and heat painting by Rosie Phillips |
The self portrait was interesting and imposing and large. I've always maintained that painting large self portraits can pay off in major ways come the heats.
I couldn't
quite work out what the background was supposed to be and I
oscillated between being irritated by it and wanting to keep
working it out.
For me, there were issues with the heat portrait which for
some reason the Judges seemed to like
-
I just couldn't get past the fact Kevin looked very
young and NOT 65 years old (which is what he is) - and a
likeness relates to age as well as looks!!!
(Speaking from my new peak age of 70!) -
I hated the perspective foreshortened enlarged boot. In
her self portrait, the foreshortening was OK, in the
heat painting it was just plain ridiculous.
and so, to the decision for the three shortlisted artists
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| line up for the announcement of who has won |
PAOTY 2024 Episode 7 Winner
The winner of Episode 7 was Rosie Phillips -
the artist who painted a very young Kevin McCloud with a
tiny head from a distorted perspective - but didn't get
chosen by the sitter.
third place.
I'd be extremely surprised if
she progressed beyond the semis.
She's not a bad painter, and she can certainly paint a large portrait but she's just not a heat winner in my
eyes....
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| Rosie Phillips with her heat painting |
Next episode (the last heat): The Sitters
Two women and a man as sitters in the final heat next
week. They are:
-
RebeccaTaylor/Self-Esteem (Musician), Rebecca Lucy Taylor is also known by her stage name
Self Esteem. She is a British musician, songwriter and
actress. -
Emma Thynn (Marchioness of Bath) - her claim to fame is she is
the first black Marchioness in British History.
Regularly seen on various reality shows. -
Dr Karan Rajan (Public Health Advocate) - an NHS surgeon and one of the biggest health and
science creators on social media
Reviews & Learning Points (PAOTY Series 5-11)
Series 11 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Autumn
2024)
Series 9 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Autumn
2022)
Plus
Series 8 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Autumn
2021)
Series 7 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Autumn
2020)
Series 6 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Spring
2020)
Series 5 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Winter/Spring
2019)
Series 4 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Winter /
Spring 2018)
PLUS if you want to find out more.....
