This is the last of my reviews of the first eight episodes of Series 12 Portrait Artist of the Years 2025 which have covered the various heats - out of order - from
this year's competition which was filmed in April 2025.
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A reminder of just how big that PAOTY set-up is and why it stays in once
place!
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Thank you!
Before I start I have to comment on the number of people commenting on
Facebook about my posts on my Making A Mark Page prior to my review posts
being published.
The one for Episode 6 in which I highlighted the person I thought should have
won got more than 50,000+ views and the one this week in which I again
highlighted a very good artist (in the context of a very silly comment) by a Judge has
almost reached the same figure (currently 47K views) in a much shorter space
of time.
Somewhere between 95-98% of the comments have erred on the side of NOT being
complimentary about the Judges decisions about shortlisting.
Plus more than a
few comments about what they say. Several hundred actually!
Episode 8: The Sitters
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The three sitters (top right) Tim Peake
(bottom left) Jack Rooke (bottom right) Reece Clark) |
The three sitters in the eighth episode are all male and are as
follows:
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Reece Clarke
- a very tall Scottish ballet dancer who joined the Royal Ballet in
2013, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022. He appeared dressed
as Count Albrecht in
Giselle
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Jack Rooke - comedian and writer who created and wrote
Big Boys,
a semi-autobiographical comedy for Channel 4 which has made him a
four-time
BAFTA Award
nominee for the show, finally winning in 2024 for Best Writer: Comedy. He
also campaigns with wit and candour for recognition of the mental health
struggles of young people.
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Major Tim Peake CMG
- a retired British European Space Agency astronaut, Army Air Corps
officer and author who has been into space. He wore his training suit -
complete with numerous badges - for the sitting
I must confess I'd only heard of Tim Peake!
Episode 8: The Artists
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The Artists in Episode 8
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All the artists are listed below alphabetically by surname - but
are not differentiated between professional and amateur. The link to their
main 'contact' site is embedded in their name and social media sites follow -
if available.
As always I've dug around online, and these profiles
provide more information than the programme does.
The mini bio
provided in the programme skips over some rather important information about
some of the participating artists.
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Lucy Ambler (Instagram) - a commercial mural artist based in Suffolk. She likes using
heightened colour and also uses coloured pencils on card - as for her self
portrait.
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Silas Archibong (Instagram) - From Mbiabong, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, he currently studying for a
Masters in Fine Art at Kingston University. He produced a self portrait
which was split into his two identities of Nigerian heritage and a Jesuit
student.
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El Barrett (Instagram) - a conservation biology student from Surrey. She has
been making art since she was a child. She now finds art really useful for
when she draws the natural world as part of her studies.
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Courteney Bae (Instagram) - 1986 is a Korean-American contemporary artist who is the daughter of
artist Sangki Bae. She describes herself as a "creative marketer" - but
initially trained in Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York, before gaining experience at renowned luxury goods
brands. Now working in oils and gouache watercolour. She has won multiple
juried awards and exhibited in New York, London, and Europe. Lives in
Walton on Thames in NW Surrey.
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Steve Cannon (Instagram) - An American artist based in Galway
for the last 29 years. His self portrait contains a lot of detail in the
reflection of the window in the background. He works mainly in figurative studies and paintings whether it be oils, watercolour or graphite and his main aim is to catch a likeness. He has regularly exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (I thought his style looked familiar!) and the Royal Hibernian Academy. After looking at his Instagram, I'd advise him to apply again, after he has worked out how he can do what he does best in four hours flat! Then practice. In the meantime, he had another go at Reece when he got home (see below). I wonder how many other participants do the same? (also see below!)
My self portrait with a peace lily. (The photos should be a bit darker) It shows where I work. Packed with canvases, easels, paintings, plants and assorted miscellaneous bits and pieces.
A peace lily has a expected life span of 5 years. My little plant is 21 years old. It was a gift while in hospital after losing my leg all those years ago.
Me and the plant are both a bit worn, with crinkly edges, but there is new growth as well so not all is lost.
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Eugene Evans (Instagram) - A social care worker from Middlesborough. He has
osteoarthritis (snap!) and used medical motifs in his self portrait. I
cannot remember the last time anybody turned up to paint in a heat wearing
a suit - but he looked very smart! He continued to finish his heat
portrait of Jack when he returned home (see below).
- Han Guo (Instagram) - an artist living in Guildford who used to be an engineer. She trained at London Fine Art Studios with the Classical Atelier method. She enjoys the process of observing her subject and using the brush to capture her perception and understanding.
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Fiona Land (Instagram) - a former rowing champion from the
Yorkshire Dales. I'm not including a link to Fiona's website as I only include links which are secure (ie. prefaced by https) . She participates in North Yorkshire Open Studios. I got the impression that she was very nervous and didn't do herself justice on the day.
Painting is usually such a solitary pursuit so to have cameras, an audience and the 'judgementals' watching was a very different experience
One thing that sets PAOTY apart from other competition shows is that we
do not cast for character - artists get through to the heats based on
merit. This is quite unusual for a television competition show which is
often about casting for big personalities or dramatic backstories. I think
this adds integrity to PAOTY as a competition however, it does present
it's own hurdles. Many artists are rather shy and introverted or certainly
used to working in solitude in their studio so to find themselves on a
huge set (Battersea Arts Centre's Grand Hall) can be very intimidating.
Therefore one of the challenges the PDs are faced with is to produce
artists who are not comfortable on camera and can be monosyllabic in their
answers (other shows go through a casting process where participants are
often screen tested to iron out these things). Filming Sky PAOTY Heat 8 with NELDA SALE
