Portrait Artist of the Week - starts today 10am

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week starts today. This is a unique LIVE version of its popular show Portrait Artist of the Year, redesigned for the current crisis.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Storyvault Films who make the hugely-popular painting contest Portrait Artist of the Year have come up with a brand new, free, weekly format

Portrait Artist of the Week will see celebrity sitters pose live in their own homes, with audiences invited to paint along at home – wherever in the world they are based.

Here's how Portrait Artist of the Week works

It starts this Sunday at 10am and the first to pose is dancer and choreographer Akram Khan

• He will sit for viewers for a four-hour session from 10am on Sunday 26th April. 
• He will be painted live by Christabel Blackburn (winner of this year’s series of Portrait Artist of the Year that aired in March)
• Christabel will also provide tips and interact in real-time with those who are painting along
• Regular presenter Joan Bakewell will host
• members of the public will be invited to post questions to get advice as they paint. 
• The public can submit their final paintings via Instagram (@artistoftheyear) 
• The show’s judges, Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano, and Kate Bryan, highlighting their favourites.

Those of you who are used to paintalong sessions will know how this works. For everybody else - have a go!

To join the conversation use #PAOTW.
To show the judges your final work and have the chance to be featured next week use #myPAOTW.
All posts across Instragram, Twitter and Facebook might be used during this show and future Facebook lives.

This post on the dedicated Facebook Page for the Artist of the Year suggests you need to go to https://www.facebook.com/SkyTV/

Easels at the ready! It's nearly time for the first-ever 'Portrait Artist Of The Week' Facebook Live with Sky TV! Watch, learn, join in and paint along with Christabel Blackburn, winner of this year's #PAOTY. Send us your pictures using #myPAOTW and you MAY be featured in next week's live by the judges! #PAOTW
https://www.facebook.com/SkyTV/

Plus this is what's on the Sky Art Facebook Page LIVE page



You don't have to paint - like the Portrait Artist of the Year you can draw too!

The programme will also

• run every Sunday for four weeks 
• feature other celebrity sitters
• previous series winners taking turns to paint live and help viewers at home participate. 
• Each episode will be available to watch online throughout the week so more people can participate, 
• PLUS a highlights programme will be shown on Sky Arts.

More Arts from Sky Arts

Alongside the new version of Portrait Artist, Sky will be making selected shows from its schedule available for everyone.

Sky Arts has seen an increase of 55% in viewing since lockdown measures were introduced.

Due to the clear demand for culture at home, the channel will start to make a raft of Sky Arts content available to audiences to stream for free on the Sky TV YouTube channel from this Friday 24th April.

The weekly package will include performances, concerts and documentaries from the channel’s substantial back catalogue of award-winning arts content – all of which will be available for a limited period. 

Highlights will include 

• episodes of Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year, 
• episodes from acclaimed documentary series Treasures of the British Library, 
• the story of a destroyed portrait of Churchill from Mystery of the Lost Paintings.