Landscape Artist of the Year returns - next Wednesday

Good news! Series 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year (2021) returns to Wednesday evenings in the gloomy days of Winter to brighten our perspectives and remind us what drawing and painting from life outside is all about.

This is about:

• the return of Landscape Artist of the Year - on Sky Arts Wednesday 13th January 2021 at 8pm (SERIES 6 on Sky Arts on Sky or Now TV or Channel 11 of Freeview) 
• the venues - in Kent and Buckinghamshire - for the first two episodes
• REMINDER: call for entries for Series 7 of Landscape Artist of the Year 
• PROMPT: the repeat of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - on Sky Arts on Wednesday at 7pm

Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 3 | 2021)

SERIES 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year is being broadcast every Wednesday evening at 8pm on Sky Arts (starting Wednesday 13th January 2021) - which is available on Freeview. For those with access to Sky or NowTV you can also watch it on catchup. 

Eight artists will be battling it out with the subject and the weather / wind / etc for the next six weeks - followed by the Semi Finals and then Final - plus the Commission episode.  

That means in Landscape Series terms we've skipped 2020 altogether - although filming took place. 

• Certainly the plans were that they would take place in June & July 2021 but were subject to government restrictions.
• My understanding was that Series 6 (2021) was filmed last summer in and around London because of all the travel constraints re. Covid-19.  

Also back is Joan Bakewell - since outdoors is much safer for ladies of a certain age. 

As always the team are:

• Hosts: Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan
• Judges: award-winning artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, independent curator Kathleen Soriano, and art historian Kate Bryan.

Venues: I know what the first two venues are (thank you Radio Times!)

Episode 1 (13th January 2021): Chartwell in Kent

Chartwell is the former home of Sir Winston Churchill and now belongs to the National Trust.  

• It contains his Artist's Studio which is doubtless going to generate comment if not a visit.  
• I'm just wondering how on earth they got the platforms to stay stable on the very considerable slope at the rear between the house and the lake 
• ....and whether the black swans behaved themselves! Those who know Chartwell well will know what i mean!

Drawing at Chartwell

I'm spitting about this venue because I visited Chartwell a lot last summer! However I don't envy them trying to portray the house. It's an absolute pig in terms of size and complexity - and the fact you can't see it properly at all unless you're on a completely different level - at which point the perspective gets interesting - and difficult!

I tried doing the house once (not a success!) and ever since I've always sketched the views of the garden and the landscape instead - it has stunning views of the Weald of Kent. Here's my coloured pencil sketch of Churchill's Chair on the island in the lake at Chartwell 

Episode 2 (20th January 2021) : West Wycombe Lake in Buckinghamshire

This is the view of the Lake at West Wycombe Park - also a National Trust property. Interestingly there is a painting in the National Collection of a view of A View of the Lake at West Wycombe Park and the Temple of Daphne by William Hannan (Scotland 1725 - West Wycombe 1772)

West Wycombe House has been home of the Dashwood family for over 300 years. Set in 45 acres of landscaped park, the house as we see it today is the 18th-century creation of Sir Francis Dashwood, the 2nd baronet, founder of the Dillettanti Society and the Hell-Fire Club.

Landscape Artist of the Year - Series 5 - CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Call for Entries for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 7) opened last year.

The deadline for entries is currently NOON on 30th April 2021 - although this deadline has sometimes been extended in the past.

In my blog post - Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 7) - I provide

• my overview of the call for entries - plus tips
• links to my reviews of past episodes - which also contain quite a few tips

It includes:

• Key Features of the competition
• So you want to paint landscapes on television?
• Who can enter
• Eligible Landscape paintings - for submission
• Your digital entry (and what will disqualify you)
• What are the Judges looking for?
• My Reviews of Previous Heats in 2018 and 2019

Portrait Artist of the Year 2019

This series is being broadcast for the first time on Freeview - in the hour before the new series of Landscape Artist of the Year.

So if you want to watch both, get your dinner arrangements sorted for Wednesday evenings sorted and be sat comfortably 

• by 7pm for Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 
• plus Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at 8pm. 

Note that this series was previously broadcast on Channel 4 in the summer of 2019 - see Portrait Artist of the Year comes to Channel 4

You can see my reviews of previous episodes of this series on this blog - and there are links to all of them in the above blog post.

Before the start - at the Final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 at the National Portrait Gallery