Review: Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 11)

The first episode of the new art competition to find the Portrait Artist of the Year for 2024 kicked off last night (8pm on Sky Arts)

Watch how the self portraits change with every episode. 
(I think) it's always included the winner's self portrait

The first episode of Series Eleven will be repeated at 7pm tonight on Sky Arts. If you've not yet watched, you might want to stop reading now as this review continues in the same pattern as all the reviews I've written for the last six series - since series 4 in 2018

This review post considers:

• the sitters
• the artists
• the self-portrait submissions
• themes observed during the episode - and observations on different approaches
• the portraits - and a new initiative by the marketing people
• the Judging
• the Shortlist
• Episode 1 Winner

Remembering that last year's winner was the winner of Episode 1!

Episode 1: The Sitters

The sitters for this first programme were rather Apple oriented! They were also all aged c.50+. They are:

• Hannah Waddington (b.1974) - the very impressive actress and singer who won a Prime Time Emmy for her role in Apple's Ted Lasso - which she brought as her significant item - and was also a splendid co-host of the Final of the European Song Contest 2023. She appeared to very motivated to share her experience with her 9 year old daughter.
• Richard Madeley (b.1956) - a regular host and presenter on daytime television for the last four decades and one half of "Richard and Judy. He's also an author. One of those marmite people, you either love him or hate him. He apparently loves maps (I started to warm to him!) and brought an antique globe.
• Saskia Reeves (b.1961) - one of those actresses who appears very regularly in good programmes on our screens - most recently in Apple's Slow Horses. I had no idea she was half Dutch - but she wore wooden clogs to the show and brought the bike she has owned for the last 40+ years.

In the recurring theme this month of "how on earth did I get to be 70?", I was dismayed to realise I'm older than all of them!

Episode 1: The Artists

The Artists in Episode 1 on the steps of Battersea Arts Centre

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

• Imogen Alabaster (Instagram) - a contemporary artist who lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland. She graduated with a degree in Drawing and Painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 2006. Her work has been sold from many Scottish galleries and increasingly through direct sales and commissions, for more than twenty years. Her drawings and paintings have taken on a maternal theme of late.
  
• Jione Choi (Instagram) - An artist who was born in Seoul in South Korea and now lives and works in London. She draws in graphite, on canvas and also paints in watercolour. Her artistic practice is based upon memories - how they appear and disappear.  She received an MFA in Painting from the Slade School of Art  in 2019. She has won numerous prizes: recently, she has won the RWS Young Artist Award 24 and RWS Publicity Prize 23 awarded by the Royal Watercolour Society. In addition, two of her works have been included in ‘Drawing Biennial 24’ organised by Drawing Room. She also won the First prize of Art Gemini Prize 9th edition. 
• Nerissa Deeks (Instagram) - a charity manager from Woking. She loves drawing and painting. Her tiny self portrait submission was painted in two hours using acrylics. I thought it was sublime! It was part of an online challenge she participated in to do a self portrait every day - which sounds to me like a jolly good workout for anybody thinking of applying for next year!
• Dónal Geheran (Instagram) - an artist from Dublin. He draws using pen and ink and a biro and uses patterns repeating motifs in the background. His submission was drawn using a mirro and the background repeats a jug shape.
• Paul Lee (Instagram) - He is a visual effects animator who lives in Tunbridge Wells. He graduated with honours from Birmingham where he studied fine art (1989-91), specialising in painting, at between the years 1989-1991. Since 1994, he has worked as a character and VFX animator in the feature film industry. He returned to oil painting in 2022 and his instagram account clearly demonstrates that he is very capable of capturing both a likeness and expressions and loves to use colour - which he does very well. He has also exhibited at the annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries (NEAC 2023, Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2024)
• Lloyd Lewis (Facebook | Instagram) - a martial arts teacher and artist from Haverfordwest in West Wales now based in Bristol. He has applied for every single one of the first 10 series and has finally achieved his ambition of being selected to be in a heat. He has exhibited at the RWA, SWAC and BSA and has been a wildcard in LAOTY.  His self-portrait was painted in acrylic and took him a 100 hours. I like the portraits and self portraits on his website much more than the one submitted to the competition. 
• Emilio Bartolome Martin - a chef who wants to become a full time artist based in South London. He studied for an MA in Fine Art at the City and Guilds of London Art School, 2015-2019 and also at the Barcelona Academy of Fine Art, 2023. He is a figurative painter and was selected for the Royal Society of British Artists, Rising Stars Exhibition in 2023 and 2024.  He also won the De Laszlo Foundation Young Artist award at the Green & Stone Gallery Summer Exhibition 2024 with the self portrait he submitted for selection for PAOTY.  (He needs to increase the font size on his website to make it much easier to read!)
• Zully Mejea (Facebook | Instagram) - Originally from Peru. At the time of the heat, she worked as a gallery assistant and also as an artist. She has a BFA from the University of Nevada and her MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London. She creates artworks that engage with the themes of immigration, womanhood and being a person of colour.  Her self portrait originall formed part of her Goldsmiths MFA Degree Show exhibition.
• Matthew Watts (Instagram) - He's a full time artist who lives and works in Bath. His art is primarily portraits and figurative pictures and he paints in oil on wood. He was educated at the West Surrey College of Art & Design. I notice that his portraits on his website rarely look at the artist. His choice of subject matter for this heat was based on a photo he took with a very string tonal shift due to a marked shadow across his face.

[NOTE: The production team have a serious issue with the names of the artists on the captions  not matching up with the names on the press release. I assume it might be something to do with generating captions]

The Self Portrait Submissions

The Self Portrait Wall

I thought the paintings were generally better - but there again, overall, the artists seem to be more experienced than in some other previous heats.

I analysed how the self portraits stacked up in terms of format, size and scope

FORMAT

• Portrait format x 7
• Square x 2

SIZE

• Large x 1
• Large/Medium x 3
• Medium x 3
• Small x 1
• Tiny x 1

SCOPE

• full size or most of body (including hand) x 1
• head and upper torso (no hands) x 2
• head, shoulder and hand x 1
• head and shoulders x 3
• head x 2

Themes

As always, when I watch the programme (which is typically at least twice and sometimes three times), I try to identify themes which are either:

• recurrent golden oldies - ones you really need to get to grips with if you want to participate in a future programme
• ones unique to this particular episode
• matters relevant to portraiture or being an artist

The Shock of "being in PAOTY"

It's very common for artists to be overwhelmed by the fact they've finally made it to a heat, that they're goping to have to paint a portrait in four hours and that people are going to be talking tp you and filming you while you do it.

For some it's a big shock - with an adverse impact on their ticker!

My only tip is to practice painting in public beforehand (eg plein air landscape painting is good).

What's your sitter going to be like?

As an artist you have absolutely NO CHOICE over:

• your sitter - their sex, their age, their personality, their occupation etc.
• who you are painting with
• where they will locate you

Of these, perhaps the most important is the fact you've no choice of your sitter - and all their little foibles which appear over time as they sit for you. Of course you might also be totally overwhelmed by the fact you're painting a very important person. Although that's going to be a little bit less likely this series.

I loved that Nerissa asking Richard Madeley whether he was going to fidget before deciding she didn't need to take a photo and could paint him from life!

Most of the artists take a phone or ipad and use it to take a few photos - and then use this as a reference. This is not a cop-out as the artist's eyeline can be compromised at various points during the day as those filming the series get in tHe way.

The Self Portrait Submissions

For me, having watched this programme for a long time, the conclusion I've reached is that your self portrait is actually what's vitally important to who wins a heat and who wins the competition.  You can start working out who's got a good chance of winning after they've reviewed the self portraits

That's because:

• you can demonstrate your natural style
• you have the opportunity to show off what else you can do besides painting a head e.g. textiles
• it's a great opportunity to demonstrate you're adept at composition, proportion, hands, a whole figure, painting large as well as small (in a heat) - in other words you are the complete package - and you maybe bring something new.

Do look very carefully at the self portraits when we get to the shortlisted section of this post - they're important!

I also have a theory about the time it took to create the self portraits for this competition.

• It's absolutely fine taking a very long time to paint your submission at home or in your studio
• HOWEVER you'd better have a strategy worked out for how you're going to paint a portrait in four hours in the heat - at Battersea, in front of the public and filmed by cameras and interrupted by Judges and the presenter.
• Ideally, a strategy which you've practiced before getting to Battersea. Hopefully, more than once.

It was very clear to me who knew how to produce a decent portrait in four hours and who didn't. By and large those who make mistakes or don't finish are unlikely to make the shortlist.

I'm also far more likely to be impressed by a self portrait which is a tiny portrait of a head painted in 2 hours than a not exceptional or complete portrait of a head which took 50 times longer to paint.

Small is not always beautiful

When you paint small, you have less space to get things right. Looked at another way, any errors are magnified. 

Even using a medium sized format, you can make mistakes - particularly if 

• you stand right next to your easel all the time 
• or only look down at your drawing; and 
• never ever stand back and compare what you've done with the sitter right in front of you.

I could see which portraits were unlikely to work out well from very early on - when some of the artists got shapes and proportions wrong - and hence ruined their chances of being shortlisted. The Judges can see it too. If I was a Judge, I'd be looking less during the four hours at those who I know have made serious errors.

It was certainly true in this episode that at least two of the shortlisted artists got the right marks in the right place very early on.

Oddly, it's very often those who make marks and paint fast who get major shapes and important lines and proper proportions right - because they look and mark and correct and repeat.

Getting a good likeness is a given and ALWAYS important

There was a point in the various series when "getting a good likeness" emerged as THE  key criteria for selecting who gets shortlisted and who wins the heat - and who wins the competition and the prize.

I've always wondered if this was because "showing us something new" (which seemed to be the goal for ages) over a good likeness was seen as NOT the right way forward and might  undermine the credibility of the programme and the scope to attract large important institutions to commission portraits. I did wonder if somebody had complained.

Anyway, for whatever reason, the fact of the matter is that "getting a good likeness" is now a key criteria used for selecting those who will progress through the competition. Even for Kate.

So what do you need to think about when trying to achieve a likeness?

If you limit your portrait to a head, then you MUST deliver a very good likeness.

If you deliver a much larger artwork - maybe of the upper torso including hands and/or the complete figure - there's some scope to making allowances for not everything working perfectly. But you still need to capture a decent likeness.

Learn to draw with a brush

If you draw with a pencil before you start to paint, you have to start twice - and when you've only got four hours that's going to leave you with less time than you'd like to complete the portrait.

I'm not talking about thumbnail sketches to work out your composition. I'm talking about repeating a process you might use in a studio with all the time in the world with working under lights and cameras and to a deadline.

Lots of people sketching in a small sketchbooks

I found it very interesting that the cameras found lots of people in the audience who were also participating - and were drawing sitters (and possibly others as well). 

I wondered if they hoped to attract the attention of the Judges and receive an invite to apply for next year! Especially as some drawings were actually better than some done by participating artists....

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The Portraits and the Judging

The Judges are, as usual, Kate Bryan, Kathleen Soriano and Tai Shan Schierenberg. I think we've got to the point where they need no introduction.

The Judges review the artists' artwork FOUR times

• before the heat - when reviewing digital images of the self-portraits to select those participating in the Heats
• at the beginning of the heat - when they consider the actual self-portrait submissions
• at lunchtime and then
• again at the end after the sitters have reviewed the artwork.

Who the Sitters chose

An innovation this year is that we get to see clearly ALL the artworks for each sitter.
I have perennially moaned about the fact they've always got the artists lined up in front of the artwork - and when considered by the celebrity, all the portraits are spaced out. So we never ever got to saw them all together

The programme's Instagram Account is now showing the three artworks for each sitter together on an Instagram post.

Which is an EXCELLENT IDEA - but for the fact that, on this occasion, the photographs are unfortunately all highly over exposed - so all the colours are bleached out.  Hopefully, whoever arranges this will have proper photographs properly corrected for both colour and tone prior to publication on Instagram. I'm sure it will be better next week!

Below you can see my version, after I adjusted them to get as close as I could to the images on screen.

I've included them just above the line which highlights which one was chosen by each celebrity. See if you agree.

Three Portraits of Hannah Waddington

All three portraits were upper torso plus head and minus hands.

Hannah Waddington got very emotional ("Tissue!) over the excellent graphite drawing done by Jione Choi - and had no hesitation whatsoever in choosing to take it home.  Note also how Jione's portrait had the largest head and, I think, much better proportions and sense of presence. I also liked the composition - cropping in close on her arm.

To me the two other portraits look flat and never became properly 3D - in the way that Jione's portrait is - in a very convincing way. Hannah Waddington is a very tall, very striking and very statuesque woman and only the pencil drawing conveys this well.

 

Three portrait of Saskia Reeves

None of the above portraits looked as they did on screen where the colours were much stronger. Even with my adjustments it still looks washed out.  

Saskia Reeves chose the painting by Imogen Alabaster (top left). The eyes have it in this portrait. Plus this is the pose that the artist asked her to do.

I think this was the strongest group of paintings - helped enormously by what appeared to be a very disciplined sitter. Paul Lee's painting top right has the best likeness and is a very strong painting. Dónal's drawing is very interesting - but I think he drew the face too fast and missed the likeness.

Three portraits of Richard Madeley

Richard Madeley chose the painting by Matthew Watts (top right). Frankly I was surprised by this, because I do NOT think that his strategy of including the very pronounced shadow across the lower half of his face worked in terms of:

• his painting of the shadow
• the idea of the shadow

Overall I think these were probably the least successful group of paintings. Nerissa had a good go at doing a larger view of him - but missed the likeness in the head and face. I'm also absolutely not a fan of isolated heads in a sea of brown sludge - although Lloyd was probably the person who got the best likeness.

The Shortlist

Below are all the artists lined up in front of their self portraits (i.e. not their heat paintings)

The artists at the end of the shortlisting - lined up in front of their self portrait
It's always difficult to see the self-portrait when they are in front of it.
I can never understand why they don't stand just to the left.

It's such a shame not to see the artist with their heat painting at this stage - but I get it's an exercise done faster without the need to move the easels.

Those shortlisted were:

• Paul Lee
• Jione Choi
• Isabel Alabaster

Below are the three sets of portraits - the self portrait and the heat painting for each artist.

Artwork by three shortlisted artists
(left to right)
Paul Lee, Jione Choi and Isabel Alabaster

Below you can see what they look like as pairs of paintings - plus my comments on the two paintings.

Note how they

• all look like they've been painted by the same artist - which is the number one test of this pairing up!
• all the self portraits were a good size. All went for head and upper torso - but Paul added in background and a hand gesture - plus halved his head.

Self Portrait and Portrait by Paul Lee

Tai loved Paul Lee's paintings from the beginning - and especially how fast he caught interesting shapes and lovely colours during the heat which worked well together and did not compete or unbalance the portrait. You could see he was on tenterhooks that Paul wouldn't overwork it and lose its appeal. I felt exactly the same way. I thought he was a finalist as soon as I saw his self portrait - which was much the most ambitious and interesting of all the self portraits. 

The Judges also really liked the way Paul played with colour throughout his painting of Saskia.

The other thing to comment on is that Paul achieved an exceptionally good likeness of Saskia Reeves. Overall, they thought that he provided two very good examples of his range and strengths.

Self portrait and portrait by Jione Choi

There was general agreement that Hannah was a great sitter and I'm fully supportive of her wish to come back and sit again in a different coloured costume!

Tai again took the lead on highlighting the fabulous nature of her drawing and how good she is at drawing textiles to convey both the proportions of the torso and also the nature of the fabric.

Self Portrait and Portrait by Isabel Alabaster

Imogen captured her the face of Saskia Reeves extremely well and also suggested a slightly quizzical look.  This was of course, the painting which Saskia chose to take home.

The Judges commented on the way in which - in both paintings - the eyes are painted really well and very convincingly so that they really "grab you", For me, looking at the two paintings together, it is patently obvious that Imogen is very well used to painting people from life and knows exactly how the structure of the face works. Which is an aspect which can be a major weakness for some participants.

Her use of colours was exciting and stayed away from looking agitated at a distance - although more of an interesting mix close-up.

Bottom line - the Judges are making it very clear that what they like are great likenesses and interesting artworks - which also demonstrate a range of skills.

PAOTY 2024 Episode 1 Winner

 Jione and Isabel applaud Paul's win

Paul Lee was selected as the winner of the first heat.

He created a sensitive and insightful portrait.

Tai provided the summary comment in which he highlighted

• his love got the beauty of the mark making and the colours
• his ability to capture the human psyche
• he just wants to see more - and maybe more exploration of composition

I would not be surprised to see Paul Lee in the Final. His mission for the semi-final will be to do an interesting composition as well as what he did in the heat.

Next Episode

The sitters for Episode 2 are Cush Jumbo, Baaba Mal and Carly Paoli - and I only know who Cush Jumbo is!

Do you want to paint in a heat next year?

This is my post last year about the Call for Entries: Series 11 of Portrait Artist of the Year (next year). Essential reading for all those who want to do well - it's got links to all my past reviews and all the themes and tips identified in the last five years.

Watch out for my post about the Call for Entries for Series 12 which I'll be writing during the course of this series.