This is my long overdue review of Episode 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year which was first screened last Wednesday evening.
Turning the portraits of Lucy Worsley around |
I much prefer to write the reviews in one sitting and this proved absolutely impossible last week. You can blame
- the time I needed to recover from staying up to watch the American Election results and then the time required to digest the result.
- Plus a major family event in Manchester last weekend.
- Plus I'm currently chairing a Panel of Judges reviewing applications for an Art Award which is proving to be very interesting but also very time-consuming.
Episode 5: The Sitters
The three sitters were
- Lucy Worsley - age 50, a British historian, author, curator, and television presenter. She is the joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces but is best known as a presenter of BBC Television and Channel 5 series on historical topics. I always find her a riveting watch!
- Musa Motha - age 29, a South African full-time professional dancer, choreographer, and motivational speaker. He is also a cancer survivor after his leg was amputated. He impressed with his appearance on Britain's Got Talent.
- Ricky Hatton - age 46, former British professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012 and held multiple world championships.
The artists in Episode 5 of PAOTY 2024
Love Beth Kaiden's look at Stephen Mangan looking a
wally in a beret!
There was a considerable amount of side eye in this
heat......
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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.
- Chris Draper - an architectural illustrator from Wiltshiree. He studied at Southend Schopol of Art and Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture. His self portrait was done in watercolour and gouache and was done after he had been in hospital following a stroke.
- Luca Guarino (Instagram) - He is a a multimedia artist working with traditional and digital mediums - he's more of a figurative artist than a portrait artist. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2020 with a First-Class Honours in painting and printmaking. He was one of the Royal Scottish Academies RSA New Contemporaries 2022. He also did The Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School in 2022 - which is why he seemed familiar to me as I go to their End of Year Exhibition most years. (The latest one opens tomorrow!) He currently works as an art tutor. His website may be private but he needs to get his act together on a public one!
- Beth Kaiden (Instagram) - age 18 at the time of filming. She is a Barista and a Netball Umpire from Kent. Interesting and impressive video about her time as a Foundation Student in Art and Design an UAL in London. I think we'll be seeing more of her!
- Amy Sasaki-Fletcher (Instagram) - an art student based in Cheshire
- Geoff Shillito (Instagram) - a former graphic designer, based in Dorset. He was elected a member of the Bath Society of Artists in 2005, and elected an Academician of the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in 2020. He's participated in numerous group exhibitions and competitive open entries. He likes dynamic compositions and playing with scale.
- Rachel Stedman (Instagram) - an illustrator and portrait and landscape artist living and working from her Sussex studio in the South Downs near Lewes. She graduated in Illustration at the Brighton Art College in 1988. As a result she has had a long and exciting career in animation working as a background and development artist. She was the Wildcard Winner in the LAOTY Hever Castle Heat in 2023 (with a different surname). She also exhibited in Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition in 2024. I must confess I much prefer her landscapes which are stylized and stunning!
- Josh Thompson (Instagram) - a barista from Glasgow who studied physics before he found painting.
- Lorna Wadsworth - Born in Sheffield, she is now based in East London. She She studied BA (Hons) Illustration at Falmouth College of Art before undertaking The Drawing Year at the Prince's Drawing School (now the Royal Drawing School). Interestingly I immediately recognised her from back in 2005-7 when I was doing classes there with James Lloyd. She was selected for the John Moores Painting Prize in 2023
- Jenna Waldren (Instagram)- a figurative and portrait artist based in North London. She was awarded a First Class, BA (Hons) Painting by The University of Edinburgh / Edinburgh College of Art, (2017- 2021). In 2024 she was a Winner of the BTA Rising Star Award. In 2023 she was longlisted for the Scottish Portrait Award, 2023. She already has a very impressive listing of group exhibitions on her website dating back to 2018.