Sunday, June 15, 2025

Want to watch Landscape Artist of the Year being filmed?

Filming has started on Series 11 of Landscape Artist of the Year which will be broadcast between January and March 2026.

Derwent Water is next week
Best View yet - by a long way

For those curious as to how it is going and for those who maybe want to go and watch, this is what I've found out so far. (They've stopped sending me press releases!)

Of the locations they have identified 5 are about 

5 Very BIG Structures 

  • Dover Castle, Kent
  • Dover Ferry Point, Kent
  • The Thames from HMS Wellington, London
  • The Ouse Valley Viaduct, West Sussex 
  • Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

3 Actual Landscapes!

  • The Lake District, Cumbria (two heats) - actual real landscape as painted by very many landscape painters - but BIG!
  • St James’s Park, London - actual land which is green - small and manicured and a lake with a lot of birds on it!
BELOW you can find out where the heats are and which date they are filming - although some of this is guesswork.

Heat Locations


Locations of "public" heats are as listed in this marketing image


They say they are 
unable to accommodate audiences at the other locations due to the lack of parking and facilities. 
However every single one of them is a public space - so, if you fancy, you can ignore that if you can work out how to get there and where local facilities might be located.

I can't work out whether they mean this is what they are ALSO telling the wildcards to do!

Last week: Dover Castle, Kent and Dover Ferry Point, Kent


Given they split up the locations during the series but do them at the same time while filming I'm assuming there were two heats at Dover was last week
  • a view of Dover Castle
  • a view of the ferryport from the cliffs!
Here are some of the photos from social media!  Some of those pods look somewhat precarious. I wonder what the insurance was like after the risk assessment exercise?


Next week: Crow Park, Keswick in The Lake District / Cumbria


Two days in the Lake District - on Wednesday18th and Thursday 19th June means two heats.

You will recall that last year, they went to Wales and maybe moved the pods about half a mile to get a different perspective on the same place. 

Here's the Google Maps reference for Crow Park which appears to overlook Derwent Water.

Plus see the photo above of the view from Crow Park over Derwent Water.

I envy anybody who gets that view.

Remember - the sites they use will ALWAYS be an expanse of flattish land big enough for eight sizable pods.

Wednesday 25th June: St James's Park


St James Park - the Lake View, with trees (2008)

What I do know is that anybody getting this heat better be good at trees!

There are various places they could theoretically set up the pods in St James's Park - however they also run the risk of causing an obstruction for the other people using the park.. 

 Those who have sketched or plein air painted there will know the places to "go to". I'm assuming it's probably going to include water as it's a bit silly going to a park with a great big lake and then ignoring it.  Just as you can hardly ignore the trees....

See, for example, my blog post about Capturing the Moment - plein air paint out in St James's Park organised by the British Plein Air Painters.  I'd so like them to turn out en masse and NOT be wildcards and paint what they want to paint....

I'm including a couple of sketches I did back in 2008 (above and below)

St James Park - Tree Study #3 (8th October, 6pm)
8.5" x 11", coloured pencils in Daler Rowney sketchbook

However it's going to be absolutely swarming with tourists - who all love a camera! You can't move in London at the moment for school trips and families all speaking every language under the sun! 

I do not envy those who get this heat!  But I might go and watch!

Thursday 26th June - The Thames from HMS Wellington, London

I think it's a fair bet that if they're in London with the pods on Wednesday then on Thursday those pods will have been erected somewhere else in London and the crew will be working two days back to back with the pods etc - which means that Thursday will be the date for the other location they've already announced

Which is The Thames from HMS Wellington, London - and below is HMS Wellington - moored on the north side of the Thames inbetween Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. 

I don't know if they're going to put the pods on the boats - but it strikes me that could be problematic!

HMS Wellington, 
HMS Wellington is a Grimsby-class sloop, formerly of the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic. She is now moored alongside the Victoria Embankment, at Temple Pier, on the River Thames in London, England
I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wildcards are on the bridges... Maybe with a few others?

I am speculating. They're not saying. However all the land either side of the river and along the bridges is public - and this is very much a public location . However it's next to the Embankment and a very busy road so common sense dictates that they won't be encouraging people to attend next to the boat. There again they can't stop them either...

HOWEVER, the irony is THAT there is a MUCH MUCH BETTER view from the "made for LAOTY filming" area exactly on the opposite side of the river on the South Bank.

The view from the other side of the river
You can see St Paul's cathedral and all the towers in the City of London
as well as an excellent view of the bridges

SEMI- FINAL

(I'm guessing! Wednesday 2nd July) - The Ouse Valley Viaduct, West Sussex

There are always two locations which are isolated from the others. Which means 
  • one is the location for the semi-final and 
  • the other is the location of the Final.
Since they're telling us the Final is in Falkirk, I'm making the reasonable assumption that the semi-final is in West Suusex.

The Ouse Valley Viaduct is another ridiculous structure - which is only outdone by the ridiculous structure for the Final!
The Ouse Valley Viaduct
A structural marvel, the viaduct was originally built in 1838 to carry the London-Brighton line over the River Ouse.

It has been estimated that around 11 million bricks were used in construction, with almost 17 million passenger journeys being made across the viaduct every year!

It strikes an elegant silhouette over the beautiful High Weald area and is a must for all photography fans. Standing at 29 metres tall, the Viaduct has 37 arches stretching 450 metres across the Ouse Valley and over the River Ouse. Ouse Valley Viaduct, Visit South East England Website
Basically it's halfway between Crawley and Hayward's Heath.
  • This is the location - link from Google Maps
  • Also described as Haywards Heath Road, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6QP.
The date provides for three clear weeks before the Final on the 23rd - during which time the finalists have to product their commission artwork. (as in "find a really silly view near you and paint it")

THE FINAL

Wednesday 23rd July - The Falkirk Wheel

That's a horror story of a subject for a Final. 
Sue England (Series 5 LAOTY 2019) was given the Falkirk Wheel as the subject for her commission painting prior to the Final proper (see Fujiko Rose won Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 in Final at Battersea Power Station). I remember then thinking how unlucky she was. There again - at least she got to choose how she portrayed it and from what angle and how much!

The Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

But it gets better - the producers are complete sadists! IT MOVES!
Threre's a canal at the top and a canal at the bottom. At rest, the wheel sits with a gondola at each level, filled with water. Barges sail in, and the water relevels, but due to Achimedes' principle, the weight in the gondolas remains the same. The wheel, in perfect balance, is turned by a small electric motor (same power requirements as a few teakettles, we're told) and the gondlas stay level thanks to wheels within the wheel. The rotation takes 5 minutes, and then the barges sail ou

So, if you were applying for a heat, I wonder which you would choose......


More about Landscape Artist of the Year
on MAM and by participants

Series 11 - to be broadcast early 2026

Series 10 - broadcast early 2025

Posted by Making A Mark on Sunday, June 15, 2025 0 comments
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Saturday, June 14, 2025

A new Judge for Landscape Artist of the Year!

FINALLY! One small step after very many moans over very many months and years.

We have a new Judge for Landscape Artist of the Year. Kate Bryan has stepped away!!!

Plus they have announced the new Judge - who is Eva Langret, Director of Frieze - of which more below. Note: tomorrow I'll be discussing locations for the new series.

At Dover Castle: the new Judge Eva Langret (in yellow)
with Kathleen Soriano, Tai Shan Shierenberg and presenter Stephen Mangan

Kate Bryan no longer judging LAOTY

We can speculate as to the reasons why - but this is what has been said....

This is what she said
After ten incredible and memorable years on the show, it feels like the right moment to hand over the baton. It’s been a privilege to be part of something that means so much to so many people and to witness such extraordinary talent from the wildcards to the artists to the exceptional crew that make it all possible. Eva is a wonderful addition, and I can’t wait to see how the series evolves with fresh eyes on the panel. I am delighted to be still be continuing with Portrait Artist of the Year alongside my brilliant fellow judges, Tai and Kathleen.”
Press releases are often designed to obscure the reason why.
I’d like to thank Kate for a) opening up arts criticism to me and our millions of devoted Landscape Artist of the Year viewers, b) looking windswept and interesting at all the sunny and not so sunny locations she’s travelled to as a brilliant judge on the show, and c) being a total delight to work with.
Kate is a real expert in her field – she wears it lightly and communicates brilliantly, opening up the visual arts in an intelligent and accessible way. The Landscapes will miss her, but luckily for us she’ll continue to lend us her eyes and ears on Portrait Artist of the Year for which we are grateful.

Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted at Sky 

NO we're not. Many regular viewers would be very happy if the very obviously bossy and on occasions completely inarticulate Kate stepped away completely and waved Bye Bye forever.

I'm not going to labour this, but would merely ask
  • how many times has she browbeat the others into going with her choice?
  • how many times has she come out with "bryanisms" - words which are not recognisable in the lexicon of terms for describing art?
Personal theory - she's pregnant and is happy to do judging at Battersea - which means sleeping at home every night - but no longer wants to travel with a small child at home and another on the way - which would be compoletely understandable. Or just the latter minus the pregnancy.

About the new Judge: Eva Langret

READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Saturday, June 14, 2025 0 comments
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Thursday, June 12, 2025

Cedric Morris at Philip Mould Gallery

I gather that a number of people have now been to see "Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End" at the Philip Mould Gallery at 18-19 Pall Mall (immediately opposite the Reform Club!) until 18th June 2025 - and liked it very much!

Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End

I saw it on Tuesday morning this week. The oil paintings are well worth viewing in terms of an artist who loved his plants and loved painting them. They also have enormous impact.

Benton End - his house and garden were also home to the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing established in 1937, which Lucian Freud joined in 1939.

Guest-curated by James Horner, Head Gardener at Benton End, the exhibition brings together works that have played a key role in the revival of Morris’s historic Suffolk garden.

Benton End, a sixteenth-century house near Hadleigh, was the home of Morris and his lifelong partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). From this remarkable setting, the pair ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing – a place where art, horticulture, and community thrived side by side. With its free-flowing spirit, open-minded ethos, and rejection of academic conventions, Benton End became a haven for creative freedom. Many artists, including a young Lucian Freud, acknowledged that it was here where their true artistic identities first took root.

The works to revive the garden have been ongoing for some time and there's about another year to go. We have mentally made a date to visit Benton End - now a subsidiary of the Garden Museum - in Spring 2026 when hopefully the garden renovation will be complete and the irises will have returned and blooming again. Plus also see where Lucian Freud started out on his artistic career.

More oil paintings of flowers from the garden of Cedric Morris at Benton End

I'm putting an album of my photographs of the paintings in the gallery on Facebook and will come back and insert a link when I've done that


However I highly RECOMMEND that you download the excellent catalogue from the website and salivate over the paintings and the story of Cedric Morris in front of your computer.

CLICK HERE to download the exhibition handbook

See also 
PS You can also see drawings and paintings by some early 20th century artists in the display in the basement - including 
  • a wonderful painting of Tenerife by Cedric Morris (who will have been there for the plants!)
  • a drawing by Augustus John. A snip at ££38,500
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, June 12, 2025 0 comments
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Plantae 2025 - 40th Anniversary Exhibition by the Society of Botanical Artists

For all those interested in botanical art, I've been immersed in Plantae 2025 for the last couple of weeks. This was the 40th Anniversary Exhibition at the Mall Galleries by the Society of Botanical Artists.

Some of the hardworking and amazing team of SBA members who made it all happen

Botanical art largely disappeared off this blog 10 years ago after I developed my Botanical Art and Artists website - which is now #1 in the world for botanical art (coming up to 4 million visits). However I remind people reading this blog about it from time to time! Not least because of the very skilled paintings and drawings produced by very many botanical artists

Plantae 2025 - the Society of Botanical Artists' 40th Anniversary Exhibition

I've compiled various photo albums on Facebook and written three blog posts about it.

These are the blog posts 

Pretty much the same thing as I do for other societies exhibiting at the Mall - with a bit more detail.
You can find the albums of photos on my Botanical Art and Artists Facebook Page
Which have had the most amazing reception internationally.....



Posted by Making A Mark on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 0 comments
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Tuesday, June 10, 2025

The Coronation Portraits and The King's Tour Artists - at Buckingham Palace

Charles III and Camilla - the Coronation Portraits

This post is about:

  • my comments on the Coronation Portraits
  • how to see the Coronation Portraits in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace
  • a new exhibition in the Throne Room about those artists who have been commissioned to go on an official tour with King Charles (or Prince of Wales as he was then) - and the artwork they have produced. Which I may well visit as he has a good choice in artists who have accompanied him in the past

The Coronation Portraits

I said on Facebook that I'd leave comments until I had seen them up closely - and now I have!

Last week, I visited the National Gallery - ostensibly to see the new entrance. I'd completely forgotten that the Coronation Portraits were on display - so coming across them was something of a surprise.

I have also posted my photos in a post on Facebook so if you want to see larger versions of the images in this post, that's where to go.

Otherwise, if you want to see them, you now need to visit the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace when the tours of the Palace reopen on 10th July (until 28th September). Whatever you do, do NOT get tickets from third parties which are often much more expensive. Instead click the link above which takes you direct to the Royal Collection Page and the basic cost of tickets which are not cheap - but not excessive as third party ones are.

Tickets also give you access to the exhibition in the throne room of 70 paintings executed by artists who have accompanied the King over the course of the last 40 years when he has been on Royal Tours. Of which more below.....

The Coronation Portraits

The Coronation Portraits in the National Gallery

What do I think of the Coronation Portraits? Pretty much the same as most people

  • two different styles - but within the range acceptable for royal portraits i.e. realistic and a bit painterly
  • hers is better than his
  • there is something wrong with the proportions in the King's portrait
  • the symbolism within the portraits is interesting
The main point to make is we are of course talking about PAINTED portraits of the individuals in their coronation robes. It's much more usual these days, for portraits to be photographic ones. Indeed the most famous one of Queen Elizabeth II was a photographic portrait by Cecil Beaton who produced a masterful image.

Different styles


The two different styles thing is easy to accommodate. 
READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 0 comments
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Thursday, June 05, 2025

Selected Artists for Portrait Award 2025 at the National Portrait Gallery

46 portraits have been selected for the HSFK Portrait Award 2025 at the National Portrait Gallery. Want to see some of them before the exhibition opens? READ ON!
Those selected for inclusion in the exhibition were chosen from 1,314 submissions entered by artists from 60 countries.   
For me, it just goes to show how changing the people doing the selection changes the focus and the preferences of those judging. Many of the names I'm used to seeing on a fairly regular basis have not been selected - although some have. 

Those that are here again are very good. However, I think it might be the lowest number of previous exhibitors for some time.

We'll have to wait until the exhibition to see whether the choices made make for a better exhibition than usual - or otherwise!

The Portrait Award exhibition is at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 10 July - 12 October 2025. It used to travel but I think that has stopped with the change in sponsor.

I do this preview of who gets selected to help those who will be applying next year.
  • the link in their name is to their website
  • plus I include their Instagram account where identifiable
  • I embed Instagram posts of their artwork where possible.
It follows on my post Shortlist for the £66K HSFK Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery - and I have not repeated information about the artists shortlisted for prizes in this post.
 
I've been reviewing this exhibition on Making A Mark since 2006 and I'll be at the Awards Ceremony in July. I'll also be publishing a review of the exhibition and pics of artists with their paintings. For all those artists who want a pic with their painting in this blog, make sure you find me on at the press review the following morning!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Artists who describe themselves as "shortlisted" for this exhibition - but who are not listed in my previous post are deceiving themselves and others. It makes you look amateurish. The only artists "shortlisted" are those who will win a prize. Everybody else is SELECTED.

Selected Artists Portrait Award 2025


Images being used to advertise the Portrait Award Exhibition
- which is a prize in itself!

The selected artists exhibiting in THE Portrait Award are, in alphabetical order:
READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, June 05, 2025 0 comments
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Tuesday, June 03, 2025

Shortlist for the £66K HSFK Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery

This is about the three artists shortlisted for the 43rd edition of its prestigious annual Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London. 
The three shortlisted portraits are:
  • Cliff, Outreach Worker (2024) by Tim Benson
  • A Life Lived (2024) by Moira Cameron
  • Memories (2024) by Martyn Harris
....of which more below 

(PS I've been distracted by other things going on for some days hence why this is late.)

This year’s shortlist was 
  • selected from over 1,314 anonymous entries from around the world, 
  • with 46 portraits in total chosen for final display 
  • in a free exhibition open from 10 July to 12 October 2025
Since its inception, the competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people.
Prizes are:
  • 1st prize of £35,000
  • 2nd prize winner will receive £12,000 
  • 3rd prize winner will receive £10,000
  • the winner of the Young Artist Award will receive £9,000. This award aims to profile talent and help support the career development of a young artist.
A commission will also be awarded to an artist in a new arrangement which I very much like. My guess is it will significantly help the commission team when trying to match sitter to artist. It's always been the case in the past that those who have exhibited in the Portrait Award might be asked to do a commission.
  • this is now a bi-annual award, 
  • all artists chosen to exhibit in 2024 and 2025’s Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for this commission.
Judges included:
  • Professor Dorothy Price FBA - art historian and academic at The Courtauld Institute of Art;
  • Maggi Hambling - visual artist; (her portraits for the NPG include one of my favourites Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin)
  • Peter Brathwaite - opera singer, artist and writer; 
  • Rosie Broadley - Joint-Head of Curatorial and Senior Curator of 20th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery
  • Rosie Wilson - NPG Director of Programmes and Partnerships, 
READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Tuesday, June 03, 2025 0 comments
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