Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 11 (2026)

This is the first of my (very long) reviews of the eleventh series of Landscape Artist of the Year in 2026. I've watched and reviewed every series of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018. 

This review follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.

• the location and weather
• the artists' profiles
• themes arising during the episode
• who was shortlisted and who won

However I do have a couple of important preambles and information about the commission before we start.

If you want to make sure you get every review of every episode in this series, might I suggest you review my page about how to subscribe - absolutely for free.

Preamble - about the "Landscape Artist of the Year" programme

The episodes are broadcast at 8pm every Wednesday evening on Sky Arts (on Freeview Channel 36 and Sky and Now TV).

• The Series has 9 episodes in total (6 Heats + semi-final + Final + Commission)
• There are nine different locations comprising -
• 48 artists are selected from "c.2,000 applications".
• Each selected artist arrives with their submission landscape (which I will keep coming back to repeatedly regarding its importance)
• Eight of these artists compete in each heat on location in a pod 
• Each artist has 4 hours to paint the location landscape the artists are given - from the pod they are assigned (unless you rebel as some have done in the past - and turn round / wander off / etc!)
• Six Heats are held at each of the six locations which were filmed last summer in the 
• Lake District (Derwent Water and one other location)
• London (St James Park and The Thames from HMS Wellington, London)
• Dover (Dover Castle, Kent and Dover Ferry Point, Kent)
• as has happened in the past there are urban structures than landscapes.
• 50 wildcard artists also attend each heat - although we see very little of them
• Three pod artists are shortlisted and their submission artwork and heat painting are considered together
• The Judges have changed since the last series - see below
• the winner of each heat moves forward to the semi-finals
• The Semi Final and Final look as if they will be at two very big structures
• The Ouse Valley Viaduct, West Sussex
• Falkirk Wheel, Scotland
• In the Semi-Final all the heat winners and one or more wildcard winners will compete for the three places in the final
• The three Finalists produce two paintings - a commission (prior to the final) and a painting in the Final - in 4 hours. 
• One artist is chosen as Landscape Artist of the Year
• The Winner receives a £10,000 commission to produce a landscape artwork for a nationally important museum or art gallery 

The Series 11 Commission

The £10,000 Commission Prize for 2026 is to create a landscape of Ireland's Holy Mountain, the pyramid shaped Croagh Patrick - an important pilgrimage site in County Mayo, in Ireland.

Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland - the subject of the commission

Croagh Patrick, nicknamed 'the Reek', is a mountain with a height of 764 m and an important site of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Ireland. The mountain has a pyramid-shaped peak and overlooks Clew Bay, rising above the village of Murrisk, several kilometres from Westport. It has long been seen as a holy mountain.

The painting commissioned (by Sky Arts) will be on view in The National Gallery in Dublin after the series finishes being broadcast in the Spring 2027.

What we need to know about the Commission

THE VERY BIG QUESTION FOR ME

Do the Judges KNOW what the commission subject is going to be when the heats starta and they start selecting "the best artist"? 

• I would have thought you would have to - in order to be able to make sensible decisions for the "client commission". Note that I'm working on a "horses for courses" principle here. (i.e. you're probably NOT going to choose a portrait artist for a major landscape commission. However within landscapes, people also have preferences - expressed by their output eg urban vs rural; structures vs land) 
• Surely - in principle - EVERY finalist ought to be somebody who could do a very good job of the commission?
• However, a recent conversation I had suggested that might NOT be the case.....

I think this is something that needs to be spelt out.... 

Maybe in this next series being filmed this summer...???

Surely the whole scope (the locations) and intent (who are the best artists?) of the ENTIRE LAOTY Series should be focused on who is the best artist to deliver the Commission?

You would think so wouldn't you.....?

Preamble - about my reviews

For those unfamiliar with the way I review, first a little bit about me. I retired early and have been writing this top 10 art blog in the UK for the last 20 years - and I'm now 71!

I like to provide a comprehensive perspective on what I review.

• Hence, my posts tend to be VERY LONG and packed full of CONTENT and some TIPS - and there's a few winners of Artist of the Year series who have thanked me profusely for what they read before they participated!!
• I also like to say what I think
• I often won't say exactly what I think about artwork in the heats as I have absolutely no beef with any of the artists.
• If I make critical comments they tend to be generic, oblique and anonymous
• ....until we get to the shortlists and near to the final. That's because there's a £10,000 prize at stake and I have always adopted the philosophy on this blog - in relation to art competitions - of saying exactly what I think about artwork winning prizes of that magnitude.
• I also say exactly what I think about 
• the way the programme is made; and 
• how the judges judge. That's because they're paid to do their job by Sky Arts and they need to be professional and do it well - for the viewing public 
• but also because there's been a LOT OF CRITICISM by the viewing public in recent years. Notably about some of the extremely silly locations and views and some of the judging and language used!

Some of what I say is often a repeat of what I have said in previous years - for all thoe coming to the programme and my blog for the first time.

• I do recommend people read my previous reviews before they participate in the programme!
• You can access my previous reviews of ALL the episodes of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018 on my Art on Television page.

I have always welcomed contributions on both the programme and my comments from the viewing public and 

• you can find me posting links to my reviews on my Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/ where the reviews tend to get lots of comments. 
• I also include extracts from public comments by different individuals from my various LAOTY posts on Facebook in my blog posts

I am really appreciative of those who say they now look forward to my review as much as they do the programme!

(I apologise for no comments facility on the blog. This is because it ranks very highly in Google and became a BIG target for spammers, In the end it just got very tedious weeding out all the spam and so I had to close comments down!)

Right - on with the show!

Episode 1: Derwent Water (Lake District)

Location and Weather

Absolutely glorious view and glorious weather!!
Landscape Artist of the Year Pods in front of Derwent Water and Lakeland Fells
plus wildcards and the public

This new series starts - as always - with the most fantastic and impressive location of the whole series.  In this instance, I think everyone would agree it's also the most fantastic landscape they've ever had since they started filming these series and probably some of the best weather too!

In this case it's Derwent Water - the third biggest lake in the Lake District in Cumbria, which is located very near to the town of Keswick.

Derwentwater is a place of considerable scenic value. It is surrounded by hills (known locally as fells), and many of the slopes facing Derwentwater are extensively wooded Wikipedia

This is also an excellent choice given the nature of the commission ie Croagh Patrick which is 764 m (2,507 ft) high. 

Behold! The whole of Derwent Water in the Lake District
with the pods on the shoreline at the bottom of the picture

The series was recorded last summer - which, of course was very good - so hopefully more sunshine and less rain this year. It was a very fine day with excellent light. They had sun and high cloud for most of the day - making both the skies and lake surface more interesting. Plus the hills and ancient woodland was very clear.

(Note: They don't appear to have updated the Sky Arts page for the new series as yet.)

The Usual Suspects + 1

At last a change in the Judges! I covered this in my post last summer A new Judge for Landscape Artist of the Year!

The Judges are:

• Old Judges: Kathleen Soriano and Tai Shan Schierenberg
• New Judge: Eva Langret who is the Director of Frieze and Vice Chair of Camden Art Centre. She has a MA in Art History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. In some ways her career path is not dissimilar to Kathleen's.

plus

• Presenter: Just the one - Stephen Mangan. I see Stephen's grey hair has been visiting the hairdresser and the dye bottle again... (Aside: What is it with men these days? I think I see more and more dyed hair on men's heads on television these days!)

Stephen Mangan, Kathleen Soriano, Tai Shan Shierenberg and Eva Langret

So far things are looking pretty good on the change of judge. As one person put it on my Facebook Page

I was pleasantly surprised. She actually commented on the media used, the composition, and the technique and the general approach of each artist. All in ordinary, understandable, everyday language. Allelujah! Lesley Waring

I too was impressed by the scope of her comments and the fact that for the most part she kept everything pretty much plain speaking. Does this means the "made up words" and "high falutin" language has gone for good?

The Artists in the Pods

Episode 1 pod artists are listed BELOW in the alphabetical order of their surnames.

• including a synopsis of their background
• Links to their websites (if they have one) are embedded in their names.
• Social media platforms are also referenced - but typically only one

BIG TIP FOR ALL ARTISTS

• Make sure you get your website and social media sites licked into shape before your episode is broadcast. You won't regret it. 
• I also rather suspect that allocation of artists to locations is influenced by what sort of artwork you have on your website and what you say about what you like painting.
• By and large my profiles below are based on your "about me" page on your website and sometimes quote verbatim

Artists after they have finished

• Andy Cropper (Instagram) - Andy came to study painting at Sheffield Hallam in the 1990's and has continued to live in Sheffield since then. His particular interest is the cityscapes and landscapes of Sheffield with a particular focus on the night-time city. He's got a really interesting about page. His work is represented in the collection of Sheffield Museums.
• Kevin Day (Instagram) - He has been a full time artist in Newcastle for nearly 20 years. Like many artists, he has drawn and painted his whole life. He now paints predominantly in oils mostly on site in front of the subject and his paintings often incorporate people. The main body of his work is city scenes landscapes, portraits and more narrative studio pieces. His website indicates he has previously painted in the Lake District.
• Kim Day (Instagram) - She lives on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset and works as a freelance concept artist for the film and television industry. She has a BA Hons Fine Arts painting degree and a Masters from the NFTS | Royal College of Art in Design for Film. She works on Saunders Waterford 638gsm papers or stretched Linen with Acrylics, compressed charcoals and pastels pencils and pens, combining each medium to add variation to her mark making and colour quality.
• Judy Flanagan (Instagram) - Awarded a BA Hons in Art & Design in 1993. Currently a landscape artist living in Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire. She works in oils and acrylics from her home studio. Exhibits regularly in and around Beverley and the East Riding. She is drawn to wide open spaces—coastlines, moorlands, meadows, and woodlands—where light, weather, and the seasons influence the colours, atmosphere, and textures
• Rosie Good (Instagram) Rosie Good studied at the Byam Shaw and the Royal Academy of Arts under artists such as Norman Ackroyd and Peter Freeth who have both had a lasting influence on her work. She has had work exhibited at the Royal Academy in the Summer exhibition, the Premiums and as a postgraduate at the RA Schools show. When she lived in London she used to do urban landscapes - but now lives in Sussex where she has begun to turn to the landscape and history of the downs and the south coast.
• David Garratt (Instagram) David trained and then worked as an illustrator for a number of years. He then trained as an art teacher before being ordained as a Priest in the Church of England. He now combines working part time as a school Chaplain with painting. His preferred medium is acrylic, and his subject matter involves finding the shapes, patterns, colours and designs in landscapes and natural forms. David had a landscape exhibited in the RBA Annual Exhibition last year. Interestingly his website tells me that he had preciously painted Derwent Water in 2022.
• Callum Howatt-Tracy (Instagram) - He describes himself as "a diligent creative who is interested in animation, illustration, and design".  He is graduarted with an MA Illustration & Sequential Design at University of Brighton, with a focus on watercolour and animation in 2024. He also works at Arts University Bournemouth supporting the Animation BA Hons as a Technician Demonstrator and he is also a freelance Animator/Illustrator.
• Wan Lin Qin - I cannot find a website. Most of her activity seems to be on TikTok. She grew up in the USA and was then raised in Canada. She graduated from L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and now lives in London, where she studies spiritual healing with the Harry Edwards Foundation. I found her to be a complete conundrum.

The Wildcard Artists

Wildcards Walking!

As usual, the 50 wildcards turned up after the artists were in their pods. They brought with them all the "stuff" they would need for the day - easels, chairs, ground sheets, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, all sorts of art media, all sorts of sustenance to keep them going....

As usual, the wildcards demonstrated far more innovation in the use of different media. We saw tapestries and the use of welsh wool for (I think) felting.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sky Arts Artist Of The Year (@artistoftheyear)

Submissions

There is no "wall of submissions" in LAOTY any more.

• The Submission Painting is now located in the pod with the artist. 
• That makes it very difficult to assess them together as a group. 
• However I guess the relocation means the Judges tend to look at both together for longer

Wat also happens now is that ONE individual Judge sits down with each artist to discuss their submission - which is a definite improvement. Before we had guesswork from Judges and now they have an opportunity for clarification of any matter they wanted to comment on.

On this Season 11 page on the Artist of the Year website you can see 

• ALL the submissions - by artist - but with no scale to help you compare. You can only make an assessment via this Instagram post of each artist with their submission painting - but even then you are seeing it in the context of the size and height of that artist. 
• the Vimeo Videos of each artist painting their heat painting

I'll doubtless return to my often repeated comment in the future and at length that the submission is a critical factor in demonstrating whether or not you are ready to complete a commission. As in, nobody expects a commission to be painted in four hours! So the heat painting counts for less than the submission in my eyes.

In my view we still need a proper comparable view of all submissions by size.

For example, this was by far the biggest submission - of a size commensurate with a commission - but we can't see that easily from what we are shown.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rosie Good (@rosiegood_art)

Themes & Learning Points

Every week, in my review, I highlight what I observed as being some of the themes arising from the location, the day and the nature of the artists in this week's episode.

Which comes first - the commission or the locations?

To me this was the absolutely perfect location for identifying artists who could tackle the subject of the eventual commission.

I've highlighted above - in the Commission section - my "chicken and egg" concerns about which comes first - the commission or the locations.

So much scenery!!!

When faced with so much scenery, it's absolutely critical to find the one bit of scenery which you respond to most - both visually and emotionally. 

Otherwise you are going to constantly feel overwhelmed - and/or tempted - ALL THE TIME.  It does not make for enjoyable painting. But find "your bit" and zero in on it and it all starts to become much more manageable and you stop looking at the rest.

I saw some artists making intelligent use of "scene finders" which anybody can make. It just involves having some very stiff card (mount board offcuts work really well for this) and then cutting out small apertures of with specific aspect ratios e.g. 4:3, 16:9, 5:4, 1:1 - or the one that fits with the size and ratio of the frames you like to use.

Use of a card which provides different aspect ratio cutouts

TIP: I learned very early on that it's also VERY expensive making art if you don't think before you start about how it might be framed and consequently which are your preferred aspect ratios - and which one might be best for your intended subject matter! Saves a LOT of money when you can use standard size frames for standard aspects rather than needing to have tailored as one-offs by a framer to your very specific and very odd sizing. 

So use a standard aspect ratio aperture card and you can relate what you can see to frames you already own or use!

Capturing Light

Capturing the viewer's attention is often all about how you treat the light in a painting. 

Given it was a very sunny day, I was amazed that about half the artwork didn't suggest this to me. Indeed some looked as if it had been decidedly cloudy all day.  I was a bit gobsmacked at the end when Tai suggested that he got a distinct sense of light.

"I get a sense of a real understanding of light here" Tai van Shierenberg

Three examples of use of light in different ways

• Judy Flanagan created an effective composition and included very strong light on the right handside - which drew the eye immediately. However I was disappointed by the backlit island which maybe should have had deeper tonal shades, which would also have helped enhance the pattern of light. Even before the light moved, the island was several tonal shades darker than the fells behind.

Painting of Derwent Water by Judy Flanagan

• The difference in tonal values was more clearly illustrated in Andy Cropper's painting - which made the island a more distinct entity - with clear distance between the island and the fells (even though you can't see it). His water was also a good example of how you don't need smooth horizonatal strokes to indicate the various tonal shapes of light on the water.

Derwent Water by Andy Cropper

• David Garrett also used the light to create a tonal coloured pattern of shapes which described the nature of the landforms and how the sky related to the lake. It was a bright painting which suggested a bright day.

Working with different media

Some of the artists were working with dry media - pastels, coloured pencils, graphite, charcoal etc. - which was good to see. It would be great to see more people demonstrating what dry media can do (says the dry media lover!)

Interestingly I think only two people (Kim Day and Rosie Good) - who both reached the shortlist - also demonstrated real understanding and skill in the scope and use of dry media.

I liked the fact we did get some close-ups of how they had used media in different ways and sometimes got the action of the hand. 

Working with stencils

David Garrett demonstrated how useful stencils can be for achieving clean lines and distinct separation between different shapes and colour patterns. He obviously liked clean straight lines - but the principle of using stencils could apply to any sort of line or shape.

I don't often see stencils being used in this competition - which suggests to me more people might make constructive use of them to 

• speed up some aspects of their work
• while also keeping colours clean as artists try to refine edges.

David Garrett's painting of Derwent Water

A very awkward judgement on reflection

One comment stood out for me as a bit of a bloomer! Plus also an illustration of WHY this programme needs to incorporate more educational content from proper artists.

Kathleen's comment on David's painting included this

"I really like how the diagonal that moves across the water is echoed in the diagonal that moves across the sky." Kathleen Soriano

This is a prime example of having Judges who may know art but do NOT know landscape painting or some of the technical aspects that landscape artists you need to know about.

• On a perfectly calm day, the water acts almost like a mirror, creating a clear, nearly perfect reflection of the sky and anything above it.
• Whatever is in the sky is reflected in the water underneath - as in "reflected" as the water becomes further away from your viewpoint and creates a reflective surface.
• Deeper, clearer water - such as that found in the lakes which were formerly glaciers in the Lake District - is much more likely to show reflections of the sky above it when viewed from a distance.
• The patterns ALWAYS start with the sky. The sky never echoes what is going on in the water - as suggested in Kathleen's comment.
• The color and intensity of the sky influence the reflection. 
• A clear blue sky results in a blue reflection, 
• while an overcast sky creates a gray or muted reflection

This is a prime example of how this programme could be MUCH IMPROVED by having artists who can highlight specific technical aspects that landscape painters need to know about.

Education content and the viewers' comments

I always read through all the viewers' comments on the Facebook posts on the Artist of the Year Facebook Page. Many of whom are bemoaning any artwork which deviates from a precise representation of the scene. 

It struck me yet again at the start of the new series, that one of my very real concerns about this series is the way it fails to impart ANY education about art to its viewers. 

The views of viewers are not their fault. Many have not had any education in art and know no better. 

For example, many have never heard of the Principles and Elements of Art eg see The Seven Principles of Art | BBC Maestro - which is one useful way of assessing different aspects of any painting.

A useful analogy is to think of the 'elements' as being the ingredients part of a recipe for success and the 'principles' as being the method part. Miss out either and you can't bake a cake or make a picture which fulfils conventional western ideals of what a picture should look like. Some of the ingredients affect the 'flavour' of the piece while others are intrinsic to the structure and body of the work. Composition - the Elements of Design

The principles of art are the guidelines artists use to organize the elements of art (like line, shape, color) to create a successful composition, focusing on how elements are arranged for visual effect, with common principles including Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Rhythm, Proportion, Contrast, Unity, and Variety, which help an artwork feel stable, interesting, or complete. Essentially, elements are the ingredients, while principles are the recipe for how to combine them. (Google AI)

The result is any deviation from a totally realistic representation (which they understand) tends to get defined as "abstract" - which it is not!

EXAMPLE: Better explanation/commentary would also help viewers understand why very many of them liked Kevin Day's painting - which incorporated an adult and child standing at the water's edge. In landscape painting, including people was technically called "staffage" and was used by the likes of many great landscape painters of the past to illustrate scale - and the height and grandeur of the scenery - as well as other reasons.  (Read Christies A guide to the art of staffage in Old Master paintings and Staffage by Robert Genn)

In addition, the use of people enables the viewer to enter the world portrayed by the painting - to imagine themselves there.

In this instance, I'd have to agree with Kathleen that idea is fine but the scale is off (i.e. they are too big, which then diminishes the grandeur!) The adult is probably about double the size they should be.

Kevin Day's painting of Derwent Water

It is so frustrating to see an opportunity to help people understand art better squandered by a failure to think about how learning can be developed by the contributions made by the Judges. Except none of the Judges are teachers so should we be critical of that?

I'm critical of Sky Arts for producing a purely entertainment programme - when they could have developed a programme which inspires people to get more involved in art. 

As in what I said earlier this week How Pottery Throwdown is a better programme than Artist of the Year

Decision Time

The Wildcard Winner

The wildcard winner was Ginger Ramsden, a mixed media artist from Dunkeld in the Scottish Highlands living with sight loss. She draws and makes art despite being registered as having a sight impairment.

Over the last 10 years she has worked to mitigate the impact of her sight loss on her creative endeavours. She regularly experiments with magnification tools, adaptive lighting, and high-contrast colour palettes to enhance visibility.

The Heat Paintings

The eight heat paintings

Above are the heat paintings lined up at the end of the four hours. Then we move to the announcement of the shortlist. 

Announcement of the shortlist

You can see a photo of each artist with their heat painting on this Instagram Post on the Artist of the Year account.

It's always been my practice, to assess all the paintings, by looking at them within the context of the the standard size of the easel they are sitting one. It tells you a lot. However now we have artist and the heat artwork, we can only measure against the size of the artist. Which of course varies a lot.

I though Eva made a very astute comment about all the artists when she said that a number of the artists were not used to this type of scenery but that everyone had risen to the challenge and adapted their approaches to artmaking 

I'd add that some were more successful than others and can see better how to identify and make a compelling artwork when faced with "so much scenery".

They were very complimentary about David Garbutt and I was rather surprised not to see him in the shortlist.

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The Shortlist

The shortlist selected from this week's artists were:

• Kim Day 
• Andy Cropper
• Rosie Good

Shortlisted artwork
(left to right) Kim Day, Andy Cropper, Rosie Good)

Below are the submission and heat paintings for each artist and commentary on their artwork.

I always look at the size of the paintings with a view to assessing who looked most likely to deliver a commissioned piece. Rosie Good delivered on that score through her submission.

Kim Day

Submission and heat artwork by Kim Day

As indicated earlier...

She works on Saunders Waterford 638gsm papers or stretched Linen with Acrylics, compressed charcoals and pastels pencils and pens, combining each medium to add variation to her mark making and colour quality.

In essence, she starts with the big shapes as tonal colours and then adds smaller marks (using I think acrylic markers) which lend and suggest detail

• Tai was very impressed by her artwork seen together. He thought it was brilliant.
• Eva liked the overall harmonious colour palettes of both artworks. She also picked up on the fact that Kim had identified and used the purple and pink undertones on the fells.
• Generally they were all very impressed by her use of colour and the way she filled her paper with landscape. Her subject didn't drop off or peter out.

I thought the combination of colour shapes as a base with markmaking on top in terms of either a sweep of soft pastel or small marks made by acrylic pens was particularly effective. Plus she really understands colour and how to combine them.

I would describe her as being accurate without being literal. I just wish she worked rather bigger.

Andy Cropper

Submission and heat artwork by Andy Cropper

Kathleen was enthusiastic about his markmaking to create the surface of the water and delighted in the sketchiness of his mountains. Eva put it differently, in a way which was both descriptive in plain speak and sounded as if she liked it

"There's a certain economy in the gesture, but it works, it functions"

His submission definitely had impact though - although whether I'd want it on a wall is another matter.  I was surprised by how a committed urban landscape painter like Andy adapted to such a very rural and "big" scene. I liked the sketchiness of his paint handling. It was so much less hard edged than his urban landscape. 

I liked the way Andy got all the island in but set it against the backdrop of the fells. I have to say I found the bottom 20% of Andy's heat painting to be very confused. I'm not sure it added anything. I'd have rather his canvas had covered 20% more at the top given the interesting skies.

Rosie Good

Submission and heat drawing by Rosie Good

Rosie's artworks were by far the biggest of the submissions and the heat paintings. To me that spoke of someone who was well capable of taking on a £10,000 commission.

Tai suggested that Rosie chooses to draw where the manmade meets the organic and overlooked. I thought that a better summary of her submission than her drawing of the boat jetties to the left of the pods. Eva liked the sense of time in both artworks - which again for me related to her submission better than her heat artwork.

I rather liked the bit of a sense of a whirlpool in both artworks - that there was an internal dynamic which kept your eye moving around the paper in a circular motion. There was such a lot to see.

I was a bit concerned by her preference for one colour palette for both artworks. That suggests that if she did a third one, it would be the same palette - but in different proportions.

I really liked her mark making and the layered approach. The comment on her "showing all her workings" was apt to me.

Her work will be particularly appreciated by those who like markmaking and drawings (me!) and less so by those who like paintings with clear definition! As several of the viewers remarked in different ways.

Heat Winner

The Winner of this heat was Kim Day who will join seven other heat winners in the Semi-Final.

Kim Day on the left on hearing she has won

Kim Day with her submission

Her artworks were described as 

• having a delicious sense of colour.
• providing a sense of place
• responded to the majesty and statute of the place while interpreting it according to her own way of seeing things

Which to me sounds like a very likely candidate for the Final - but we are, of course, at a very early stage if we think what the commission is about.

Derwent Water by Kim Day

She has print copies of her submission and her heat painting on her website. On her instagram she said

It's a slightly crazy feeling watching myself win the heat tonight, all the paintings were of such a high standard, just beautiful work. I had such a memorable day and I really enjoyed seeing all the paintings more clearly on this uplifting program.

I just wanted to congratulate all the other artists, I hope we all find new adventures in our painting journey after this brilliant shared experience!

Thank you to all @storyvaultfilms for making it such a relaxed and enjoyable day. @artistoftheyear  Kim Day

 

Next Week

The location next week is St James’s Park, in central London. It  is the oldest of the Royal Parks, is located inbetween Horse Guards and Buckingham Palace. It has a lot of grass, a lot of trees and a lake with a lot of birds on it!

I am however left wondering where they found the flat ground for the pods!

Here's one of my sketches of St James Park looking straight down the Lake from Horseguards to Buckingham Palace.

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

32" x 12", coloured pencils in double page spread of sketchbook

from Drawing trees in St James Park

Reference

For all those interested in entering the series which will be filmed this summer (during June/July) - I will be writing a blog post in the near future about Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 12).  (Note: It will be very similar to
Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11)

The deadline for submission is NOON on Friday 8th May 2026 - and entries are ONLY accepted online.

You can read past reviews of the Landscape Series of the Year which very many artists have said they have found helpful. See my Art on Television Page which:

• lists all reviews I've published for series episodes broadcast between 2018 and 2024
• together with the topics / themes /TIPS I identified in each episode.

In future episodes I will be listing links back to the episodes in Series 11 so far.

The programme is broadcast by Sky Arts ( available on Sky, Now TV and Channel 36 on Freeview) and the films are made by Storyvault Films.