UPDATE: Artist of the Year 2026 Heat 2

A few updates following my visit to the afternoon session of the second heat of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 at Battersea Arts Centre yesterday.

• numbers attending have increased a LOT since I last went to a heat. 
• I have lots of photos of the heat - which will NOT be posted until this episode is televised - except for a couple which are nothing to do with the art (see below). 
• They will enable all those applying for 2027 to see what it's really like when in terms of the other people on the set in the three "cheeses" (ie segments of the set)
• IMPORTANT NOTE: All those attending are welcome to take photos but are asked not to post them until after the episodes aired - so as not to spoil the episodes for viewers.
• I spotted one post on X yesterday by somebody who attended Heat 1 - who obviously hadn't got the message. I showed it to the Sky Arts people who will be contacting her.
• The era of long flowery dresses appears to be well and truly over. Yesterday we had short and very short pant suits and short socks (re The NEW Portrait Artist of the Year Judges)

front to back: The JUDGES: Katy Hessel, Eva Langret, Jonathan Yeo

• I will be making lengthy comments on colour and tone re this heat.
• I am surprised to report that Jonathan Yeo makes some very sound points.
• The Judges are generally quietly spoken and it's very difficult to hear what they say - so if you're going to future heats, I recommend you get as close as possible to where they stand to hear their comments when judging.
• Heat 2 will cause a major controversy when televised as whatever episode (they never broadcast in the order filmed) 
• the two people operating the Sky Big Boom Rig (the one that does the overhead and perspective shots) are two small women called Rachel and Capri! I was very seriously impressed with their control and navigation.
• This is the Smallrig Phone Rig (this one??) used by the chap taking pics for the Artist of the Year social media pages. 

Smallrig iPhone Rig for video and image capture while holding a mobile phone

• Ferne Cotton will be the Presenter for Landscape Artist of the Year 2027 (and won't appear in Portrait Artist of the Year at all)

the seating area in the very nice cafe

• Practical munching TIP: The ravenous hordes attending the morning session eliminated virtually all food in the very nice cafe at the Battersea Arts Centre. You would be well advised to bring your own lunch if travelling for an afternoon session

That's your lot of the edited highlights of Heat 2!

Life Events: It's been a while.

It's a long time since I've posted, caused by a variety of things. There are three very good reasons why I'm being quiet at the moment.

I needed a break. 

I'm in agony with pain in my lumbar spine at the moment. I sort of know what it is (osteoarthritis attacks for the third time) but that doesn't make it any easier, especially when it translates to sciatica.

Despite the pain I also have two major events to deal with. 

Major upheavals in the kitchen

First, my 1845 1.5" thick plaster ceiling in my kitchen has had to be replaced / replastered / repainted due to a flood from above. The flood was easy to deal with compared to what has had to happen because of it.

The whole process has been extremely unpleasant experience - you would not believe how far tiny particles of very old plaster can travel - or how many times you have to clean to remove them. Moving stuff (ie everything out) is a breeze compared to the cleaning up afterwards.

The ceiling is being repainted tomorrow morning - after which I can move everything back in.

I have to wait for the paint to dry to before I can then finish the cleaning (of the bottom cupboards which I can't reach because of the back and need help to do this!).

Shoulder replacement surgery

I'm still prepping for my shoulder replacement surgery. I need to be at the hospital by 7am on Monday morning.

Major Amazon order for aids went in - and kit arrived this week and I now have a way of getting into and out of bed with only one arm working. In theory I have a way of sitting up in bed to sleep - but that's not working too well.

I've also worked out what I forgot with the first order.

I did a trial walk in my sling yesterday - which is not easy to get on and causes problems when wearing. I cannot get a coat on over it or under it!!! I hope the hospital has a hypoallergenic LARGER version - I need a longer strap to keep it from slipping.

PS If you want to know what I'm faced with try dressing and doing ablutions with one arm/hand only!

I expect I'll start posting again in about a week's time.

A purist approach to media art societies

Every now and again I have a bit of a rant about one of my pet topics - media creep. This is one of them.

An art society is set up to serve a very particular group of artists - including specific media. Media Creep sets in as it the media eligible for use in a society exhibitions starts to become more broad and extended so that definitions of media become "more inclusive".  

I've often thought it's another way of avoiding setting up a society to tackle their particular preferred media.

Here's an example of my previous words on this topic - Acrylic Painting, Art Societies and Education (2022). Plus an extract which just about sums it up

In the UK we have acrylic crossing the oil and watercolour divide - and sometimes forgetting that

• those on the water side should NOT look like oils and
• those on the oil side should NOT look like watercolours.

Maybe it's a question of acrylic painters needing to achieve a much higher profile - in terms of an art society with a very clear focus and its own membership and exhibitions?

As I stated yesterday about the current RI Annual Exhibition

Virtually everybody in this exhibition is using either watercolour or (normal or acrylic) inks.
However 53 artworks are in acrylic. That's 11.5% of the artworks.

First up - I'm very much a "do what it says on the tin" sort of person. So please read this section with this in mind.

My one big gripe about media is that I think every artwork I see in the RI exhibition should demonstrate evidence of WATER. After all, this is a conglomeration of artists who create artwork in WATER COLOURS. The word water is important.

There are a number of artworks in the exhibition whose media description is as follows

Fluid acrylics and heavy body acrylic on wood panel

That to me is a very very long way from being a water colour painting.

A review of other FBA Art Societies

Let's look at some comparisons re FBA Societies - and how they have chosen to address media creep.

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI)

In the past, a few too many artworks in acrylic hung in the annual ROI exhibition - in my opinion. 

Or rather they could have done until the ROI finally outlawed acrylic (after I had a go at the ROI about its name and the media used in its exhibition - and kept repeating it in every review). 

I'm not quite sure when the ROI started to let people submit work in acrylics but I do wish they'd:

• either change their name
• or stick rigidly to this being an exhibition of oil paintings.

I think it's misleading to do otherwise... It needs to be one or the other. I was pleased to see the extremely high percentage of the exhibited work is in oils. Hopefully this is an aspect of the society that can be addressed over time. Review - Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2017

The acrylic painters then started using oils. Which is interesting.

 

The Pastel Society

The Pastel Society developed a  great approach to acrylic.