Do charcoal drawings hang in National Portrait Galleries?

There's a fair few artists who would like to see portraiture embrace a wide range of media for portraits. 

If you, as an individual, are commissioning a portrait then you ca choose the artist you want and the media you would prefer it to be done in. For example, as an ex dry media artist (who used coloured pencils and pastels + pen and ink), I'd probably want mine in dry media.

This is about:

• considerations for commissions of charcoal artwork by National Portrait Galleries
• examples of charcoal drawings 
• in the collection of the NPG
• hung on display in the NPG

Considerations for Commissions by National Portrait Galleries

However, if you are commissioning for an important collection eg a National Portrait Gallery you might encounter a few more considerations relating to hanging, movement and conservation. 

This became a point of discussion on my Facebook Page following publication of my review of Review: Episode 4 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 which was won by Manny Woodard. 

Two portraits by Manny Woodard - displayed in Final of
Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026
(left) Self portrait submission (right) portrait of actress Arti Shah

After the discussion, I took a look at the actual collection of charcoal artworks in the National Portrait Gallery.

Charcoal artwork in the National Portrait Gallery Collection

Here are a few facts

• there are over 220,000 artworks in the collection - dating from the 8th century to the present day
• of these, only 118 are in charcoal
• of these, only 4 are on display.

Which Media wins PAOTY?

The following is a query from my post on Facebook about my review of PAoTY Episode 4 2026

Does this mean the artists are prejudged and precluded from winning by their chosen medium?
Esme Roberts

I decided to go through those who have won and look at the media which has helped them win. To date we have had 

• Oils x 7
• Acrylics / Mixed media x 2(?)
• Charcoal x 1
• Coloured Pencils x 1
• Monochrome Print x 1

Traditional oil paint remains the most dominant winning medium - but Judges have also awarded the win to artists using other media.

However note, from the details below, that not all continue to use their primary media for the £10,000 Commission Portrait. I'm guessing this, in part, depends on which institution the commission is for.

(Note: it remains a mystery as to whether the £10,000 first prize is paid by Sky Arts or the institution. However it's a not untypical artist's fee for a decent size portrait by a portrait artist of repute.)

LINKS BELOW are to 

• either the artist's website 
• or my reviews of the episodes (which started at the end of Series 3)

Media used by PAOTY Winners

Series 1 Nick Lord used Acrylic, Spray Paint, Oil Pastel, Paint Markers on Canvas (?)

• Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC in the Final and Sophie Dahl as his commission
• painted Hilary Mantel for his Commission using  as his commission for the British Library

Series 2: Christian Hook painted 

• Sir Ian McKellen in the National Portrait Gallery and boxer Amir Khan as his commission
• his commission was to paint Alan Cumming for the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland

The internet (but not his website) tells me that he paints using a mix of acrylics, water-based oils, traditional oils, and mixed media.

Waiting to hear who has won, Christian Hook in the middle

Series 3: Gareth Reid used Nitram Charcoal and red Pastel in the Final. He won with a portrait of Tom Courtenay and a Commission painting of The Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb His commission was of Graham Norton and was for the National Gallery of Ireland - so he switched to oils for that.

Series 3 Final Portraits of Sir Tom Courtenay
and the Commission (The Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb)
Nitram Charcoal and pastel
by Gareth Reid

Series 4 Samira Addo won with 

• oil on canvas portraits of Emili Sande and a Finals Commission Zandra Rhodes, the fashion designer for the Fashion and Textile Museum. 
• She then did a portrait of Kim Cattrall (oil on canvas) for the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool

portraits of Zandra Rhodes and Emili Sande
by Samira Addo

Series 5: Duncan Shoosmith won with 

• portraits painted in oils on boards of Laura Linney (in the Final) and Dame Cleo Laine (commission for the Final). 
• He then painted Sir Tom Jones in oils for the £10k Commission

Paintings in the competition by Duncan Shoosmith (left to right) Self Portrait, Jodie Comer, Laura Linney (in the Final) Courtney Pine, Dame Cleo Laine (Commission for the Final)

Series 6: Christobel Blackburn won with oil on linen portraits of Lemn Sissay and a Commission Portrait of Nile Rogers, for the Royal Albert Hall
(She won just as Covid was starting - and somehow I missed doing a blog post re the final and the Commission)

Portraits of Lemn Sissay and her Final Commission

Series 7: Curtis Holder won with coloured pencil portraits of Eddie Izard. He also did a £10k Commission portrait of Carlos Acosta