PAOTY 2025: My "DUH" Moment + "Please be Kind"

I had a DUH moment last week while reading your very many comments about the various episodes of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 13) on my Making A Mark Facebook Page.

First of all, very many thanks to all those who are leaving thoughtful comments. They're not only appreciated by me. I think most following my reviews are also coming back to read the comments. I've seen some really excellent and constructive points made and valued.

This two part post is about

• my DUH moment - when I suddenly realised something not yet mentioned 
• Please Be Kind: feedback from the PAOTY team about commenting - and their request for "people to be kind"

Appeared on the Artist of the Year Instagram/Facebook accounts
after the broadcast of Episode 5

My DUH moment

DUH!!! Something has just occurred to me which more than explains this statement from the PAOTY team. Which connects with something else very odd that I observed but have said nothing about in public - as yet…..
my comment on my Facebook Page

There's a really obvious point to make about the winner of Episode 5 - which nobody has yet.

Her self portrait submission showed her two selves who reflected different attitudes and clothing. It was unusual. Not everybody was complimentary about the painting. 

However, for me, my DUH moment came when I realised that I'd not paid attention to it in relation to the £10,000 prize i.e. to paint a sitter for the commission and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG)

This year, the £10,000 commission is from the National Portrait Gallery to paint a portrait of musician and actor Damien Lewis.
Review: Episode 1 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

The sitter, Damien Lewis, is

• an English actor 
• and musician.

i.e. He has TWO PERSONAS in relation to different activities. (DUH!!!)

• His career to date has been as a well known actor - on television, film and the radio - with a number of prominent roles.
• After his wife died in 2021, he became decided he wanted to realise his long-standing ambition to become a musicion and started to work on this

"I started writing and found out there was lots that I actually did want to write, and before we knew it we had a record's worth of songs. We’ve ended up with a rootsy, jazzy, rock’n’rolly, singer-songwritery-type album".

I'm left wondering 

• IF the Judges knew this at the start of filming and hence 
• IF they may have been predisposed to looking very seriously at those who produce what one might term "psychological portraits" of a sitter who has TWO separate passions / activities.

This notion suggests to me that the Portrait Artist of the Year competition ought to have a high profile (i.e. published) criteria for how both self portrait submissions and heat portraits are judged

i.e.  WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR:

• to avoid any hidden / personal agendas and 
• to keep Judges focused on specific criteria re what they should be looking at/for. 
• Less whimsy and more focused and consistent analysis.

The context of DUH

In relation to the context of DUH, I visited the artist's website when writing my review and noted that she had written - under "Awards" which listed prizes won, shortlists achieved and residencies awarded

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Award 2026​

What does she mean? 

If it is literally what she says then I can well understand why a production company might want to issue the "Please be Kind" image appeared on Instagram (see below for further comment)

PS I sent a note about what I saw to the person who runs the Artist of the Year Instagram account

Postscript

I also wondered whether any of the Judges saw the small portrait of Damien Lewis (as part of  a triptych of three portraits of leading UK actors) by Ben Sullivan at the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in May 2026 after they finished filming the heats. 

i.e. see my blog post about my Interview with Benjamin Sullivan, Winner of the BP Portrait Award 2017 - plus his portraits 2006-2016 who holds the record for the artist most selected for the Portrait Award exhibition at the NPG.

He is also an artist, along with other Portrait Award prizewinners, who has been asked to produce portraits on commission for the National Portrait Gallery. Indeed, the winner, until recently was always asked to produce a commission of a notable person to hang in the NPG.

Anyway, here's a benchmark for a Damien Lewis portrait

Please Be Kind

The Statement by the team running the Portrait Artist of the Year competition is pictured above and in this Instagram post

A little reminder from all of us at Portrait Artist of the Year 🎨 Every artist who takes a seat in our studio is brave enough to share their work with the world, painting against the clock for all of us to see. Behind every portrait is a real person. Let's celebrate them. Please be kind. 💛

My responses were as follows 

I’ve never seen “Artist of the Year” do this before. However, I’m guessing there’s an accumulation of comments….

Maybe they should try having a word with the Judges? They are after all pitching this programme at the ordinary viewing public who have a fairly strong conviction that portraits should be a good likeness of the sitter. They’re also the same people who will be commenting on the National Portrait Gallery website / Facebook Page when the commission is unveiled.

Judges who judge everything according to elitist perspectives about what is thought to be “good contemporary art” will get short shrift from an audience which believes it should be a good portrait first and foremost - and “good contemporary art” second.

and 

nobody has to apply to these programmes. They work in exactly the same way as any other public competition on television - which is that the public feel entitled to express their views about both winners and losers.

If you don’t like criticism, television competitions as an avenue for raising your profile are best avoided. Better to stick to art competitions in galleries - as indeed two of the shortlisted candidates have already done - and been successful in winning awards judged by every experienced artists.

Of course people can and should be mindful of how they express their views, but we do live in a land of free speech.

NOTE: A LOT of comments were hidden on both Facebook and Instagram. So if you think the comments look positive, it's because a lot have been removed. (You can see if you click the hidden link)

Interestingly most were very critical of the JUDGES rather than the artist.

EVERYBODY who is active in the cultural/media world is very aware that alongside lots of applause and compliments comes a lot of brickbats from those who are less enthusiastic. It's the nature of the world to comment on those who put their heads above the parapet - whether they are a Judge or an Artist. Twas ever thus and it will continue forever.

In relation to PAOTY, critical comments from the public have always arisen - on various social media platforms - when the Judges are thought to have picked the wrong winner.  

Personally I thought virtually all of the people who commented on the outcome of the episode were making fair points.

Some made excellent points - about how the change in the format of the programme is now generating more adverse comments

I think it would have helped if we could have understood why she won? The fact that they’ve dropped the analysis section where they looked at all the artworks together means that the judges appear to go straight from the banter with the artists while painting to yes this one has won. I’d like to understand why? Especially if the piece seems mediocre to us the viewers.

Also, I have a personal rule re how explicit my comments are:

• if you are competing for a major prize (£10K and above) then I tend to say what I think. Mainly for the benefit of those who will apply next year.
• those who chose to exhibit in galleries and art society exhibitions will see that I tend to be critical of the art society selectors (rather than the artists) if I think it's a weak show or there are too many weak artworks. 
• if the artist is young it's my practice to 
• try and be very positive about those who have done well (eg Jacob Skinnard)
• adopt a constructive approach re highlighting issues which weaker artists could work on to improve in the future. Mainly in a thematic way rather than in relation to individual artists.
• Judges are paid to do a professional job. If they do it badly - or appear to do it badly because of the way the programme is cut and broadcast - then it's perfectly reasonable to say what you think.

But bottom line, if you want big money prizes or to be on television - as an artist or a Judge - you need to accept that not all comments are going to be positive.