Which Media has won 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

£10K Commission Portrait of Carlos Acosta by Curtis Holder

Series 8: Calum Stevenson won with 

• a portrait of Barry Humphries in the final. He has a nice page on his website of his progress through the series.

Final portrait of Barry Humphries and (Covid) Portrait of his partner

• he then painted Nicola Benedetti (oil on canvas)  - at the Scottish Portrait Gallery

Series 9: Morag Caister won with

• a portrait of the former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Sir Jonathan Stafford Nguyen-Van-Tam MBE FRCPath FRSB FMedSci
• her Commission Portrait was of her fiance
• her usual media is pastels, oils or pencil on paper or canvas. I didn't make a note of what she used in the competition - but it looked like oils which were "drawn" rather than painted per se.

Morag Caister: Final Portrait and Commission Painting (of her fiance)

• she painted Sir Lenny Henry as her £10K commission

Series 10: Wendy Barratt won with

• portraits in oil on canvas of Joan Bakewell in the Final and her husband Fred
• she then painted Dame Jane Goodall as a commission for the National Portrait Gallery - where it now hangs in the new History Makers section of the NPG.

Portraits complete by Wendy Barratt during PAOTY Series 10

Dame Jane Goodall by Wendy Barratt

Series 11: Brogan Bertie won with

• oil paintings of his partner Stef and two actors  Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne (see Final)

• he then painted Lorraine Kelly in oil for the Commission

Series 12: Chloe Barnes won with 

• a monoprint of Brian Cox in the Final and  a monoprint of one of her flat mates
• she did a monoprint of Professor Hannah Fry for the commission for the Royal Society

Monoprints during the series by Chloe Barnes