MAKING A MARK: Art on Television

Art on Television

This post lists the UK television programmes I've covered and, in particular, those that involved artists who have participated in a competition related to art.

This page includes all the series I've reviewed of programmes by both Sky Arts and the BBC - which are listed below. Plus every blog post I've written about art on television programmes is also listed on this page.

The 'art on television' programmes are:

Sky Arts

Portrait Artist of the Year | Sky Arts
Landscape Artist of the Year | Sky Arts

Participants in Portrait Artist of the Decade in 2023

BBC

The Big Painting Challenge | BBC
The Arts and Craft House | BBC
Home is Where the Art is (Series 1 and 2) | BBC

Channel 4

Grayson's Art Club | Channel 4
The Great Pottery Throw Down (introduction posts)
Drawers Off!

Channel 5

Watercolour Challenge
Great Paintings of the World

Reviews

I started writing detailed reviews of programmes involving groups of artists after finding I got irritated by some of the comments about the episodes I read on Twitter afterwards.

So I decided to start highlighting some of the themes that I found arose in episodes and why some people do better than others "who wuz robbed".

It was a really educational process as I found I only "got" the themes properly after watching each episode three times! Rather like videos about painting, these are all programmes which keep on giving after the first time you watch them!

Sky Arts in 2025

Landscape Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 10)

Based on Series 10 of PAOTY, I think we can expect a celebration of the 10th anniversary.
The deadline for entries for Series 10 is Friday 3rd May 2024

Sky Arts in 2024

These Sky Arts commissioned programmes - made by Storyvault Films - are available on Sky Arts - the only dedicated arts channel on UK television - and you can view via:

Sky TV - for all Sky subscribers
Now TV - for those with a subscription to the app
Sky Arts on Freeview Channel 36 (but note there's no catch up service).

All past series of the Sky Arts "Artist of the Year" programmes can also be accessed on Sky and via the Now TV app

so if you start subscribing make sure to watch the past series as well as the current ones.
See How to watch Sky Arts - Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 without subscribing to Sky! for more details. (I now have the stick which means I can watch via my television a well as my iPad and iPhone!).

Links to all my REVIEWS of broadcast episodes will be embedded in the lists below as they are published.

Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 11)

This will be broadcast (usually on a Wednesday evening) in the Autumn of 2024, probably starting in October.

Call for Entries: Series 11 of Portrait Artist of the Year
Review: Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 6 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Episode 7 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024
The Final

Landscape Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 9)

This series was filmed in Summer 2023 and is being broadcast in early 2024.

Sky Arts in 2023

Portrait Artist of the Decade + Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) - filmed April / broadcast Autumn 2023

The semi finals of Series 1

Portrait Artist of the Year Series 10: Call for Entries (11 October 2022) - exactly one year before the broadcast of the first episode of Series 10 proper.
Want to watch the Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 being filmed? - the most popular post on Making A Mark in 2023!!
Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 has a very different start this year! (September 18th 2023)
Review: Portrait Artist of the Decade (8th October 2023)
Review: Episode 1 Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (11 October 2023) - one of the most popular posts on Making A Mark in 2023
Review: Episode 2 Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (20th October 2023)
Review: Episode 3 Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (29th October 2023)
Review: Episode 2 Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (18 October 2023)
Review: Episode 3 Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (25 October 2023)
Review: Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (1 November 2023)
Review: Heat 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (8 November 2023)
Review: Heat 6 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (15 November 2023)
Review: Episode 7 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10) (22 November 2023)
Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 (29th November 2023)
Wendy Barratt is Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 (Series 10)
PAOTY 2023: Commission Painting of Dr Jane Goodall (18th December 2023)

Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 8) - filmed Summer 2022 / broadcast early 2023

Sky Arts in 2022

Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 9) - broadcast Autumn 2022

All the reviews includes themes for reference by future participants working to a 4 hour time frame - in terms of challenges and learning points.

Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 9) starts 5th October 2022 - this includes a list
Review: Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 9)

Landscape Artist of the Year (series 7) - filmed in 2021 / broadcast early 2022

All the reviews includes themes for reference by future participants - or plein air painters working to a time frame - in terms of problems experienced and challenges overcome.

This post is about the Call for Entries for those wanting to submit an application to paint in the heats to be held this summer.

Sky Arts Artist of the Year Competitions: Call for Entries

This post is about the top ten landscape paintings of National Trust properties created during the filming of Landscape Artist of the Year

Landscape Artist of the Year - National Trust Favourites

Portrait Artist of the Year Series 1-8

EXHIBITION: Portrait Artist of the Year (2013 - 2021) - about the exhibition of portraits generated by eight series of "Portrait Artist of the Year" held at Compton Verney Art Gallery - between 19 February – 5 June 2022

Sky Arts in 2021

Landscape Artist of the Year (series 6) - filmed in 2020 / broadcast early 2021

All the reviews includes themes for reference by future participants - or plein air painters working to a time frame - in terms of problems experienced and challenges overcome.

Series 8 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR (2021) - broadcast Autumn 2021

Sky Arts in 2020

Landscape Artist of the Year 2020

My posts: Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year 2020 (6th Series)
Website: https://www.skyartsartistoftheyear.tv/landscape/

Eventually this series was not broadcast until early 2021 - see above.

Portrait Artist of the Year 2020

The programme started broadcasting in January 2020.

Learning Points re the 2020 competition (Autumn 2020)

Website: https://www.skyartsartistoftheyear.tv/portrait/

Battersea Arts Centre

Sky Arts in 2019

Landscape Artist of the Year 2019

An Instagram mashup of #landscapeartistoftheyear in 2019

If you go to Kate Brian's Instagram account you can find out whether she made it to the final - and what happened next!

Portrait Artist of the Year 2019

Overhead view of the rig at the Wallace Collection

Call for Entries - Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - in January 2018
Review: Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Matthew Goode, Geraldine James and Andi Oliver
Review: Episode 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with David Gandy, Anne Reid & Ashley Walters
Review: Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Eddie Hall, Jodie Kidd and Jame Purefoy
Review: Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Anna Chancellor, Beverley Knight and Stephen Graham
Review: Episode 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Mark Gatiss, Georgina Campbell and Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson
Review: Episode 6 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Sophie Ellis Bbextor, Adrian Lester and Nitin Sawhney CBE
Review: Episode 7 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Angela Griffin, Gina McKee and Jamael Westman
Review: Episode 8 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Jodie Comer, Nick Moran and Daniel Lismore
Review: Semi-Final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Courteney Pine
Duncan Shoosmith is Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - with Laura Linney
Portrait Artist of the Year comes to Channel 4 - Series 5 only

the semi-finalists

Sky Arts in 2018

How to watch Sky Arts - Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 without subscribing to Sky!

Portrait Artist of the Year 2018

In memory of Michele Opoku Taylor (1975-2017) and Episode 2
Her self-portrait showed her after her mastectomy holding her breast in her hand
- a very powerful painting - and a good likeness.
She died on 24 December 2017 and the heat she was in aired after her death.

Watching a heat of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018

Review: Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 - Episode 1 with David Tennant, James Morrison and Michaela Coel
Review: Episode 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Noel Fielding, Reggie Yates and Daphne Selfe.
Review: Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 (now updated with the interview with the winner) with Ross Kemp, Freddie Fox and Vicky McLure.
Review: Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 - with Conleth Hill, Rachel Hunter and
Stefanie Martini.
Review: Episode 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Elizabeth McGovern, Fiona Shaw and Kadeena Cox.
Review: Episode 6 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Claire Skinner, Kenneth Cranham, and Sope Dirisu.
Review: Episode 7 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Michael Ball, Robert Bathurst and Anita Rani
Review: Episode 8 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Meera Syal, Derek Jacobi and Kirsty Wark

I've been sitting on lots and lots of photos for the last 11 months!. I've now released most of them in an album on Flickr - essentially for the benefit of all those contemplating having a go at applying for 2019 - see Call for Entries - Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019

Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with TWO sitters Lily Cole and Simon Callow (and read what I have to say about that strategy!)
Review: The Final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 with Emili Sande

My Flickr Album of the photos I took when I watched Heat 8
Filmed at the Wallace Collection on 10 April 2017. Aired on Sky Arts on 6 March 2018

Landscape Artist of the Year 2018

These are LENGTHY blog posts commenting on all sorts of aspects related to painting landscapes and participating in a competition which allows you 4 hours minus lots of interruptions and changes in the weather to paint a decent landscape.

Sky Tv filming Landscape Artist of the year at Broadstairs today.https://t.co/LsW5aI5vJZ pic.twitter.com/5EKR0VQWPb
— Frank Leppard (@Frank_Leppard) June 25, 2018

Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 starts tonight (October 2018)
Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire)
Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 (Viking Bay, Kent) Learning points included:

Save yourself some guesswork and research the location
Practice painting plein air
Practice completing a painting in four hours - in changing weather
Have a PLAN!

The Wild Card entrants at a very wet and misty Loch Fyne

Review: Episode 3 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 at Loch Fyne (Loch Fyne, Scotland) the themes which jumped out for me were

Dealing with a lot of landscape and changing weather
Knowing what format works best
Knowing what to leave out and when to stop
The importance of a sense of place

Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 at Studley Royal Water Garden Learning Points and themes were

be different
get out of your pod
what to do when you don't know what to do
visual trickery
when is a landscape a landscape

Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - Broadstairs Beach The themes this week are:

People in a landscape
Editing a complex scene / landscape
Of the now or of the past?
What you submit might be what you get
The importance of being true to YOU!

Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - Inveraray CastleThe themes this week are:

Disney versus Dreich: a Scottish colour palette and flat light (a.k.a. or what to do when you can only see grey like Tai!)
How to stand out from the crowd - and avoid painting the obvious
Atmosphere versus Detail
The interesting technique tip

Pods and port - Felixstowe Docks was the location for the Semi-Final
and only one artist had the good sense to check the planned arrivals of ships! ;)
and she won!

Review: Semi-Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - Felixstowe Docks

the heat; the view; the wind;
the interruptions from the camera crew, judges and presenters
- and moving ships which obliterate the scene!

Exhibition - Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 The main learning point for me were

how demanding the location can be for a final
the importance of the Challenge Paintings (i.e. it's not just about the Heat Painting)
the fact that the Judges went back over ALL the paintings produced by the contestants during the ENTIRE COMPETITION in reaching their decision.

I highly recommend that those who have viewed the FINAL of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 watch it again and LISTEN.

Learning Points from Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - a sum mary - which includes links to blog posts by those who participated in the heats and as wild card artists

The BBC - programmes involving artists and artisans

BBC: Celebrity Painting Challenge

Celebrity Painting Challenge on BBC1 - who's taking part?

BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2018

The Big Painting Challenge Participants in 2018

The Big Painting Challenge (2018) - The Issues which highlighted my niggles about this BBC programme
Review: Still Life - Big Painting Challenge 2018 - highlighted the contestants and the scope of the challenge in the context of car crash set-ups and an enormous complex interior - which was not a still life!
Review: Nature - Big Painting Challenge 2018 - two teams painting dogs and trees.
Review: Portraiture - Big Painting Challenge 2018 - and lots more about issues with this series
Review: Waterscape - The Big Painting Challenge 2018 - with lots of rain and lots of tears
Review: Movement - Big Painting Challenge 2018 - Semi Final week and two people are leaving
The Painting Show which should replace The Big Painting Challenge - my commentary on the format for the series and the sort of programme which would make for a more positive and educational series
Review: The FINAL of The Big Painting Challenge 2018 - which was both better and worse than I was expecting.

BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2017 (Series 2)

Painting in Hastings during four seasons in one day!

BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2015 (Series 1)

Landscape painting in the first episode

trailer: The Great British Paint-Off: BBC1 searches for best amateur artists

BBC: The Arts and Crafts House (2018)

This is the one which I'd characterise as a "win" for my stand on credits for artists.

I'm very pleased to tell you that the artisans wrote to the producers of the programme about the lack of name credit - quoting my blog post - and by the second episode, they'd got their name credit at the end of the programme! By the end of the series they all had mini videos!

The artistans

BBC: Home is Where the Art is (Series 2)

Home is Where the Art is: Series 2 - Call for Artists

BBC: Home is Where the Art is (Series 1)

Home Is Where the Art Is - needs a makeover!
Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 1-5)
Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 6-10)
Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 11-15) - this includes my overall conclusions about the show

CHANNEL 4

Channel 4 is a public service commercial broadcaster that commissions original programming and online content from independent production companies. Interestingly Channel 4 does NOT have a category for Arts - despite its stated purpose - and despite having a commissioning brief for the Arts.

Past posts include

Current Art Shows on Channel 4

Grayson's Art Club

Grayson Perry's Art Club on Channel 4 (27 April 2020)
Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV (10th May 2020)
Grayson Perry's Studio (12th May 2020)
Grayson Perry Returns - on TV, at the British Museum and with a new exhibition! (September 2020)
Grayson's Art Club : The Exhibition (and the television programme and the book of the exhibition!) (5th December 2020)
Grayson's Art Club (Series 2) back in February (21 January 2021)

Plus

Grayson Perry - Who Are You? - on TV and at the NPG (2014)
Grayson Perry's Dream House - tonight on Channel 4 (17 May 2015)
Grayson Perry Returns - on TV, at the British Museum and with a new exhibition! (September 2020)

The Great Pottery Throw Down

Third series of The Great Pottery Throw Down on Channel 4 (January 2022)
The Great Pottery Throw Down is back! (January 2022)
Current Art Shows on Channel 4 (March 2021)
The Great Pottery Throwdown starts tonight (January 2021)
Third series of The Great Pottery Throw Down on Channel 4 (January 2020)
Book Review - The Great Pottery Throw Down (March 2017)
The Great Pottery Throwdown - Series 2 starts tonight (February 2017)

Drawers Off (2021)

"Drawers Off" is such a tacky title for a life drawing television programme (March 2021)

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