A THIRD Season of Portrait Artist of the Week starts soon!

A THIRD season of Portrait Artist of the Week starts on Sunday 21st February 2021 - find out more below.

 

Here's a revised version of my summary of 

• how it all works 
• how to watch
• how to take part

KEY FACTS about how it works and how to take part

HOW IT WORKS

WATCH this video on the Sky Arts "Artist of the Year" Facebook Page

The THIRD series starts on starts on Sunday 21st February 2021

This live streaming event is completely FREE and accessible by EVERYBODY! 

• It does NOT matter where you live in the world and/or whether you are in lockdown 
• because it's accessible via Facebook Live Streaming 
• which means you can watch and join in no matter which country you live in.

The sitters will be "the stars of lockdown"  those people who have inspired and entertained us - I'm hoping for Chris Whitty and Joe Wicks! 

The portrait painter leading the live "paint-along" will vary every week but they are all artists who have participated in Portrait Artist of the Year series on Sky Arts (generally somebody who has done well).

HOW TO WATCH AND/OR TAKE PART: 

• Find the Live Stream for Portrait Artist of the Week on Sunday morning on this link https://www.facebook.com/skytv/live (see below for more details)
• The Live Stream starts at 10am and finishes at 2pm (UK time) every Sunday - starting  
• In theory 4 hours but less in reality. 
• If you want to check what time it is for you elsewhere in the world use tTHIS website https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html to check what time this is in another time zone. 
• You can also watch the live stream as a video after the event as well - it's just not interactive.

To join the LIVE conversation, ask the judges questions or give feedback 

• comment on the facebook live feed 
• or use #PAOTW using social media

If you want to join in - post your artwork on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #myPAOTW.

• The deadline for entries is 2pm on the following Friday
• Check the terms and conditions before posting. You may be fine with them - or you may not like them - but you won't know if you don't read them!

The Judges will then choose which artists work they like the best in the show in the following week.

More about Portrait Artist of the Week

• 'Portrait Artist of the Week' returns every Sunday (17th October 2020) - this includes MY TIPS for participating in this online event
• Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV (10th May 2020)
• Sunday morning is portrait painting time! (1st May 2020)
• Portrait Artist of the Week - starts today 10am (26th April 2020)

Portrait Artist of the Week now on Sky Arts - but there's a catch

 Portrait Artist of the Week started out on Facebook Live on Sunday mornings 31 weeks ago.

However both Season 1 and Season 2 now appear to be now available via the Sky Arts Channel - which would be nice for all those who love watching portrait painting but are less keen on Facebook!

Sadly, before you get too excited, there is a catch - and to be honest an issue re accuracy of advertising!

Rather than being 4 hours long, they are more like long trailers of some 20+ minutes which include 

• excerpts of the painting process 
•  Joan, the sitter and the Judges talking 
• plus things like Tai's top tips 

So if you want to see the whole 4 hours of sitting / painting you can only see 

• the 4 hour live videos via Facebook Live 
• then afterwards via the recordings of those videos on Sky Arts Videos on the Portrait Artist of the Year Facebook Channel

the programme on Sky Arts

Sky Arts - and the Artist of the Year / Week programmes can be accessed

• live and on demand on your desktop via the Sky Go app (if you have a Sky account)
• live and on demand on five devices on Now TV using the Now TV app (with an Entertainment Pass) - including your TV (via the Now TV Stick) - I've got it on my television, iMac, iPad and iPhone. My stick was free when I got mine but now it costs £24.00

the programme on Now TV

Sky Arts can also be accessed via Channel 11 on various satellite TV services - but you don't get the "on demand" service - and you don't get Portrait Artist of the Week.

Find Sky Arts now on Freeview channel 11, Freesat channel 147 alongside Sky channel 122, Virgin Media Channel 123 and BT channel 348

'Portrait Artist of the Week' returns every Sunday

A reminder that Portrait Artist of the Week returns tomorrow - and every Sunday until 13th December 2020 - basically for the duration of Series 7 of Portrait Artist of the Week.

If it's anything like it was in May this year - when it became extremely popular - the show will work as follows

10 Key Facts

1. This live streaming event is accessible by EVERYBODY! 
• It doesn't matter where you live and/or whether you are in lockdown 
• because it's accessible via Facebook Live Streaming 
• which means you can watch and join in no matter which country you live in.
2. Find the Live Stream on Sunday on this link https://www.facebook.com/skytv/live
3. The painter will vary every week but is generally somebody who has done well in the Portrait Artist of the Year series
4. The Live Stream starts at 10am and finishes at 2pm (UK time) every Sunday - between 18th October – 13th December 2020. In theory 4 hours but less in reality. 
• If you want to check what time it is for you elsewhere in the world use the website below to check what time this is in another time zone. 
• https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
• You can however watch the live stream as a video after the event as well - it's just not interactive.
5. To join the conversation, ask the judges questions or give feedback 
• comment on the facebook live feed 
• or use #PAOTW
6. To show Sky Arts and the Judges your work use #myPAOTW
7. If you want to join in post your artwork on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #myPAOTW.
8. The deadline for entries is 2pm on the following Friday
9. Check the terms and conditions before posting. You may be fine with them - or you may not like them - but you won't know if you don't read them!
10. The Judges will then choose which artists work they like the best in the show in the following week.

Always wanted to paint a live celebrity sitter like our participants on Portrait Artist of the Year? This is your chance! Every Sunday join thousands of fellow artists around the world for a day of creating. Each week a different celebrity sitter will be beamed live straight into your home along with one of our amazing PAOTY artists who will be painting along.

Below is a repeat of the tips I suggested after watching the very first live stream. 

Compilation of viewer images of Bernardine Evaristo
author of Girl, Woman, Other which won the Booker Prize in 2019

Tips for Portrait Artist of the Week

Here are my TIPS

• Have all your kit set up and ready to go before 10am.  That way you can actually listen to Joan explaining how it's all going to work rather than scurrying round finding what you need! ;)
• Take a screendump - or several - of the sitter near the beginning. If you lose the view of the sitter you can then keep going from your screendump.  What I did was:
• have the Live Stream running full screen on my 27" iMac screen
• photographed the screen with my iPhone and then had the screen dump pic sitting in front of me on my iPhone. Or you could use a tablet to do the same thing. Basically two screens work better than one.
• the reason for this is that the programme makers, sitter or artist may encounter technical difficulties or the programme will divert to showing us other things while both artist and sitter enjoy a break.
• You DO NOT have to 
• paint - you can also draw in any media - and lots of people did. Take a cue from the Artist of the Year programmes - if it's a medium which can produce a 2D artwork then you can use it. 
• keep going for the whole four hours. If you finish sooner then call it done. I finished at 1pm last week after finishing earlier and then walking away to make a cup of tea before coming back and doing some final tweaks. 
• submit your artwork if you don't want to - either on the day or later in the week. It's entirely up to you what you do in terms of submitting your work

• To take a photo to post: Make sure you get your artwork in good natural light and parallel to your lens before you take a photograph
• You MUST use the hashtag and submit as stipulated in the programme and on the Facebook Page if you want your artwork to be viewed by the Judges

You might also want to have a read of the blog posts I wrote arising out of Portrait Artist of the Week earlier this year.

• Portrait Artist of the Week - starts today 10am
• Sunday morning is portrait painting time!
• What makes a good portrait and the importance of the artist-sitter relationship

What makes a good portrait and the importance of the artist-sitter relationship

Kathleen Soriano has provided a couple of short talks on Portrait Artist of the Week which I think are relevant to all those thinking about participating in Portrait Artist of the Year in future

• The first, last week, was about what makes for a good portrait
• the second, yesterday, was the artist sitter relationship

Below is a summary of the main points she made while she spoke to camera - with some additional notes from me.

What Makes for Good Portrait?

Still from Sky TV Live Portrait Artist of the Week 10th May

She highlighted six key elements in "Kathleen's Six Steps" (which you can listen to yourself in the Sky Art Live Video AT 1: 21: 20) - and cited examples of particular portraits and artists to amplify what she means

1. A really well thought through composition

This should be:

• a perfect fit with your sitter
• what does the sitter's presence / body / character say to you
• how can you place and frame what you see 

The key point here is that the artist has thought about how to place the sitter on the support - and why.

2. A good sitter artist relationship

For Kathleen, she feels strongly that

• both artist and sitter need to work at forging a connection
• the artist really needs to understand the attitude of the sitter
• if both are communicating and working together then a better portrait tends to be the result

She highlighted a couple of women sitters who had both turned up having obviously thought beforehand what to wear and how to pose.

Rachel Hunter chose a very difficult pose - and held it throughout the sitting

More on this below - and why I think Kathleen ended up in near hysterical laughter yesterday morning!

3. A good set of props

Kathleen likes a bit of narrative, a bit of story telling within a portrait. The props provide context, to tell a story about the sitter.

The story telling needs to say something about the essence of the sitter - something which goes beyond the lines on their faces or the shadows which the light creates

the ballerina Lauren Cuthbertson painted by Luis Morris
in the context of her ballet shoes and strapping on her feet

In relation to Portrait Artist of the Year, the irrelevant backdrops seem to me to act as a counterpoint to this notion.

However props in the self-portrait submission do have a point and can play a very useful part.

4. Likeness

"We need a likeness"

Kathleen acknowledges that one of the conventions of what is a good portrait is that a good likeness should be achieved.

However she also highlighted that for some artists it's also important to convey their sense of likeness in the unique way they paint. She cited Francis Bacon as an example.

(MaM: However Bacon said a "A picture should be a recreation of an event rather than an illustration of an object")

5. Sense of Humanity

We are people looking at pictures of other people - we need a sense of connection

She highlighted Duncan Shoosmith's portrait for Cleo Laine for a really strong sense of life

Cleo Laine by Duncan Shoosmith (commission for Final of PAOTY 2019)

6. Surprises!

She would really like to see something new, fresh and unique in terms of how people approach contemporary portraiture

crop of commissioned portrait of Nile Rogers for Royal Albert Hall by Christabel Blackburn

By way of example, Kathleen highlighted the freshness of approach of Christabel Blackburn to portraiture.

The Artist Sitter Relationship

Yesterday Kathleen Soriano tackled the Artist-Sitter Relationship. (Portrait Artist of the Week 1:23:??) I couldn't quite work out where it starts in seconds but it's straight after the contribution from PAOTY Artists re lockdown.

Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV

I've been amazed at how much art has found it way on to television and screens generally during the pandemic - and how much of it is:

• complete innovation i.e. winging it via the internet
• videos we never saw on television before
• the resurrection of art programmes which were really worth repeating

I'm going to try and put together a compilation of what I know about below - starting with the UK TV contribution

Sky Arts

Sky Arts Portrait of the Week

This is possibly one of the most innovative programmes.

• A past winner of Portrait Artist of the Year painting a model in four hours of live video on Facebook Live
• People AROUND THE WORLD join in either watching the Facebook Live Video live from their homes or via the 'saved' Facebook Live Video during the week
• everybody submits their artwork to social media using #MYPAOTW



a compilation of portraits of Bernadine Evaristo on Instagram

• the Judges - Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano, and Kate Bryan - choose their favourite three each week

I think maybe the value of the series is that we actually see how a sitting progresses from the sitter being quite tense and apprehensive and the artist needing quiet to focus while they get the painting going - to things becoming progressively more relaxed as the four hours unfolds.

PLUS we get to see very many responses from artists all over the world - just plug #MYPAOTW into Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to see what I mean.

PLUS - we get Tai's Top Tips about portraiture and input from Kathleen and Kate about portraiture

Tai's top Tips - this week focuses on measurements of the head and shapes

We've had two episodes so far and the videos are still available online - and third is taking place while I'm writing.

Sunday morning is portrait painting time!

Key facts for all those who'd like to participate in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week on Sunday! Below I have:

• FACTS: what you need to know to access the programme and post your work
• TIPS: things I learned last Sunday!
• (I'm being more organised this week!). 

10 Key Facts

1. This live streaming event is accessible by EVERYBODY! It doesn't matter where you live - because it's accessible via Facebook Live Streaming you can watch and join in no matter which country you live in
2. Find the Live Stream on Sunday on this link https://www.facebook.com/SkyTV/live_videos/
3. The painter this week is Duncan Shoosmith - who won Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 (see my post Duncan Shoosmith is Portrait Artist of the Year 2019)
4. The Live Stream starts at 10am and finishes at 2pm (UK time) on Sunday 3rd May 2020. In theory 4 hours but less in reality. If you want to check what time it is for you elsewhere in the world use this website to check what time this is in another time zone https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html You can however watch the live stream as a video after the event as well.
5. To join the conversation, ask the judges questions or give feedback, comment on our facebook live feed or use #PAOTW
6. To show Sky Arts and the Judges your work use #myPAOTW
7. If you want to join in post your artwork on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #myPAOTW.
8. The deadline for entries is 2pm on the following Friday
9. Check the terms and conditions before posting. You may be fine with them - or you may not like them - but you won't know if you don't read them!
10. The Judges will then choose which artists work they like the best in the show in the following week. 
1. Over 2,000 artworks have been submitted via social media
2. Below are some of the paintings of Akram Khan posted

Some of the Akram Khan paintings on social media.

Much depends on the artist and the sitter.

Celebrity sitter this week is academic and author, Bernardine Evaristo, whose best-selling book “Girl, Woman, Other” won the Booker Prize in 2019. Bernardine will sit for 4 hours as 2019 series winner, Duncan Shoosmith brings her portrait to life for those watching. 

The following Sunday, 10th May, will see 2018 series winner Samira Addo paint celebrated photographer ‘Rankin’. 

The celebrity for the fourth and final week of the series has yet to be confirmed.

Your enjoyment of the programme may depend on whether last week's difficulties have been sorted. Nothing awful happened but it could have been better. Sky Arts - and the portrait artist and the sitter - were all learning last week about how to deliver a programme which is live portrait painting for four hours. Mostly about how the format works and what the technical difficulties are. I'm sure both artist and sitter will be better briefed this week.

Tips for Portrait Artist of the Week

Portrait Artist of the Week - starts today 10am

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week starts today. This is a unique LIVE version of its popular show Portrait Artist of the Year, redesigned for the current crisis.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Storyvault Films who make the hugely-popular painting contest Portrait Artist of the Year have come up with a brand new, free, weekly format

Portrait Artist of the Week will see celebrity sitters pose live in their own homes, with audiences invited to paint along at home – wherever in the world they are based.

Here's how Portrait Artist of the Week works

It starts this Sunday at 10am and the first to pose is dancer and choreographer Akram Khan

• He will sit for viewers for a four-hour session from 10am on Sunday 26th April. 
• He will be painted live by Christabel Blackburn (winner of this year’s series of Portrait Artist of the Year that aired in March)
• Christabel will also provide tips and interact in real-time with those who are painting along
• Regular presenter Joan Bakewell will host
• members of the public will be invited to post questions to get advice as they paint. 
• The public can submit their final paintings via Instagram (@artistoftheyear) 
• The show’s judges, Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano, and Kate Bryan, highlighting their favourites.

Those of you who are used to paintalong sessions will know how this works. For everybody else - have a go!

To join the conversation use #PAOTW.
To show the judges your final work and have the chance to be featured next week use #myPAOTW.
All posts across Instragram, Twitter and Facebook might be used during this show and future Facebook lives.

This post on the dedicated Facebook Page for the Artist of the Year suggests you need to go to https://www.facebook.com/SkyTV/

Easels at the ready! It's nearly time for the first-ever 'Portrait Artist Of The Week' Facebook Live with Sky TV! Watch, learn, join in and paint along with Christabel Blackburn, winner of this year's #PAOTY. Send us your pictures using #myPAOTW and you MAY be featured in next week's live by the judges! #PAOTW
https://www.facebook.com/SkyTV/

Plus this is what's on the Sky Art Facebook Page LIVE page



You don't have to paint - like the Portrait Artist of the Year you can draw too!

The programme will also

• run every Sunday for four weeks 
• feature other celebrity sitters
• previous series winners taking turns to paint live and help viewers at home participate. 
• Each episode will be available to watch online throughout the week so more people can participate, 
• PLUS a highlights programme will be shown on Sky Arts.

More Arts from Sky Arts

Alongside the new version of Portrait Artist, Sky will be making selected shows from its schedule available for everyone.

Sky Arts has seen an increase of 55% in viewing since lockdown measures were introduced.

Due to the clear demand for culture at home, the channel will start to make a raft of Sky Arts content available to audiences to stream for free on the Sky TV YouTube channel from this Friday 24th April.

The weekly package will include performances, concerts and documentaries from the channel’s substantial back catalogue of award-winning arts content – all of which will be available for a limited period. 

Highlights will include 

• episodes of Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year, 
• episodes from acclaimed documentary series Treasures of the British Library, 
• the story of a destroyed portrait of Churchill from Mystery of the Lost Paintings.