Review: Episode 3 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

Apologies for the late publication of my review of Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026. This is not one of my better reviews for a variety of reasons.

I had a few distractions last week 

• Tuesday: Met with Commissioning Editor of a reputable publisher and got commissioned to write a second art book, of which more in due course - but I'm excited and had started jotting things down - which was a major distraction - before...
• Wednesday: got up very early to escort my other half partner for his surgery - and then got sent back home because of no bed;
• Thursday: an excruciating pain developed in the back of my neck (fracture from recent fall or cervical spondylosis?) which painkillers did not dampen down. The only thing that worked was an Icepack - tied on with a scarf! So I went looking for solutions.... which lost a day... plus did a 111 assessment and got a GP appointment and had a very bad night's sleep despite trying every pain medication! 
• Friday: Saw the GP - discussed what it might be; got an appointment for an x-ray and appointment with normal GP for next week. PLUS I developed a very "wet nose" sneezy cold - presumably caught from sitting around in crowded hospitals and GP surgeries!
• Very tired all through Friday and Saturday.

Anyway, so now on to what was supposed to be one of the intended brightspots of the week - my review of Episode 3 of PAOTY Series 13.

I sneezed constantly through writing most of this....

PAOTY Episode 3

"A little bit of judging"

This is my review of Episode 3 which covers:

• the three sitters
• the nine artists
• self-portrait submissions
• themes arising in the episode
• who the sitters chose
• the shortlist for a place in the semi-finals of PAOTY 2026
• the winner

Episode 3: The Sitters

Review: Episode 2 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

PAOTY 2026 Episode 2 Artists with self portraits

The Sitters for the Second Episode of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 were Louis Theroux, Anthony Scaramucci and Joanna Scanlon and one of them made it to the shortlist twice - while another missed out!

This is my review of Episode 2 which covers:

• the artists
• the sitters
• self-portrait submissions
• themes arising in the episode
• who the sitters chose
• the shortlist
• the winner

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 2: The Sitters

Two of the sitters
Anthony Scarramucci and Joanna Scanlon

Unlike the first episode, the three sitters had very diverse backgrounds and occupations. All are aged above 50 so a generally more relaxed set of sitters.

• Louis Theroux (age 56) is a presenter and BBC documentary maker of some renown. His programmes - often about odd people or organisations - have won him three BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society Television Award. Somebody gave him some very bad advice about what to bring.
• Anthony Scarramucci's claim to fame is he briefly served (11 days) as Trump's  White House communications director in 2017. Age 64, he started out working at Goldman Sachs - ininvestment banking, equities, and private wealth management - before going on to found his own investment firm and subsequently write a number of books. Since April 2024, I've been listening to him as one half of "The Rest is Politics US Edition" podcast with Katty Kay - and he's very good!
• Joanna Scanlon (age 65) is a British actress and writer. She's had a number of nominations for various awards and won a BAFTA for best actress in a leading role in 2020. I remember her best as a completely pivotal person in "The Thick of It" which satirised the inner workings of government, which used to be much appreciated by those of us who'd been in there!

Episode 2: The Artists

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maggie McManus (@maggiemcmanusart)

Left to right: Nasha Cash, Alice Parsloe, Maggie Macmanus, Mackenzy Beard, Andrea Broug, Joshua Obichere, Sam Reeves, Joanna Houghton, Jake Fern.

The artists, in alphabetical order, are:

• Makenzy Beard (Instagram) (Linkedin)(age 19) from Swansea in South Wales, her appearance on the programme got her a spot on her local BBC News programme. She is an established Welsh portrait artist who earned international recognition from a very young age. Age 14, she started painting in the garden shed during Covid lockdown. Next she had work accepted for the RA Summer Exhibition. Recently she has worked with a gallery in Cardiff where she has held multiple sellout solo-exhibitions and raised over £45k for charity since her painting journey began. Her work has also been featured in The Times, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, ITV News, Sky News with Alastair Stewart, The Times Radio. She became a professional artist, in September 2025, while having a gap year after her A Levels. She also plans to do a philosophy degree.
• Andrea Broug (Instagram) (age 18) - A sixth form student, currently sitting her "A" Levels. Now based in London, she is a former student of North Halifax Grammar School. She likes to explore cultural identity, familial bonding, and historical representations of skin tones and Black history in painting
• Nasha Cash - she is a Sheffield born, multi-disciplinary artist and illustrator who’s spent the last decade living and working in Manchester. She does "Live Painting and Murals" and "Speed Portraiture for Events". She's worked with a number of clients to create works for many different projects, campaigns and events.
• Jake Fern (Instagram)- a British portrait and landscape artist living and working in Saltdean, Brighton, England. He usually works from life and on commission re. portraits. BELOW Eva Langret was asking a question (in true Socratic method - designed to stimulate creative thinking) rather than giving tips! This is a link to a very interesting interview with him by "Artists and Illustrators"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jake Fern (@jake_fern_art)

• Joanna Houghton (Instagram)- an artist based in Manchester. Originally from North Wales, Joanna graduated from Manchester School of Art with a degree in Illustration in 2012. Her submission was a very small drawing of her one year old in coloured pencils.
• Maggie McManus (Instagram) - Originally from Leeds, now living in Manchester, teaching secondary Art full time and painting. She describes herself as an art teacher, artist and mother.
• Joshua Obichere (Instagram) - from East London. MA Fine Art, Fine/Studio Arts, General from Central St. Martins. Master of Education - MEd from Cambridge University. Full time Artist and Art Educator passionate about creativity, art for race and social justice. He runs workshops as one half of an art duo. He talked very confidently about his process of using grout and oil paints to create portraits. Jonathan Yeo commented he was one of the most original artists in terms of the materials he was using. He paints by icing the outline in grout.
• Alice Parsloe (Instagram) - an artist and former actor based in North London. She now freelances as a voiceover artist. She works with oil pastels on cardboard.
• Sam Reeves (Instagram, Facebook) - a Fine Art student studying at Liverpool Hope University, who specialises in realistic portraiture of people and pets. He works primarily in oil paint. He's due to graduate in June 2027. He's participated in a number of exhibitions. This was his self portrait The Gridded Self

Self Portrait Submissions

Judges viewing the self portrait submissions.

Review: Episode 1 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

This week we had the screening of the first episode of the brand new series (13th) of Portrait Artist of the Year - with a brand new set of Judges!

As I have been doing every year since 2018, I'm writing a review of every episode of this thirteenth series.

Series 13 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year

This review post considers:

• The Competition
• Then Commission
• The (New) Judges
• The sitters
• The artists
• Self-portrait submissions
• Themes observed during the episode - and observations on different approaches
• Portraits and the Judging
• Shortlist
• The winner
• Next episode
• Reference (previous posts re. 2026 - and how to access posts re previous series)

About the Context

The Competition

Sky Arts runs a competition every year called Portrait Artist of the Year. This is the 13th Series - and I have been reviewing every episode of every series on Making A Mark since 2018. (Check out my Call for Entries: Portrait Artist of the Year 2026).

It comprises

• a series of heats, - with nine artists painting 3 sitters - followed by
• a semi final - of all the heat winners
• a Final of the best three in the Semi Final
• a Commission by the winner of the Final

The Heats, Semi Final and Final are typically all held in the Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre. People can get tickets to watch and many do. I watched Heat 2 this year in April this year - and have lots of pics!

Battersea Arts Centre

I wrote about how the series works in detail in my Call for Entries post so won't repeat it here.

There are 72 artists in Series 13 - meaning we have 8 heats. The order of the episodes is generally NOT the same as the order of the episodes. Unless I turn up in the next episode in which case they may have changed the rule.

 

The Series Commission - for the National Portrait Gallery

This year, the £10,000 commission is from the National Portrait Gallery to paint a portrait of musician and actor Damien Lewis. 

There's an interesting MEDIA TWIST with the commission being for the NPG. 

I would draw a very big distinction between images in the collection for historical reasons and images on the walls of the NPG

• The portraits the NPG typically hangs in the galleries are those painted in OIL - on the grounds of longevity. 
• This instantly rules out all those using other media eg watercolour or pastels.

The Primary Collection contains more than 11,000 portraits. Of these about 4,000 are paintings, sculptures and miniatures, approaching 60% of which are regularly displayed, with the intention to show a further selection. In addition, there are almost 7,000 light-sensitive works on paper, shown on a rotating basis of about 300 items a year to avoid excessive light exposure and thus to minimise deterioration and fading. Introduction to the Primary Collection

(There are 

• 1,446 watercolours in the collection - but almost all are miniatures or very small portraits of a very historical nature (ie Reference Collection) with a very few more recent drawings of famous people which might be included in a temporary exhibit
• 5 paintings in egg tempera
• 34 paintings in acrylic - because of the issues with cracking which emerged over time? The only important (royal) paintings painted in acrylic hung in the galleries were painted in the 1980s. 
• 118 portrait drawings in charcoal
• 22 portrait drawings in graphite - again mainly miniatures)
• no pastels at all.)

This is a logistics and communication issue for the programme organisers. If you know the commissioning organisation is a national gallery, then you really need to be frank about what this means for the prospective participants in the competition.

e.g. Any media is fine for participation in the heats but progression is likely to favour oils.

The Judges

After very many years of moaning about the previous Judges, we have three new Judges. 

I wrote about their backgrounds back in February in The NEW Portrait Artist of the Year Judges. They are

• Eva Langret - Director of Frieze London
• Jonathan Yeo - portrait painter
• Katy Hessel - art historian, author and braodcaster

Three new Judges for Series 13 in 2026

(Lto R): Eva Langret, Katy Hessel and Jonathan Yeo

One of things I'll be looking at as I trawl around the internet is viewers' views on the new Judges - and will maybe write another post on your views.

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 1: The Sitters

The three sitters were all actors. In the order they were introduced they are:

• Lenny James - A 61 year old English actor of Afro-Trinidadian parents, best known for portraying 
• Morgan Jones in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2018)
• DCI Tony Gates in Line of Duty series one
• and more recently in Mr Loverman
• He's a big fan of Spurs and brought a shirt
• Sheridan Smith OBE - A 45 year old English actress and singer who is probably best known for characters in a series of sitcoms. She has been awarded two Olivier Awards, a British Academy Television Award, and a National Television Award, and brought her BAFTA (for Mrs Biggs) as one of her items.
• Vanessa Williams is a 63 year old American singer, actress, model, producer and dancer. She was the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. Back in April she was starring in The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre in the West End stage where she was playing the Miranda Priestley role.

Sheridan Smith and Vanessa Williams back to back
in their segments

Episode 1: The Artists

I do a lot of research about the artists, as you get the highly edited version and I like the full public version! I find it also invariably makes more sense of some of the Judge's decisions.

UPDATE: Artist of the Year 2026 Heat 2

A few updates following my visit to the afternoon session of the second heat of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 at Battersea Arts Centre yesterday.

• numbers attending have increased a LOT since I last went to a heat. 
• I have lots of photos of the heat - which will NOT be posted until this episode is televised - except for a couple which are nothing to do with the art (see below). 
• They will enable all those applying for 2027 to see what it's really like when in terms of the other people on the set in the three "cheeses" (ie segments of the set)
• IMPORTANT NOTE: All those attending are welcome to take photos but are asked not to post them until after the episodes aired - so as not to spoil the episodes for viewers.
• I spotted one post on X yesterday by somebody who attended Heat 1 - who obviously hadn't got the message. I showed it to the Sky Arts people who will be contacting her.
• The era of long flowery dresses appears to be well and truly over. Yesterday we had short and very short pant suits and short socks (re The NEW Portrait Artist of the Year Judges)

front to back: The JUDGES: Katy Hessel, Eva Langret, Jonathan Yeo

• I will be making lengthy comments on colour and tone re this heat.
• I am surprised to report that Jonathan Yeo makes some very sound points.
• The Judges are generally quietly spoken and it's very difficult to hear what they say - so if you're going to future heats, I recommend you get as close as possible to where they stand to hear their comments when judging.
• Heat 2 will cause a major controversy when televised as whatever episode (they never broadcast in the order filmed) 
• the two people operating the Sky Big Boom Rig (the one that does the overhead and perspective shots) are two small women called Rachel and Capri! I was very seriously impressed with their control and navigation.
• This is the Smallrig Phone Rig (this one??) used by the chap taking pics for the Artist of the Year social media pages. 

Smallrig iPhone Rig for video and image capture while holding a mobile phone

• Ferne Cotton will be the Presenter for Landscape Artist of the Year 2027 (and won't appear in Portrait Artist of the Year at all)

the seating area in the very nice cafe

• Practical munching TIP: The ravenous hordes attending the morning session eliminated virtually all food in the very nice cafe at the Battersea Arts Centre. You would be well advised to bring your own lunch if travelling for an afternoon session

That's your lot of the edited highlights of Heat 2!

Call for Entries: Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

The deadline for entries for Series 13 of the televised art competition "Portrait Artist of the Year" is Friday 20th February 2026.

Good job I didn't write this any earlier - they've changed all the Judges since I did! More about the new Judges tomorrow.

This post is about:

• The nature of this art competition
• WHO can enter
• HOW to enter
• What the day of filming is like - and how long it lasts!
• Plus TIPS about this art competition
• AND TIPS about juried art exhibitions and art competitions generally (at the end).

Quotations below are from the Terms and Conditions of the competition or as indicated.

This is a televised competition. Artists enter with a self-portrait created within the last 5 years. They are selected on merit by our panel of expert judges. At the heats they are given four hours to paint a surprise celebrity sitter. The heat winners get to compete at the Semi-Final. Three of the Semi-Finalists go through to the Final but only one is selected as the overall winner.

Filming of Portrait Artist of the Year is planned to take place at Battersea Arts Centre in April 2026.

How this art competition works 

This is an art competition as a television show. 

Entries for the competition closes at 12:00pm (midday) on Friday 20th February 2026 (“the Closing Date”). Entries received after this date and time will not be considered. 

These are the Terms and Conditions

Filming of Series 13 of Portrait Artist of the Year is planned to take place at the Battersea Arts Centre in April 2026. (see below for dates in April)

• In effect this is a 'reality' show (i.e. real people/artists) as a knock-out competition for portrait artists.
• Nine artists compete in each heat - which are held between 14th and 23rd April

You agree to use Your best endeavors to be available for any alternative and/or additional dates requested in March, April, May, June, July, and August 2026.

• there are three surprise "celebrity" sitters (some you will know/ some you won't!)
• each sitter has three artists drawing / painting / printing their portrait - in various 2D media
• you have just four hours to complete a portrait - which is essentially 2 hours before the lunch break and 2 hours afterwards. (However artists can and do continue painting throughout the lunch break - when there is no sitter in front of them)
  
  The Shortlisted Artists will have a maximum of 4 hours over a 5-6 hour period (or such other period as the Producer at its discretion may determine) to complete their Heat Artwork.
  

The panel of Judges may take the Shortlisted Artists’ Portrait Entry(s) and their Additional Works of Art into consideration during this judging process, and all of the criteria for judging and the decisions of the Judges shall be at the discretion of the Judges and the Producer and shall not be not open to dispute or discussion 

- except by me "after the event"

• The Sitter gets to choose a portrait - and if it's your portrait this is gifted to the sitter. (Make sure you get a photo of yourself with the sitter and the portrait!)
• The Heat Winner - from a shortlist of three - goes through to the Semi-Finals

TIPS: Artists have just four hours to complete their portrait. HOWEVER:

• you will be interrupted by presenters and/or or Judges who will talk to you during the four hours
• people with cameras and sound recording equipment will be filming around you ALL THE TIME and sometimes you won't be able to see the sitter - or will need to move (see below)
• You will be at some distance from the sitter - much further than with normal portraits - and you can't move your setup in to get closer. (check the distance between artist and the sitter when you watch the programmes)
• It's a good idea to bring a digital device to take a photograph for when you can't see the sitter properly - or you can't see the details of the face clearly enough.

Filming of Series 9 Heat 1

• Eight heat winners get to compete at the Semi-Final on Wednesday 29th April 2026

If You are chosen as a Semi Finalist or Finalist and are asked to travel away from home or are invited to 8 attend the Final, the Producer shall supply and pay for Your reasonable and pre-agreed travel and hotel costs. (T&Cs para 41)

• Three people from the semi-finals are selected for the Final on Tuesday 19th May 2026 at a location in London (which may or may not be Battersea Arts Centre) which involves:
• a commission to be completed between the semi final and the final. (essentially in about two weeks)

A space of the contributor’s choice in which to complete this artwork, where a timelapse camera can be rigged, must be provided free of charge by the contributor to film any or all of this process.

• four hours to complete the portrait of the celebrity sitter in the final. I think the condition below is new. The second option has never been used before.

The Producer may ask

• all of the Finalists to depict the same Portrait of a Sitter at the Final Location,
• or each Finalist may be required to depict different Sitters at the Final Location.

The Prize

The winner is awarded a commission - worth a taxable fee of £10,000 - to create, complete and deliver a portrait of a notable person for a (usually) prestigious organisation - selected by the Producer - by a specified date.

If you want to know why the prize money is taxable see my page on my website Art Business Info for Artists about Tax on art awards and prize money

If You are chosen as the Winner, You must be available between the Final Date and the end of July 2026 to produce the Winner’s Prize Artwork on exact dates to be determined by the Producer.

 

Who / how / what to enter

Goodbye - ALL THREE Artist of the Year Judges

So it's not just Bye Bye to Kate Bryan. Kathleen Soriano and Tai Shan Shierenberg will also NOT be the Judges for the next Series of Portrait Artist of the Year.

Which makes me wonder whether Kathleen and Tai are also not filming Landscape Artist of the Year later this year too. (There's no statement on either of their Instagram accounts)

So, first the announcement and then a recap of where we are at.....

There have been a LOT of changes.....

The Announcement

This was the announcement on Instagram - which dropped late yesterday afternoon

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sky Arts Artist Of The Year (@artistoftheyear)

The text says

After 12 brilliant series of Portrait Artist of the Year, we say Goodbye to our wonderful Judges, Kathleen Kate and Tai. Thank you so much for your expertise and insight. For championing creativity, supporting artists and bringing such wisdom and art to the show. You'll be hugely missed.

More Portrait Artist of the Year Announcements to follow.

I would add that almost every artist I've talked to who has been on the show (and that's a lot of people) have been very complimentary about the production team and the judges.

The Changes

I think first of all, we need to remember that Stuart Prebble (1951-2025), the man who invented Portrait Artist of the Year (and LAOTY) and who had a very illustrious television career before reinventing himself as a producer and starting Storyvault Films with some friends, died in August 2025.

One of the things I think - and I emphasise "think" - is happening is that there has been a change at the helm and they want a new crew.

That's just my hypothesis.

But it's not unusual in these circumstances.

12 years with more or less the same format and people means 

• a series can begin to look "tired" and in need of a bit of a "pick me up" 
• and/or starts to lose viewers 
• and/or applicants
• which prompts the identification of a need for an overhaul. 

What's currently being proposed is that the PAOTY series remains the same - with 72 artists participating across the 8 heats, while LAOTY changes to 10 artists across the whole series- and the terms and conditions have been changed along with the deadline for entries.

(This last paragraph has been updated since original publication)

Why have a Refresh?

Kate Bryan is no longer a Judge for Artist of the Year

You, like me, may have missed the announcement from Kate Bryan that she has stepped down from being a Judge for Artist of the Year Programmes created by Storyvault Films for Sky Arts.  She's been a Judge for both series for 13 years.

• That's Portrait Artist of the Year 
• as well as Landscape Artist of the Year - which was announced last June - see A new Judge for Landscape Artist of the Year!

The announcement came via a post on her Instagram account (see below) - and NOT via the Artist of the Year account.  Which I thought very odd. Normally any well planned announcement goes live contemporaneously. 

(The latter was of course in the middle of its social media marketing in the week run up to the launch of the 11th Series of Landscape Artist of the Year - and you don't "pull focus" on one of your major social media plans!)

Here's the text of the announcement

Post on Kate Bryan's Instagram account 5 days ago (Sunday?)

What's very unclear is what's next

I'd love to know the reason why....

It's a Goodbye rather than a See You All Later.

Given the timing, I wounder whether it might be linked to an annual renewal of a contract - or not as the case might be.

People normally have a plan, a Grand Plan or at the very least a "to do" list before jumping ship.  However, based on her website and Instagram, it's unclear what Kate Bryan's is - as her message above says nothing. Her website also needs a major update. 

So my queries start with:

• Does her Curatorship of the  ever growing Art Collection for Soho House now require more of her time
• Is she trimming and refining her portfolio of interests and client and making them more focused and profitable?
• Is there something completely new in the offing?
• Does she want to spend more time with her daughter?

I have found one thing - and I can well understand why this might be thought of as a bit of a conflict of interests.

There is a new art competition - and I can do no better than to quote from the news I found. Although this was announced last November - with few ripples hence I've only just found it.

A collaborative competition between Hisense and VIDAA Artwork is being run in partnership with Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the year judge Kate Bryan

Launched by TV manufacturer Hisense, the contest has one top prize of £1,000 and a 55” Hisense Canvas TV. The winning piece - along with those of 19 other finalists - will be unveiled at an exclusive exhibition at Dolby House in London.

All 20 creations will then be showcased on Hisense’s new Canvas TV, a 4K QLED television designed to resemble framed artwork. When switched to Art Mode, it turns any living room into a gallery.
Daily Mirror 14 November 2025

Whatever the reasons, Kate Bryan is no more in relation to Artist of the Year. She was my least favourite Judge, by a long way and for a variety of reasons which I won't spell out here.

PLEASE can the next Judge be an active portrait artist

It will be interesting to see who replaces her on Portrait Artist of the Year which kicks off in April.

I can think of any number of portrait artists who would do extremely well in the role.

I'm very happy to make recommendations of people I know who are

• excellent portrait artists;
• with good critical faculties - specifically related to portraiture and commissions; 
• who are also articulate; and 
• "perform" well in front of cameras.

There's another important criteria which I'd be happy to spell out to Storyvault Films.

How Pottery Throwdown is a better programme than Artist of the Year

There have been a number of television programmes over the years about creating/making things in a competitive context and I've commented on a lot of them (see my Art on Television page)

I've been writing reviews of the Portrait and Lansdscape Artist of the Year series (and others) since 2018 and I've been watching The Great Pottery Throwdown since it started - but never reviewed it.

However this year, I feel prompted to say why I think Pottery Throwdown is a better programme

This is in the context of the multiple criticisms over the years of PAOTY and LAOTY, many of which are shared by viewers.

The Love Productions pic for The Great Pottery Throwdown

So here goes

Chloe Barnes wins Portrait Artist of the Year 2025

Yesterday, Portrait Artist of the Year programme revealed that Chloe Barnes won the Final of Series 12 of Portrait Artist of the Year.

Chloe Barnes and her monoprint of Brian Cox in the Final

I'm splitting my comments about PAOTY Series 12 and the two most recent programmes into three separate posts:

• Today - a review about the Final and the final and commission paintings produced for the Final by the artist 
• Sunday 7th December: the Winner's Programme and the Commission
• Monday 8th December: - a review of the PAOTY series and approach taken this year, and a summary of why the Judges , rather than the programme, continue to annoy so very many viewers and whether the competition is really a competition.

Followed sometime soon after with the details of how to enter Series 13 in 2026!

This review covers:

• The Final: Artists, Sitter and Set
• The Portrait Paintings for the Final
• The Judges' Perspective
• The Final Portraits - and my comments
• Why Chloe Barnes won.

The Final

The Artists working in the Final - watched by the audience
(left to right) Lauren, Katie and Chloe

The audience for many of the episodes was largely female and middle aged to older; plus very proud parents and a smattering of young people who seemed to be associated with individual artists. I think this probably reflects the audience for the programme too.

They are VERY well behaved - as you have to be when filming is taking place. I highly recommend those that want to, to apply to watch the heats next year - and you'll learn a lot more about this competition is really like!

The Artists

Katie Jones, Lauren Ross and Chloe Barnes
sat on the steps outside Battersea Arts centre

In order of the heat they appeared in, they are

• Episode 3: Katie Jones (Instagram) - A community arts tutor who lives and works in Somerset and has a studio on the Mendip Hills.
• Episode 4: Chloe Barnes (Instagram) - a printmaker with a first class honours degree in Illustration and an MA (Distinction) in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking. She works as a Gallery Production and Studio Manager and lives in Peckham in London. 
• Episode 5: Lauren Ross (Instagram) - an art tutor and painter from Edinburgh. 

You can read more about them in The PAOTY 2025 Semi Finalists + their Exhibition!

The Sitter and the Setup

The Sitter was Brian Cox, the 'media mogul' star of "Succession"who is 79, still active and still acting to great acclaim.

There was no repeat of the craziness of last year when, with absolutely no notice, the contestants suddenly found themselves painting two sitters - with an extra half hour for the challenge!

Instead we had a stripped back set and one sitter this year.

• The Set used a comfortable burnt burnt orange armchair. 

"That armchair is doing a lot of work" Kathleen Soriano

• The cloth hanging at the back was Jute which is very much associated with Brian's home town of Dundee and his ancestors where it has been produced for very many years
• The jute and the armchair, both combined to create a very warm set.

The one benefit for the artists is that were rather nearer the sitter in the Final than they were during the semi final.

The Start: The sitter - Brian Cox - and the setup for the three artists
and how close the cameras are over every artist's shoulder

Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2025

This rather late review is about the semi-finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2025 (Series 12) which was broadcast on Wednesday night - except it wasn't uploaded to Now until a LOT later) Which is why this is late!

It covers various observations about the Semi-Final (the reality and the programme) including:

• The Semi Finalists (Heat winners)
• The Heat Portraits
• The Sitter setup and setting
• Themes of the semi-final
• Judging and Finalists
• Sitters for the Final

Dame Mary Berry sees the portraits after they've been turned around

The Semi Finalists

You can read all about the Semi Finalists in my post last week in my blog post last week about The PAOTY 2025 Semi Finalists + their Exhibition!

They are - in order of the episodes (i.e. not the heats) as follows:

• Episode 1 - Edie Bound (Instagram) - review of Episode 1
• Episode 2 - Paulina Kwietiewsska (Instagram) - review of Episode 2
• Episode 3 - Katie Jones (Instagram) - review of Episode 3
• Episode 4 - Chloe Barnes (Instagram) - review of Episode 4
• Episode 5 - Lauren Ross (Instagram)- review of Episode 5
• Episode 6 - Uthman Wahaab (Instagram) - review of Episode 6
• Episode 7 - Vincent Stokes (Instagram)- review of Episode 7
• Episode 8 - Courteney Bae (Instagram) - review of episode 8

The Heat Portrait Wall

The Wall of Heat Portraits
Left to right: Katie, Uthman, Vincent, Courtenay, Lauren, Paulina, Chloe and Edie

Imagine walking into a semi final. You have absolutely no idea about:

• who your fellow semi-finalists are
• what they can do in four hours!

......and then you see the Heat Portrait Wall (see above i.e. NOT the self portrait wall or both together)

What you don't know as a semi finalist is if any of the others spent time and effort producing an absolute stunner for their self portrait - and then went small for their heat.

Then the artists line up next to the side of the support they're working on - and you begin to get the picture of what you are up against!

The Setting and the Sitter

The Nightmare Set-up

The Artists in the Semi Final enter the room
This is what it looks like - with easels very close together

I've been to a couple of Semi-Finals at the Battersea Arts centre - and it's an absolute nightmare of a set-up.

• Eight artists is just too many to be comfortable and have space to walk around, think etc. 
• Plus the audience seems much closer than in the heats
• Eights artists means ALL must be further away from the sitter than in the heats
• Some are going to have very acute side profiles - if working from life
• Notwithstanding some are going to be painting from devices rather than from the sitter.

Chloe Barnes summed it up rather well in her blog post about the Semi Finals (link further down - near the end of this post)