Landscape Artist of the Year: A Celebrity Twist!

The Sky Arts website recently announced innovations for the next round of Landscape Artist of the Year.

At the weekend we heard - via the main Sky Arts website only - that:

• Fearne Cotton is to join as a new celebrity Co-Host
• More Celebrities will be involved in every episode - talking about their landscape
• Still no announcement about the Judges for LAOTY although we now know who two are.

Image for Series 12 - using submissions from Series 11

However, what is very weird is that 

• they have added text to the page, 
• without removing images and text associated with previous incarnations. 
• Hence we have two lots of text describing the format of one programme in two different ways!

A New Co-Host

Fearne Cotton is to be a new Co-Host for Series 12 which will be filmed this summer.

She a long-standing British TV presenter - mainly associated with the "popular tv" end of the market with mainstream broadcasters.

She also describes herself as Mother, Broadcaster, Writer, Founder.

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Since finishing The Fearne Cotton Show (2009-2015) for BBC Radio1 she has branched out on her own and now hosts an award-winning podcast Happy Place (on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Her Happy Place Brand has since expanded into:

• a wellbeing brand including
• a book club,
• an annual festival and
• a marketplace that champions small businesses that are female-led, minority-owned, and/or based in the UK.

In other words, treading the well trodden path of celebrities who now need to differentiate themselves - while remaining popular - and generate their own audiences in the new social media world. 

“I am thrilled to be joining Landscape Artist of the Year as part of the presenting team at Sky Arts. Art is such an important, emotive and expressive medium for me and I know that the audience is just going to be absolutely blown away by the level of enthusiasm and passion that we see from the artists taking part in the show. I can’t wait to be part of that journey and to help them tell their stories.”

She also comes with:

• 1.1 million followers on Facebook
• 3.9 million followers on Instagram
• 113k subscribers on YouTube

Which makes her very good fit with lots and lots of women over the age of 30 who like watching Landscape Artist of the Year.

I can see why she could be attracted to LAOTY and why Sky Arts might be attracted to her. 

Casting now depends on social media following - as well as the ability to do the job!

Plus - and this makes her sound a very positive addition - she's a celebrity who can paint!!!

Kim Day wins Landscape Artist of Year 2026

This review is about the Final of Series 11 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 which was won by Kim Day.

The Pods next to Falkirk Wheel

The Final of Series 11 of Landscape Artist of the Year (2026) was held at The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland last summer - and was broadcast on Sky Arts on Wednesday evening (followed straight afterwards by the programme about the commission for those wondering when that's on. My review of that will follow by Sunday).

Following this review of the Final, there are two more posts to go 

• Review of the Commission 
• Review of the Series as a whole.

About this post

As always the programme about the Final is always something of a bit of an odd show since

• 5 other participants are missing
• there is the need to recap the journey to the Final
• plus a more indepth profile of each artist AND
• the story of the three artists doing a commission between the semi-finals and the Final

Below you can read about

• Artists in the Final
• Venue: Where/when the Final was held plus observations about the subject
• Observations, Themes and Tips
• The Commissions
• The Final Painting
• The Winner

At the end you can find 

• all my reviews of previous programmes in this series at the end of this post. 
• how to read reviews of past series
• Plus how to apply for the NEXT series which will be filmed this summer in six heats in three places around the UK.

But before I begin.....

There's an aspect of this competition which is not explained well in the programme. I'm writing this now because I've noted a LOT of comments complaining about who won on FB.

• A lot of people appear to THINK that the winner is determined by the artwork they paint in the final (i.e. 4 hours). 
• This is not the case. 
• Unfortunately, what really happens seems to be spelt out less clearly than it needs to be given the number of people who think this.

To go back to the beginning, who wins a heat depends on:

• the submission AND
• the heat painting i.e. it is NEVER just about the heat painting.

Who wins the whole series depends on:

• the submission AND
• the heat painting AND
• the semi final painting AND
• the commission AND
• the painting in the Final i.e. it is NEVER just about the 4 hour painting in the Final.

Let me put it another way. WHY would they ask them to paint a commission - of what ever size they like - in however long they want to spend on it (within the time constraint of a week - I think) if it did not matter a LOT?!

Bottom line, the portfolio of paintings build up over the course of the series - from the application to the Final and provide a good insight into who an artist is and what they can do. 

One might characterise the programme as a long-running audition.

Almost without fail, I have observed almost all winners across many series as having a very clear style and proficiency in specific techniques and a range in terms of what they like to paint and how they like to paint - and a very stong portfolio built up over the course of the competition.

It's my strong belief that it is the OVERALL PORTFOLIO - with a particular emphasis on BOTH the commission and the heat painting which tells the Judges who is the best artist for the commission.

It's the most logical and best way to judge the overall competition.

I stand to be corrected, but that will involve the programme makers in providing a very simple and explicit explanation of the process that is used to judge the competition - and restate this in every episode for ALL the viewers as well as the participants.

It's just very sad that this is not communicated and explained simply and clearly to viewers. 

This approach is one of the principle reasons why I bang on and on and on about the importance of the submission.

Ditto same applies to the commission for the Final.  An outstanding commission will tip the balance and win the Final. I've seen it happen across both PAOTY and LAOTY a few times.

NOTE: My personal preference would be to skip the final painting of "something" which they all do together and make it a programme about three different commissions of a significant landscape similar to the commission - with no pod - as an audition. That way you can also keep the winner secret!

So - now we've got that straight - on with my review of THE FINAL AUDITION FOR THE COMMISSION and TWO ARTWORKS!

Artists in the Final

As if you need reminding, however this is relevant to all those think they know better than these artists

Review: Semi Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 11 (2026) - Ouse Valley Viaduct

This is a formal Review of the Semi Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11) which took place and was filmed at the Ouse Valley Viaduct in July 2024.

It starts with a preamble about past semi finals and their locations - and some tips which artists might like to bear in mind if they are participating.

Which artists reached the final of Landscape Artist of the Year 2026?

Location and Weather 

The very weird semi-finals locations to date

I will repeat what I said last year

All that the semi final location choices do is

• (typically) provide big structures - which won't be present in the commission locations
• provoke difficulty
• generate disappointing paintings
• guarantee that a talented artist(s) will mess up - and not make the final

In this instance, it also bears no relation whatsoever to the Commission and likely locations that the winning artist will visit

If you think "this can't be right", you can check it out below.

LAOTY Semi Final Locations

I started my reviews in Series 4 and the links in the list below are to my reviews of each semi-final - where you can see pics of all the structures.

YET AGAIN we got a BIG STRUCTURE for the Semi Final

• 2015 - Potters Fields Park in central London - painting Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the City of London
• 2016 - Margate Harbour - painting views of the harbour
• 2017 - Castle Farm in Kent (the exception which proves the rule - given what happened the next year) - painting enormous fields of lavender
• 2018 - Felixstowe Docks - a container port with very big cranes and ships and stacks of containers - complete with an ocean going container ship turning up halfway through. (The eventual winner of the series knew it was coming as given a vague idea of where the semi finals were she'd had the foresight to look up both tide tables and arrivals and departures!)
• 2019 - Oil Rigs in the Cromarty Firth - extremely peculiar vertical structures sat in the middle of the Firth?
• 2020 - change of timing of broadcast (the year of two PAOTYs)
• 2021 - the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford in East London (filmed under Covid constraints in 2020 and broadcast changed to Jan-March slot in 2021) - looking south down the River Lee - towards the Olympic Stadium and the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the distance.
• 2022 - Forth Bridge - a VERY meccano set over the Firth of Forth
• 2023 - Thames Barrier- next to the River Thames!
• 2024 - Bucklers Hard - in Hampshire
• 2025 - Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - with a view of the 19th century warship HMS Warrior

I think the theory might be, if you can make an attractive artwork from what are very typically unappealing big structures, you're probably going to be capable of portraying the commission subject. 

Except they will keep choosing natural landscape for the latter! e.g. Croagh Patrick - a very large holy mountain in Ireland - for this current series 11.

I absolutely disagree with my postulated theory. I can't think of a worse test. 

Natural landscape painters do not tend to respond well to big structures. In general, they're trying to get back to nature and away from big structures. I'm not quite sure why this thought has never occurred to whoever procures the locations.

TIPS For LAOTY Semi Finalists (and Pod artists)

Again I can do no better than repeat my previous advice for semi-finalists

• Expect a big structure at some point 
• polish your perspective chops
• A panoramic format might be a very useful option for your support
• Take suitable tools for drawing/painting structures e.g. take a ruler (for measuring)
• large pieces of stiff card (for very fast delivery of sharp edges)
• flexi curve or french curve for bends
• Binoculars - because sometimes the structure is a VERY long way away!
• Make sure you know how to paint effective water quickly and easily

The 2026 Semi Final Location

The location for the Semi Final is the Ouse Valley Viaduct on the Balcombe Estate in in the High Weald AONB of West Sussex. The viaduct opened in 1841 and is used by the trains which travel between London and Brighton. It has:

• got 37 arches and was built using 11 million bricks
• been described as the most elegant viaduct in Britain. 
• has an iconic infinity view when seen from inside the arches.

I can't help feeling the pods were the wrong side of the viaduct for capturing the shadows of the viaduct on the land. There again that would have meant looking into the sun.

The artists initially seemed to spend some time pondering what the sun might do - along with working out a composition and either drawing or blocking in.

Then it was down to the serious business of interpreting how to set about (what the Judges called) a "monolith".

View of the pods side on to the Viaduct.

The Weather

In a series of endless sunny days and hot weather, this was a semi-final on "an incredibly baking hot day on location" with absolutely no shadow.

I keep wondering how the pod artists cope in terms of being baked alive! I know I absolutely couldn't do it - I'd go all woozy and pass out! I "think" (as in "I'm not sure") that they had some sort of cover for the pods which maybe deflected the rays.

The Artists in the Semi Final

The artists after they finished painting - in a nice shady spot

We had two surprises not one!  There were eight artists in the Pods and they were:

• all the Heat Winners - as summarised in Tuesday's blog post LAOTY Semi Final 2026 - The Heat Winners
• PLUS the chosen wildcard from the Wildcard Winners in each heat. They chose Deborah Frank from Episode 3 at Dover Ferry Port (See Review and her Instagram post). She was rone who did the very impressive close cropped pic in oul paint of just one part of the harbour walls. 

Deborah Frank is a practicing artist living in West Essex, England. Currently completing a BA in contemporary portraiture, at The Art Academy London (her website)

• PLUS the best of the rest - in terms of pod artists - which actually makes some sense, because some heats definitely had more good artists than others.. The selected "best of the rest" was Tom Winter from Episode 5 on the Thames (see Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 11 (2026) - HMS Wellington & the South Bank). He's the chap who is a whiz at buildings and perspective.

NOTE: from the comments on my Facebook Page there seem to be quite a lot of people who think there is an episode which is the showdown between the wildcard artists to select the best for the Semi Final. This is NOT the case. The Judges choose a Wildcard at their own discretion - on the basis of their wildcard painting on the day. I'm assuming they've probably got access to the digital version of their submission as well.

The Semi Final Paintings

Here they all are at the end of the day. As you can see there are:

• 3 x panoramic
• 3 x portrait
• 2 x landscape

The only two people who "went big" were "the wildcard" and "the best of the rest". Those who get a lucky break do tend to come out fighting to justify that decision!

At the end of the semi-final, they had eight similar paintings of the same subject, which were all different. I think the good ones stood out.

Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 11 (2026) - Skiddaw

This week, for the fourth episode of Landscape Artist of the Year the artists are back in the Lake District to paint Skiddaw which lies just north of Keswick. 

This is my review, which covers the location, artists, wildcards, heat paintings, who got shortlisted and who won the heat. Plus the themes I found cropped up throughout the programme. 

WARNING: Go and get a cup of tea or coffee and sit down. This is a very long one!

I got half way through this post and decided to call it THE MEGA WHINEY post. I really, really, really want to stop whining and complaining. Please!

There will be yet more screaming - for various reasons....

If you anticipate wanting to enter for next year

• At the bottom of this post you will also find links to my REVIEWS of all previous episodes in Series 11.
• Plus you can find all my REVIEWS of previous LAOTY Series from Series 4 (2018) TO Series 10 (2025) - which ALL have lots of tips - on my Art on Television page.

Episode 4: Skiddaw

LAOTY 2026: Episode 4 - Skiddaw Fell
The wildcards arriving - with Skiddaw in the background
aka "Look no houses!"

Location and Weather

The 931-metre (3,054 ft) summit of Skiddaw is traditionally considered to be the fourth-highest peak and the sixth highest in the UK. Its slopes are grassy towards the bottom and the ridges are covered in ice-shattered scree and stones towards the top. It's located in what are called the Northern Fells

Up until the middle ages, its slopes were covered with a temperate rain forest. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust has an appeal for a 100 year project to help restore the Skiddaw Forest to its slopes 

I think they relocated the LAOTY Pods from the edge of Derwent Water to the other side of Crow Park and then turned them around so they were facing the view of Skiddaw above the town of Keswick.

Interestingly Skiddaw actually looks very like Croagh Patrick (to be painted for the Commission) - so this was "the ideal audition". Except it wasn't.....

I'm guessing the pods were located where it was flattest. That's because I was somewhat surprised at the angle of the location. I was expecting them to be more turned towards Skiddaw - on the extreme left in the pic below - instead of being lined up in front of the town of Keswick. 

Wildcards and Pods
trees in the foreground, Keswick in the middle ground
and then Skiddaw in the background

This was another very hot day - as happened for the first episode at Derwent Water. I'm not going to repeat all the hot weather recommendations from previous episodes of this series.

Episode 4: The Artists in the Pods

Episode 4: The Heat 4 Artists - out of their Pods and waiting to be shortlisted

Episode 4 pod artists are listed BELOW in the alphabetical order of their surnames.

• Including a synopsis of their background
• Links to their websites (if they have one) are embedded in their names.
• Social media platforms are also referenced - but typically only one

The artists are:

• Ian Dowding - a former chef / restaurateur from East Sussex who is a self taught artist, painting in acrylics.  (no social media relating to art that I can find)
• Stephanie Euphemia (Instagram) - a professional artist from Shropshire. She's a  landscape artist who specialises in oil painting en plein air - and has exhibited in various art galleries in England. She's also a former tennis player who gave up a corporate career to become an artist. She brought her daughter to the heat.

Stephanie and her mini-me

I had such an incredible experience meeting the judges, painting alongside the other artists (and my miniature artist who decided she wanted to get in on the action) and loved seeing all of the different artistic interpretations of the Skiddaw Mountains.

• Amelia Hemmings (Instagram) - From Oxfordshire, she is a linocut printmaker who mainly demonstrates (outdoors!) and exhibits in the border country between the west Midlands and Wales. She produces linocut, monotype & monoprint exploring landscape & memory. She works from direct experience of landscape. Walking in remote places is central to her practice, shaping both the subject matter and the way the work is made. As a result of being selected, Amelia very sensibly got herself some decent PR coverage in Oswestry Life (page 38). Plus this is her blog post about her day spent filming LAOTY. Kathleen thought her outdoor studio to be very well organised!



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• Alison Paterson Mars - a local farmer, Alison lives and works in the rural, rolling, windswept and little known farming country of the Solway, between the high hills of the northern Lake District and the enclosing Cumbrian coast. She produces expressionistic paintings using dramatic colours. She exhibits in and around the Lake District/Cumbria. She comments on her website as follows...

It was the hottest day of the year. There were 8 of us artists who were given a pod to work in, there were also 50 others -‘ the wildcards’ who had to fend for themselves, and sit out in the sun, We’d to be there for 7am and it was after 7pm when I left, so it was a long day. Everyone had a brilliant time and we were well looked after. 

• Cathy Pearce (Instagram) -a professional landscape painter from Wiltshire. She has been working in pastels for the last 13 years. As she says, there can be more pure pigment in a pastel than in oil paint. She had an article about Achieving Vibrancy in Pastels in The Artist magazine last year. I was very pleasued to have it confirmed that she was using Unison Pastels - which are made in Northumberland and are my pastel of choice too! I bought my first sets in the Lake District! Plus Clairefontaine Pastelmat. I've had my eye on her very striking submission (in the introduction image) from the beginning of this series. I'd wondered if it was pastels and if they were Unison! She has artwork currently exhibited in The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries (link is to the photo in the FB Album of her artwork!) Plus this is her explanation as to how.

Yay - I found a pic of the Unison Pastels!!
I've got all those boxes too!

• Scott Simpson (Instagram) He was born in Aberdeen and has Scots Singaporean heritage. He graduated from Grays School of Art at Robert Gordon University. He is an award-winning painter now based in Alloa, Scotland. His drawings and paintings are, at the fundamental level, based on nature and seeing the world at a walking pace. He has exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, Society of Scottish Artists and Aberdeen Artist Society on several occasions. This is an interview with him. 
• Dan West (Instagram) - Dan, age 24, is an emerging artist from Teddington who currently works full time in the marketing, branding and graphic design of events. He attended Esher College before studying marketing at the University of Portsmouth. He first appeared on LAOTY as a wildcard when he was 22. He works in graphite and coloured pencils. His artwork is a leisure time activity but goes way beyond the normal standard of leisure artists - particularly in relation to composition which is very good. He also does album cover designs for musicians.

His main body of work focuses on the relationship between people and their environment, finding stories in every day life. Dan's work varies in size and material, with a consistent eye for narrative. (his website)

• Chris Wright (Instagram) - He's an art teacher who has spent the last 25 years teaching art. He likes American Realism and uses strong shadows. He partocularly likes painting caravans! His artwork has been exhibited around the country. In 2025, it was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, The Royal Academy and The Royal West of England. There's a very good interview / explanation by Chris of this time on the show on his website

This was one of the most surreal experiences of my life and it is quite the memory to look back on. I’ve watched the show with my family for years and to have the opportunity to compete on it alongside a group of passionate and inspiring artists was amazing.

Episode 4: Submissions

Exploring Time - Tony Foster's watercolour landscapes at the RWS Gallery

There’s an amazing exhibition of very impressive watercolour paintings by Tony Foster at the RWS Gallery in Whitcomb Street. 

It's quite unlike anything else I've ever seen before in an art gallery.

For more than 45 years now English artist Tony Foster has worked in the World’s wildernesses - mountains and canyons, rainforests and deserts, the Arctic and the Tropics. Travelling slowly - on foot or by canoe or raft, and carrying his painting and camping equipment he makes his paintings in response to what he finds on his journeys.

“Exploring Time” in plein air painting treks through geological and biological time across various wilderness locations on different continents. 

This new exhibition presents over fifty watercolours painted en plein air over seventeen years, sharing the artist's reflections on the complexity of time and its impact upon the planet. Each includes notes from the artist’s experiences as well as maps and objects relevant to its location.

Divided into Geological Time, Biological Time, Human Time and Fleeting Moments, the paintings explore how time has sculpted and affected our planet. From Colorado to Tibet, the Galapagos and Cornwall, the works celebrate the wonder of nature, highlighting the importance of leaving areas of the world undisturbed.

A view of one of the basement galleries

His watercolour paintings painted plein air over 17 years are phenomenal. 

Some are of some absolutely amazing vistas in wilderness country. Some are of things he finds and records en route when trekking - which also record the small things in places in a unique way.

• You can see some of my photos of this paintings in my Facebook Post
• You can see a record of his exhibitions over the years on his website

The resulting paintings are a visual record of what he encounters on his journey: not just the landscape, but flora and fauna, notes, souvenirs and anecdotes.

A record of small objects - leaves, fruits, birds, eggs, feathers, twigs etc
found in a specific place on is travels

He also has an extraordinarily impressive CV of exhibitions across the USA and UK and coverage in articles by very many different publications. 

This exhibition will be embarking on a tour of the US from 2026 to 2028.

Approach to Drawing and Painting + Equipment

His approach to recording by drawing and painting what he sees is quite unlike virtually all landscape artists. This is his plein air method

He does not use photography or sketches but makes his paintings on site, often in the most difficult and uncomfortable circumstances. Sometimes a large-scale work (up to 8ft x 4 ft / 244 cms x 122 cms!) will take more than three weeks on site before it is sufficiently resolved to roll into its aluminium tube to be completed in his studio in Cornwall. 

Check out his painting equipment he takes with him 

Tony Foster's very lightweight painting equipment for very large paintings

Once he has found his painting site, he erects a makeshift board as an easel. When working in freezing conditions, he adds gin to his painting water to stop it icing-up. 

Events Programme

Want to watch Landscape Artist of the Year being filmed?

Filming has started on Series 11 of Landscape Artist of the Year which will be broadcast between January and March 2026.

Derwent Water is next week
Best View yet - by a long way

For those curious as to how it is going and for those who maybe want to go and watch, this is what I've found out so far. (They've stopped sending me press releases!)

Of the locations they have identified 5 are about 

5 Very BIG Structures 

• Dover Castle, Kent
• Dover Ferry Point, Kent
• The Thames from HMS Wellington, London
• The Ouse Valley Viaduct, West Sussex 
• Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

3 Actual Landscapes!

• The Lake District, Cumbria (two heats) - actual real landscape as painted by very many landscape painters - but BIG!
• St James’s Park, London - actual land which is green - small and manicured and a lake with a lot of birds on it!

BELOW you can find out where the heats are and which date they are filming - although some of this is guesswork.

Heat Locations

Locations of "public" heats are as listed in this marketing image

They say they are 

unable to accommodate audiences at the other locations due to the lack of parking and facilities. 

However every single one of them is a public space - so, if you fancy, you can ignore that if you can work out how to get there and where local facilities might be located.

I can't work out whether they mean this is what they are ALSO telling the wildcards to do!

Last week: Dover Castle, Kent and Dover Ferry Point, Kent

Given they split up the locations during the series but do them at the same time while filming I'm assuming there were two heats at Dover was last week

• a view of Dover Castle
• a view of the ferryport from the cliffs!

Here are some of the photos from social media!  Some of those pods look somewhat precarious. I wonder what the insurance was like after the risk assessment exercise?

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A post shared by Susie Treherne Thomas (@strehernethomas)

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A post shared by Katie Sims | Landscape & Pet Portrait Artist UK (@katiesimsart)

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A post shared by Mike Durham (@mikedurhamart)

Next week: Crow Park, Keswick in The Lake District / Cumbria

Two days in the Lake District - on Wednesday18th and Thursday 19th June means two heats.

You will recall that last year, they went to Wales and maybe moved the pods about half a mile to get a different perspective on the same place. 

Here's the Google Maps reference for Crow Park which appears to overlook Derwent Water.

Plus see the photo above of the view from Crow Park over Derwent Water.

I envy anybody who gets that view.

Remember - the sites they use will ALWAYS be an expanse of flattish land big enough for eight sizable pods.

Wednesday 25th June: St James's Park

St James Park - the Lake View, with trees (2008)

from Drawing trees in St James Park

What I do know is that anybody getting this heat better be good at trees!

There are various places they could theoretically set up the pods in St James's Park - however they also run the risk of causing an obstruction for the other people using the park.. 

 Those who have sketched or plein air painted there will know the places to "go to". I'm assuming it's probably going to include water as it's a bit silly going to a park with a great big lake and then ignoring it.  Just as you can hardly ignore the trees....

See, for example, my blog post about Capturing the Moment - plein air paint out in St James's Park organised by the British Plein Air Painters.  I'd so like them to turn out en masse and NOT be wildcards and paint what they want to paint....

I'm including a couple of sketches I did back in 2008 (above and below)

St James Park - Tree Study #3 (8th October, 6pm)

8.5" x 11", coloured pencils in Daler Rowney sketchbook

(see The colour of weather and time)

However it's going to be absolutely swarming with tourists - who all love a camera! You can't move in London at the moment for school trips and families all speaking every language under the sun! 

I do not envy those who get this heat!  But I might go and watch!

Thursday 26th June - The Thames from HMS Wellington, London

I think it's a fair bet that if they're in London with the pods on Wednesday then on Thursday those pods will have been erected somewhere else in London and the crew will be working two days back to back with the pods etc - which means that Thursday will be the date for the other location they've already announced

Which is The Thames from HMS Wellington, London - and below is HMS Wellington - moored on the north side of the Thames inbetween Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. 

I don't know if they're going to put the pods on the boats - but it strikes me that could be problematic!

HMS Wellington, 

HMS Wellington is a Grimsby-class sloop, formerly of the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic. She is now moored alongside the Victoria Embankment, at Temple Pier, on the River Thames in London, England

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wildcards are on the bridges... Maybe with a few others?

I am speculating. They're not saying. However all the land either side of the river and along the bridges is public - and this is very much a public location . However it's next to the Embankment and a very busy road so common sense dictates that they won't be encouraging people to attend next to the boat. There again they can't stop them either...

HOWEVER, the irony is THAT there is a MUCH MUCH BETTER view from the "made for LAOTY filming" area exactly on the opposite side of the river on the South Bank.

The view from the other side of the river
You can see St Paul's cathedral and all the towers in the City of London
as well as an excellent view of the bridges

SEMI- FINAL

(I'm guessing! Wednesday 2nd July) - The Ouse Valley Viaduct, West Sussex

There are always two locations which are isolated from the others. Which means 

• one is the location for the semi-final and 
• the other is the location of the Final.

Since they're telling us the Final is in Falkirk, I'm making the reasonable assumption that the semi-final is in West Suusex.

The Ouse Valley Viaduct is another ridiculous structure - which is only outdone by the ridiculous structure for the Final!

The Ouse Valley Viaduct

A structural marvel, the viaduct was originally built in 1838 to carry the London-Brighton line over the River Ouse.

It has been estimated that around 11 million bricks were used in construction, with almost 17 million passenger journeys being made across the viaduct every year!

It strikes an elegant silhouette over the beautiful High Weald area and is a must for all photography fans. Standing at 29 metres tall, the Viaduct has 37 arches stretching 450 metres across the Ouse Valley and over the River Ouse. Ouse Valley Viaduct, Visit South East England Website

Basically it's halfway between Crawley and Hayward's Heath.

• This is the location - link from Google Maps
• Also described as Haywards Heath Road, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6QP.

The date provides for three clear weeks before the Final on the 23rd - during which time the finalists have to product their commission artwork. (as in "find a really silly view near you and paint it")

THE FINAL

Wednesday 23rd July - The Falkirk Wheel

That's a horror story of a subject for a Final. 

Sue England (Series 5 LAOTY 2019) was given the Falkirk Wheel as the subject for her commission painting prior to the Final proper (see Fujiko Rose won Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 in Final at Battersea Power Station). I remember then thinking how unlucky she was. There again - at least she got to choose how she portrayed it and from what angle and how much!

The Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

But it gets better - the producers are complete sadists! IT MOVES!

Threre's a canal at the top and a canal at the bottom. At rest, the wheel sits with a gondola at each level, filled with water. Barges sail in, and the water relevels, but due to Achimedes' principle, the weight in the gondolas remains the same. The wheel, in perfect balance, is turned by a small electric motor (same power requirements as a few teakettles, we're told) and the gondlas stay level thanks to wheels within the wheel. The rotation takes 5 minutes, and then the barges sail ou

So, if you were applying for a heat, I wonder which you would choose......

More about Landscape Artist of the Year

on MAM and by participants

Series 11 - to be broadcast early 2026

• Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11).
• A new Judge for Landscape Artist of the Year!

Series 10 - broadcast early 2025

• Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025) - Hampton Court
• Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025) - Snowdon, Wales
• Review: Episode 3 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025) - Clifton Suspension Bridge
• Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 10) - St Pancras Basin
• Review: Episode 5 Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 - Dinorwic Slate Quarry
• Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 10) - Bristol Harbourside
• Review: Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 - Semi Finals at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Ben MacGregor wins Landscape Artist of the Year 2025
• Review: £10,000 Commission for Landscape Artist of the Year 2025