Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 10) - Bristol Harbourside

The heats - as per the running order of episodes Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 - finished with a cold and wet one - right next to some cold wet water at Bristol Harbourside.

Pods on the edge of Bristol Harbourside

Comments included below are by people who follow me on Facebook - unless indicated to be by an artist, wildcard or Judge.

Episode 6: Bristol Harbourside

This review - of Episode 6 of Series 10 of Landscape Artist of the Year - follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.

• the location and weather
• the artists' profiles
• themes arising during the episode
• who was shortlisted and who won

The programme is available to view on Sky Arts on Sky/Freeview/NowTV.

NOTE: This might be Episode 6 but it was actually Heat 2 and was filmed on Wednesday 12 June 2024 in Bristol (which rather suggests that the Suspension Bridge was Heat 1). I think they decide the running order of Heats - as Episodes - after they have filmed and know the outcomes. That and the fact that the two heats in the same area are never consecutive on the screens. Anybody care to divulge the actual filming date of their heat?

Location and Weather

The location was Bristol Harbourside

A side on perspective of Bristol Harbourside

I kept trying to work out where the pods are - because this programme has this unhappy habit of sending cameramen to film the view from locations where the pods are NOT located! Plus we had lots of top down views - none of which contained either pods or wildcards (presumably done in advance)!

Consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence ENDS TUESDAY

I'm extremely late to this topic so this is a wakeup call for anybody else like me who did not realise this consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence was happening

The consultation ends on Tuesday 25th February i.e. YOU HAVE TWO DAYS LEFT TO COMMENT. You have two days left if you have a view on how this might impact your career or your income. (I may update this post)

• You can access the consultation here. Responses are by way of a survey of questions. (https://ipoconsultations.citizenspace.com/ipo/consultation-on-copyright-and-ai/)
• respond to the questions in the survey
• say how it would affect you
• or send a letter saying what you want to say via an email
• You can also submit your response by email to: copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk
• The deadline to respond is 11:59pm on Tuesday 25 February 2025.

Cover of the formal Consultation Document published by the Government
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-5330-5, E03259461 12/24, CP 1205
PDF, 1.23 MB, 40 pages

The consultation arises because of what has been characterised as

pressure to amend the UK’s copyright laws to make it easier for predominantly American tech companies to train their AI models on other people’s creative work without permission, acknowledgment or payment. Creative industries are among the UK’s crown jewels – and AI is out to steal them | The Guardian

Below you can read about

• what the government has said
• how to respond - according to DACS and AOI
• places where you can find out what others are saying

What I RECOMMEND YOU DO is read carefully the recommendations of how to respond from both 

• DACS (a "not for profit" set up to maximise and collect copyright income) and the 
• Association of Illustrators (AOI) 

What the Government has said

About Mokuhanga - Japanese woodblock printing

Following on from Thursday's post, which highlighted two unusual media used in Heat 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2025, this post is about Mokuhanga - Japanese woodblock printing.

The other new media was alcohol inks which was covered in yesterday's post Alcohol Inks - information and WARNINGS about use!

Mokuhanga - Japanese woodblock printing

Image of tools used in the production of Japanese Woodblock printing
courtesy The Japanese Gallery article about woodblock printing

What's different about Mokuhanga

• best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre of single sheets
• widely used for text as well as images
• various woods can be used, but the preferred wood is cherry wood 
• uses water-based inks and Nori Starch paste, rather than oil based inks (which are typically used for woodblock printing in the West)
• inking is done with a brush rather than a roller.
• the baren used to press the ink into the paper is made from bamboo leaf and paper
• it produces more subtle prints rather than the bold coloured prints associated with oils

A team of people were usually involved in the production of japanese woodblock prints. These were:

• the publisher (who usually had overall control of the process), 
• the designer/artist, 
• the block cutter and 
• the printer.

The V&A has a section on Japanese ukiyo- prints

How does it work?

This is a very nice video of a Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Workshop - A Printer's Tools and Workspace - by a nice Japanese lady with very good English subtitles

I managed to translate one word - baren! ;)

 

Essentially, the process is....

Alcohol Inks - information and WARNINGS about use!

I'm guessing that after this week's LAOTY Episode (see Review: Episode 5 Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 - Dinorwic Slate Quarry) there's going to be a fair few people dashing out to buy and try alcohol inks.

What I didn't realise is that this programme should have come with some health and safety warnings!

I went looking for more information about acohol inks as I was sure that others, like me, wanted to know more about them

I'm very glad I did - because this post about ALCOHOL INKS now includes some significant WARNINGS!!

Below ARE my quick jottings of what seem to me like decent sites providing more information about  alcohol inks.  I looked at a lot of different articles and snaffled a few words and phrases from some of them i.e. I am NOT an expert. 

If you know more and/or better, please let me know

Alcohol Inks

Alcohol Inks - what makes them different?
Photo by noah eleazar on Unsplash

What are they?

Interestingly, there isn't an article on Wikipedia about them! Despite the fact they are both toxic and dangerous!

BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT USE THEM ON A WHIM: I've learned enough to now know that you need to know a LOT before using them. 

DO NOT LET CHILDREN WORK WITH ALCOHOL INKS

Alcohol Inks - the UPSIDE

Review: Episode 5 Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 - Dinorwic Slate Quarry

We were back in the Welsh countryside this week - but with an industrial angle!

I don't think the view selected for Heat 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 could be called "attractive: . More like a manmade scar on the countryside....

LAOTY 2025: Heat 5 - artists lined up to hear the results of the shortlisting

Episode 5: Dinorwic Quarry

This review - of Episode 5 of Series 10 of Landscape Artist of the Year - follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.

• the location and weather
• the artists' profiles
• themes arising during the episode
• who was shortlisted and who won

The programme is available to view on Sky Arts on Sky/Freeview/NowTV.

Location and Weather

The view of the Dinorwic Slate Quarry from the pods
the vertical slate seam to the left and the slag tips to the right

The location was the old Dinorwic Slate Quarry located between the villages of Llanberis and Dinorwig (formerly Dinorwic) in North Wales.

The two largest slate quarries in the world at the beginning of the 20th century were both located in North Wales. Penrhyn was the largest (which is the one I know) and this one was the second largest. It opened in 1787; at its height of production it employed 3,000 people and it closed down in 1969 and became the site of The Slate Museum.

The artists had a view of an imposing and monumental view of the vein of slate, which is very nearly vertical and hence there is a very vertical quarry. Vegetation is growing again on the hillside. To the right was more of the quarry and the slag heaps.

An actual landscape and a nice, meaty challenging one at that!

Interestingly the pods were split into two rows of four - either side of the vertical scar - and I'm guessing that was to allow the wildcards to see it too.

The split pods - with wildcards behind.
Is this going to be repeated in future?

Tai thought it was quite ugly and very difficult to do. He highlighted how the scar in the hillside goes in so that the shadows will be constantly changing on a sunny day - as it was.

Another comments was that the hillside was scarred and those scars had been inflicted by humans

I found it unattractive and also very difficult to make look interesting as most of the day it was all one tone. It seemed to me the only way to make it look interesting would be via mark-making or exaggeration.

The heat was filmed on a very hot dry day in June 2024.  People were using their umbrellas and protective tents to shield themselves from the sun!

"It's very hot so it's going to be a challenge!"

 

The Artists in the Pods