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00:13Over 2,000 artists applied for this series of Landscape Artist of the Year.
00:18Just 48 made it into the iconic pods.
00:22It's just perfect, really.
00:24The drama of the mountains and the sky's a big area.
00:30I'm not painting that.
00:35Awaiting the winner, a £10,000 commission from the National Gallery of Ireland
00:39to paint a landscape of Crowpatrick in County Mayo, Ireland's holy mountain.
00:48Watching the artists' every brushstroke are three judges.
00:53New addition to the team, Director of Freeze London, Eva Longray.
00:58You've already done a lot here. You've made lots of decisions already.
01:01I don't know what time it is.
01:02Alongside old hands, Taishan Schierenberg.
01:05I don't know what the man is doing, but I love it.
01:07This is just mad genius, really.
01:11And Kathleen Soriano.
01:12It's getting there.
01:13Getting there?
01:14Yeah.
01:14I mean, I can see a ground and some brown marks.
01:19This year, our artists pushed themselves to their creative limits.
01:23I asked myself for the challenge, so I have to do it now.
01:27Nearly there.
01:28And as always, there was the British summer to contend with.
01:33Not to mention the strict four-hour time limit.
01:36How much time do we have?
01:3913 minutes.
01:41And at each heat, we welcomed a further 50 artists.
01:44Yes, it's the landscape artist Wild Cards,
01:47bringing plein air fashion and a hint of drama.
01:51Oh, okay, not that way.
01:54Told you you shouldn't have let me ever go.
01:55I mean, if you went running towards the castle,
01:57I think they'd start preparing the boiling oil,
01:59because you look like...
02:01You look like you mean business.
02:03So, buckle up.
02:06You all right?
02:07As we look back at the highlights of this series,
02:11it's the very best of Landscape Artist of the Year.
02:14There is a certain sort of fragrance of goose poo, isn't there?
02:18That's my aftershave.
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03:05Next stop, Dover, where the puns went from bad to worse.
03:09So will they create a contemporary masterpiece
03:12or do something that's positively medie-easal?
03:16But there was no time for funny business when we ditched the pods
03:19and set up on the foredeck of HMS Wellington.
03:22All aboard! It's a brand-new episode of Landscape Artist of the Year.
03:34At every heat, once the artists have settled into their pods...
03:38Righty-tighty, that's it.
03:40How are you doing? Oh, pretty well, thanks.
03:42Feeling good? Relaxed? No. Not at all.
03:45I like to kick things off with a bit of pizzazz.
03:48Attention all artists, attention all artists.
03:50It's going to be a beautiful day. I can feel it in my Derwent waters.
03:55All those who haven't completed their artwork within four hours
03:58will be made to walk the plank.
04:00And your time starts now.
04:17The artists enter the competition with a submitted landscape,
04:21which they bring along to display in the pods.
04:25So, Kim, I think one of the things that really struck us
04:28about your submission is your use of colour.
04:31Yeah.
04:31And this really stunning mix of soft pastels,
04:36and then at the same time,
04:38some areas are really intense colours coming together.
04:42I think with colour, sometimes, I mean,
04:44this is quite conventional at the moment,
04:45but as I go, I'm hoping that I'll start to feel more about which colours
04:50I want to see and which I don't.
04:52The greens could be purple or pink or yellow if I decided to.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Good luck, yeah.
05:07So, Peter, tell me, do you always wear the same colours that feature in your paintings?
05:10Pretty much, yeah.
05:12And you can see those in your submission as well.
05:13One of the reasons why we loved it is it reminded us a bit of post-modern architecture.
05:17Oh, that's interesting.
05:18OK, you're going to have to tell me about your story here.
05:21I remember coming here as a kid and seeing the guards...
05:25Yes.
05:25...in the Busby hats.
05:26They're called bearskins, but when we were kids, they were called Busbys.
05:29And my narrative for today is the Busbys have got the day off
05:35in St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace.
05:37So I enter the text into AI and then that will help me imagine the Busbys have taken over.
05:45You've clearly got an incredibly fertile mind.
05:48What is it that the AI gives you that you wouldn't get just standing here using your very busy brain?
05:54I'm playing with it and it's a new tool and I find it fascinating.
06:09Lilia, amazing palettes with an extraordinary array of colours you've mixed.
06:15But at the moment, there's still a lot of white.
06:17I like that.
06:18You like that?
06:19I do.
06:19So there won't be a kind of sense of closing the surface of the painting?
06:23No, I just like leaving space around things.
06:26No, absolutely, no, no.
06:28It feels much more joyful and reffy.
06:31Yes.
06:32So your submission feels very spooky is not the right word,
06:36but very atmospheric in a very different sort of way.
06:38Yes.
06:39I think it's the shapes and the incongruous helter-skelter.
06:43Yes.
06:43And the stillness, because there wasn't anyone around.
06:46Yeah.
06:46No, no, it works very well.
06:47It's very beautiful.
06:48So I'm looking for the same here, please.
07:12Libby, what I really loved about the submission was that you were right down in there amongst the vegetation.
07:17There's a lot of organic form.
07:18Yes.
07:18But this is very sort of architectural.
07:20It's very, very precise.
07:22I mean, do you have to adapt your style when you're painting?
07:25So the challenge here is to try and keep the loose abstract shapes rather than the lines that I'm used
07:30to as an illustrator.
07:32So, yeah.
07:32So is there a sort of different part of your brain that operates when you're painting?
07:36Yes, definitely.
07:37The fun part.
07:49Hello, Nigel.
07:51How do you feel about the scenery today?
07:55Because from your submission, it felt that maybe you're more drawn to urban landscapes.
08:00I like the unusual.
08:02Right.
08:02And so the submission was based on noticing something that people would walk past, a scaffolding scene.
08:10What did you notice today that you feel goes unnoticed?
08:14It's Buckingham Palace.
08:15Mm-hm.
08:15There's something about a home as well as a residence with lots of tours looking at it.
08:21And so it's on public display.
08:23Mm-hm.
08:23And I suppose seeing the landscape emotionally is really quite important to me.
08:28Great.
08:32With the serious business underway in the pods, time for some fun.
08:37Predictably unpredictable, it's my landscape artist wildcards.
08:43I made these viewfinders myself.
08:47Thought I'd paint them red, make them stand out, like my hat.
08:50Get noticed.
08:55Stephanie.
08:57Hello.
08:57Michelle.
08:58And you are related?
09:00Yes.
09:00Mother and daughter.
09:01Mother and daughter.
09:02Mother.
09:02Right, okay.
09:03Mother and daughter.
09:04Are you painting the same view?
09:06Not quite.
09:07I like portrait and she likes landscape.
09:10Oh, okay.
09:10You really do have all the same gear.
09:12Yeah.
09:12Yeah.
09:13Is this all new for today?
09:14Yeah.
09:14That was my husband.
09:15Oh, was it?
09:16Where is he?
09:18Working.
09:18Well, he needs to, to buy all his equipment.
09:20Yeah.
09:20Absolutely.
09:22So is Penny good at art?
09:25Well, she does do me cards with a paw print.
09:28Oh, does she?
09:28Yes.
09:29Oh.
09:30Poor Casso.
09:31Yes.
09:32Sorry.
09:34And some wild cards don't let anything get in the way of joining landscape artist of the
09:39year for the day.
09:40I fractured my eyeball, so I need to try to use a lot of hindsight to finish my painting
09:46today.
09:51Over in the pods, it's all much more serious, of course.
09:56I am way behind.
10:00It just seems an awful lot to cover in such a short time.
10:05I'm panicking at the moment.
10:13I've got the canvas covered with paint and some lines.
10:17It's so far so good.
10:18If I've got everything right, if I haven't, we've got a bit of a problem.
10:27I'm just realising we're coming towards the end of the first hour.
10:30I don't think I've done quite as sufficient as I would have wanted to.
10:33So I shall be charging ahead.
10:48One of the highlights of hosting landscape artist of the year is getting to discuss the
10:53day's view with the legend that is Taishan Sheerenberg.
10:58Beautiful, isn't it?
10:59So beautiful.
11:00It's ridiculous.
11:01I can't think of another word for it.
11:02I know.
11:03The blues and the greens and the water and the sky and the sun.
11:07Seeing it like this is a miracle.
11:09You know, I don't want anything contemporary or new.
11:12I want something beautiful and romantic.
11:15I want them to capture this as it is.
11:17You want a painting you can hang above a blazing fireplace in an inn as you're drinking.
11:21That's exactly what I want.
11:22It's just so perfect.
11:24Or that house.
11:26Oh, here we go.
11:27Oh, here we go.
11:28Yes.
11:29It could contain Stephen King penning some gothic horror story about a man in the wilderness
11:35on an island surrounded by emptiness and his, you know, strange behaviour and murderings.
11:43I mean, you know, it could be.
11:44Why are you spoiling it for me?
11:55It's a big lump of Hanoverian stone.
11:58Limestone.
11:59Yeah.
11:59I mean, but as a shape, it's kind of interesting.
12:02And we've got a lot of elements here to work with.
12:05We've got the Queen Victoria monument.
12:07We've got the willow.
12:08So it makes it easier for the artist to make something interesting and not cliched.
12:13So you don't like people in painting.
12:14There are a lot of birds around.
12:15Are you happy with birds?
12:16If you can bring a bird into a painting without it becoming a cliché, bring it on.
12:20There is also a certain sort of fragrance of goose poo, isn't there?
12:25That's my aftershave.
12:44I can't think of a more iconic bit of British coastline.
12:47We're on the White Cliffs of Dover.
12:49I mean, it's awesome and it's bonkers.
12:53The whole essence of the harbour is movement.
12:55But the longer you just watch it in action, the more sort of things start to appear where you think
13:03this would make interesting shapes.
13:04The artists just need to pick, really, and then nail it down.
13:07Is boats coming and going, lorries coming and going, cars, people in motion, going somewhere.
13:13It's got a lot to recommend it, but it can't be easy to paint, surely.
13:16We're able to see this all in action, all happening because we're higher up.
13:21So that should make it easier for our artists, especially with this fringe of green.
13:28I would like to see that, actually, a sense of this weird perspective we're part of.
13:33Because we're on the White Cliffs.
13:35Just that you can't see them.
13:36Yeah.
13:53So, yeah, I ran up there yesterday.
13:56Look.
13:57You're insane.
13:58I'm in pain.
14:01I mean, it's kind of interesting from here.
14:03It's quite brutal, that landscape.
14:05Yeah.
14:06And so it's kind of interesting to be in this beautiful landscape and find something for our artists with a
14:11bit of brawn.
14:13It's overwhelming, it's very high, and there's nothing there.
14:18Of course, it's a mountain.
14:19The winner of this series gets a commission to paint Crowpatrick in Ireland.
14:23Yeah.
14:24A mountain I know well.
14:26This is a second cousin.
14:28I mean, it's not dissimilar in looks.
14:29Equally barren in Ireland?
14:30Yeah.
14:31Oh, yeah.
14:31Have you run up it as well in Ireland?
14:33I've walked up it.
14:48Yeah.
14:50Yeah.
14:51Yeah.
14:54So, Ty, we've looked at water a lot.
14:56Yes.
14:57We've never been on it before.
14:58No.
14:59I mean, I love the fact that we're on a boat on the main artery of this great city.
15:05I mean, it's incredibly noisy, it's incredibly busy, it's full of people, it's the hub of entertainment, culture, commerce.
15:11I mean, it's really exciting, and they're not in their pods.
15:15They're not in their pods.
15:16It has a certain freedom, the sky is open, they have this whole view.
15:20Right.
15:21To choose from.
15:22But where do you go?
15:23I mean, you can't, there's too much, I mean, it's huge.
15:24Yeah.
15:25But it is about rhythm, it's about finding a way to make something feel monumental or vast.
15:32Yeah.
15:32You know, with meaning, so there's a lot for them to work with.
15:35This is a horrible river and they're all working and it's real.
15:39Yeah.
15:40I like that.
15:40I love it.
15:40Yeah, you're a real, you're a real man of the people.
16:00There's plenty of it.
16:02It's big.
16:03It's wide.
16:04It's quite monstrous, isn't it?
16:06And it's an odd one.
16:08I mean, that looks like it's cut out.
16:10Yes.
16:10So it's a very difficult thing to create depth.
16:15You know, there's a little bit of distance in the hills there and there's a sea there.
16:18But actually our view is blocked by this monolith.
16:22And actually what I would like them to do is use the elements and make an interesting painting.
16:26Yeah.
16:26So you don't want architectural accuracy.
16:28No.
16:29You want something that gives you a flavour of this, it's like a door lump of a castle.
16:35Yes, I want something picturesque out of a door lump.
16:38Yeah.
16:38Yeah.
16:39Story of my life.
16:42Week after week, our artists embrace these landscapes with creative flair, innovative techniques and some really great bits of kit.
16:51Ruth, it's so strange because when I look at your submission, this wonderful wooded landscape, I didn't anticipate that you
16:58actually start with drawing.
16:59Yeah, it's very drawing based.
17:02Okay.
17:03And why can you not go straight in with the Bernie tool thing?
17:06It's permanent.
17:07Once I've touched the tool to the wood, that's it.
17:11No going back.
17:12Okay.
17:13Well, it's great to have someone working with different materials.
17:15I mean, a pyrographer on the show is brilliant.
17:17Exciting.
17:26One thing that was striking about your submission is the scale.
17:29It's a really tiny, very detailed piece and it feels really intimate looking at it.
17:35And then today we've presented you with an immense landscape.
17:39Yeah.
17:39Yeah.
17:39And then you're still working on a tiny scale.
17:42Because I've got very kind of detailed pieces, I don't have to think about going large.
17:46It would just take me too long.
17:49There's an area along the bottom that I'm going to show the ground and it's going to be lighter.
17:52So it will hopefully give that sense of scale.
17:55I drew it all out first in like a 2B pencil.
17:57I'm just slowly trying to work in from the back.
17:59But the houses are doing my head in really for the minute.
18:01So I'm parking that.
18:03There's already an extraordinary amount of detail in what you've done.
18:05Yeah, it's getting there.
18:07So I feel like I need to take a little bit of a step back from it.
18:09Take a deep breath, go back to it and kind of crack on.
18:25Prasad, I know you normally work sort of from your imagination.
18:27But today you're working for something that's real in front of you.
18:30How's that sort of influencing the way you're working?
18:33Well, it's like walking a tightrope.
18:35Ink marbling totally dictates the landscape.
18:37You could see a cloud, you could see a rock, you could see a tree.
18:40It depends on your imagination.
18:43Your submission is a beautiful, evocative piece.
18:46Yeah.
18:46There's a religious aspect to it as well, isn't there, in some form?
18:49Yes, yes.
18:49So with the ink marbling, is that something that you continue to add on as the day goes on?
18:54No, no, no.
18:54You've done it now.
18:55I've done it now.
18:55I was a little bit worried in the beginning because I didn't predict the wind.
18:59And so I was lucky on my last one I managed to get something which I could work with.
19:03So now everything else is the painting in, the literalness of it all?
19:08Yeah, yes.
19:08Okay.
19:08It's really very interesting and it's very seductive actually as a technique.
19:14And when it comes to weird and wonderful techniques, it's usually the wild cards who end up stealing the show.
19:20This is my tufting gun.
19:22Tufting.
19:23Wow.
19:23You're like the Al Capone of art, aren't you?
19:25So, do you feel ready to have a go?
19:27Well, it's your artwork.
19:28I don't want to...
19:29I can unpick it.
19:30You can unpick it.
19:31That's the vote of confidence I was looking for.
19:33Let's do it.
19:34Oh, okay.
19:35Not that way.
19:37Okay.
19:39Okay.
19:39Have I broken it?
19:40Yes.
19:41I told you you shouldn't have let me ever go.
19:50Gary, in the wild cards, I'm a sucker for any new or weird technique.
19:55What are you doing with all these bits of tape?
19:57Well, basically, I'm trying to mix up little bits of hard edge with something a bit more fluid.
20:02I quite like geometry in painting anyway, but I've never been in the center of London painting this huge amount
20:07of buildings before.
20:08No.
20:08So, this is all new.
20:16So, Jackie, this feels like sort of colorful candy floss.
20:20Oh, it is.
20:20It's gorgeous.
20:21It's addictive.
20:21Can I eat it?
20:23No, don't do that.
20:24What is it?
20:24Wool?
20:25Yeah, you've got different Welsh wools.
20:27It's mad.
20:27It's sort of magical and fluffy and colorful.
20:31You don't want to touch it all.
20:32You do want to touch it all.
20:38And faced with a long day's painting, it pays to set up close to the facilities.
20:43So, Jean, what window is it?
20:45Oh, this is the toilet porthole, Stephen.
20:47The toilet porthole.
20:48It is.
20:49Okay.
20:50But it's good that you're looking out.
20:52It is.
20:53Rather than in.
20:53Yeah.
21:23Yeah.
21:23Absolutely.
21:23Yeah.
21:23Hot.
21:24Slightly sunburned.
21:26Would you like mummy to put some on for you?
21:34At this stage, things are in the balance.
21:37And I'm hoping that once I've got the basic colors down, I can get in the detail.
21:43I'm panicking all the time.
21:45Sorry.
22:02Here on Landscape Artist of the Year, we're used to embracing the challenges of working
22:07on plein air.
22:11Okay, we get some help.
22:13And this series was no exception.
22:16Sorry.
22:17Pretty much everything has changed.
22:19That's the thing about working, obviously, on a boat with changing tides.
22:24So, it's trying to get a sort of combination of all the different elements which first attracted
22:30me to this view, really.
22:35I think the weather's tricky because we've started off very sunny, then it went quite
22:40gloomy, the sea changed color, but I think it's okay at the moment.
22:52It's okay.
22:53It's okay.
22:55It's okay.
23:02It's okay.
23:05And that's what I'm not sure how to attack.
23:09So, I'm just working over the top of the ink with these soft pastels.
23:12But I'm kind of just feeling my way a bit.
23:18Today, we're really in the elements and there are sunshine and the wind and the sound around.
23:25So, this is going to be the biggest on plein air challenge I ever did.
23:29Yeah.
23:33Yeah.
23:43Yeah.
23:44It's going to be the most always.
23:51I'm not happy, Andy.
23:52Oh, no.
23:53You're going too slow.
23:53I want this to move on.
23:55Okay.
23:55It's competition.
23:56I know.
23:57I know.
23:57It's getting there.
23:58I mean, I can see a ground and some brown marks.
24:02No, no.
24:03It's coming together.
24:04Oh, crimes.
24:08Hi, Rosie.
24:09Hi.
24:09Are you getting it done?
24:11Because it looks in great shape.
24:12Oh, thank you.
24:13It's full of very small lines, so I'm trying to put some slightly bigger marks in there as
24:17well.
24:17I need to work out what I'm doing with the sky and the foreground.
24:23And actually, the middle ground as well.
24:24So, pretty much everything.
24:26So, the top, the middle, and the bottom.
24:27Yeah.
24:27Yeah.
24:27Everything.
24:33Stu, the moment of truth.
24:35I've been told that wild cards might appear.
24:38Are you going to stick with just the one person?
24:41Actually, in two minds at the moment.
24:44I think I probably won't be able to resist the urge to...
24:46Oh, okay.
24:46Put some more figures in, but we'll...
24:48I shouldn't really sway you because, you know, knowing Ava and Ty, they'll come along
24:52and say, oh, why is there only one figure?
24:54But I love it like that.
24:59Hi there, Steven.
25:01I mean, the first thing I've got to say is that the sky is not blue.
25:06The blue sky is so traditional.
25:08Right.
25:09So, it's so sky.
25:10It's so sky.
25:11Yeah.
25:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:12There is going to be an element of colour.
25:13I've seen quite a few sort of paragliders going around.
25:16Okay.
25:17So, I'm waiting for the right moment to put just a little splash of colour, just draw the
25:22eye.
25:23I'm convinced that Joan Bakewell is going to be one of them.
25:26Oh, yeah, and just drop it.
25:27Yeah.
25:27I wouldn't put it past her.
25:28Yeah, yeah.
25:29Just land on the law.
25:30Wouldn't that be great?
25:30Yeah, it would be.
25:31Yeah, yeah.
25:39Woo-hoo!
25:43Towards the end of each heat, it's time for the judges to select their favourite wildcard
25:48artwork from the day.
25:50Congratulations!
25:54Thank you very much, Geoffrey.
25:55It's a pleasure.
25:57Well done.
26:01You produced some very fine art.
26:03Well done!
26:05Woo!
26:06Woo!
26:07Woo!
26:07Woo!
26:07Woo!
26:08Woo!
26:08Woo!
26:09Woo! Woo!
26:19Oh, Deborah, I think it's you.
26:21I think you've won the wildcard today.
26:23Oh, my gosh.
26:24Well done.
26:26Well done.
26:27You did a great job.
26:31To be here means the world, and even to win was, like, beyond anything.
26:35My mum, she wasn't there to see her, which was quite sad, because she went up to the car.
26:55Oh, wow.
27:01Oh, wow.
27:02Oh, wow.
27:19That's good.
27:19That sounds good.
27:20That sounds good.
27:21Are you going to finish in time?
27:23I hope so.
27:24Any scenario that doesn't involve me leaping into the lake is a win, as far as I'm concerned.
27:29What's the main area to be worked on?
27:31The huge bit.
27:32The main bit.
27:34Meanwhile, new judge Ava was giving some tough love.
27:37I'd love some more time.
27:39Can you give me more time?
27:40Sadly not.
27:49Artists, it ain't over till it's Dover.
27:54We're almost at the end now, so I think it's probably safer to not mess about too much.
28:00He says messing about with it.
28:03Do you know how long we've got?
28:0515 minutes.
28:06Okay.
28:09Is it all right?
28:11Yeah.
28:12There you go.
28:16Wanlin, what are you doing out here?
28:18It's nearly the end.
28:19I'm looking at the details that I find really beautiful.
28:23I want to get the essence of the trees.
28:41I'm done.
28:46I could really do with another, like, three days, to be fair.
28:56Artists, your time is up.
28:58Please stop what you're doing and step away from your artworks.
29:00It works!
29:04We did it!
29:11It was Austin.
29:13I can hardly remember my own name, frankly.
29:16To find myself in one of the iconic pods is just extraordinary to me.
29:20My tiny little mind is blown by all of this.
29:22So I'll be on cloud nine for a long time to come.
29:36Having spent the day watching the artists at work, the judges have to decide on a winner.
29:41They start by narrowing their selection down from eight to a short list of three.
29:47Do you think it was a bit overwhelming, this view today?
29:51When I saw the view today, I saw Skidda in all its glory.
29:55I didn't see the town, really.
29:57And I think they were forced to do that because of the...
30:00There's nothing on that mountain, really.
30:02I feel that many of the artists today picked up on color,
30:05either in a realistic way or an imagined way.
30:10It's been a glorious day, but that has been very difficult, hasn't it?
30:14It has.
30:15You can feel it in the way they've each wrestled with it.
30:18And it's changed so much throughout the day,
30:20and I think this is also really reflected in the range of interpretations.
30:29Quite a breezy day today, isn't it?
30:32Yeah.
30:32Do you think you can feel it in the paintings?
30:34I feel lots of different weather, but I also feel rather moved to live in a city
30:39that can be interpreted in all these different ways.
30:42Mmm.
30:42And I think that really comes out in the painting today.
30:45The artist had so much to choose from.
30:47Yeah.
30:47And I think that's given the artists, you know, lots of room to play and be inspired.
30:55Fabulous day.
30:56I get a sense of a real understanding of light here.
30:59There's a number of artists there who are really not used to this type of sceneries,
31:03and I think everyone has risen up to the challenge and adapted their way of looking to really match this
31:11landscape.
31:14For many of those artists, these are not usual landscapes.
31:18I feel like this was the big challenge for many of them who are used to either working from the
31:23mind or looking more at nature.
31:27And also the scale.
31:28It's an enormous scale to deal with and sort of to find a way to reduce it.
31:39The artists have been very obedient today. They've all given us the monument, and most have given us Buckingham Palace
31:44itself.
31:45I thought some of them might just go, no, I'm not interested in that, I'm going to go straight across,
31:49but they didn't.
31:57When the judges have finally come to a decision, I get the pleasure of announcing the heat winner.
32:04Nigel Glaze.
32:12Today's assignment was to think about how you can reinvent something that's so familiar.
32:16Nigel was really able to think about where do we normally not look?
32:21And I'm pretty sure that next time we meet Nigel, it will be an unexpected take on the landscape.
32:31Kim Day.
32:36What Kim has done really well is she's got that majesty, but she's brought that little bit of herself to
32:44it,
32:45and you could feel the artist through the work.
32:49Dan West.
32:55Dan's just a brilliant young artist who's able to produce in graphite, pencil and paper, immensely complex drawings.
33:03I think it's magical.
33:05Prasad Bevan.
33:11This is someone who is working with a fairly unusual technique, and I think Prasad today really demonstrated that he
33:20can adapt.
33:21Lilia Garrity.
33:26What we saw in Lilia's work was a sort of a freshness of approach, something that felt more unusual, more
33:35surprising.
33:38Libby Walker.
33:44Oh, Libby's a fabulous painter.
33:47She has a kind of joyful lyricism as part of her artistic DNA.
34:02This year's semi-finals saw our artists arriving at the Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex.
34:08I came in by train from there and saw the pods out the window and got very excited.
34:14Taking part were the six heat winners and the overall winner of the wildcard competition.
34:20Plus runner-up from the heats, Tom Winter.
34:24It's a semi-final. We had to give them something big, dramatic.
34:27You can't get more dramatic than this wonderful viaduct.
34:31I also think there's the issue of the trains. You know, is the train going to feature? Is it not
34:35going to feature?
34:36I think we've got a fantastic bunch of artists, but this is the toughest round.
34:39They've really got to do the best they can possibly do to get through to that final.
34:46Artists, you have several million bricks and just four hours to cement your place in this year's final.
34:52And your time starts now.
35:27Artists, you have five minutes left. Five minutes.
35:49Artists, congratulations to all of you for getting through to the semi-final.
35:52You've all done some amazing work today, but only three of you can go on to this year's final.
35:59The first artist the judges have selected to compete in the final is...
36:05...Kim Day.
36:14The second artist is...
36:17...Tom Winter.
36:25And the third artist joining us at the final is...
36:32...Libby Walker.
36:39I feel like I'm going to cry thinking about getting into the final. I'm delighted.
36:44The idea of being able to, like, win a commission like that...
36:47...the idea that you could make money doing something that you love...
36:51...and the future that could bring me is life-changing and brilliant.
37:03For the final, we took our artists to the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.
37:08Thanks for coming to me, guys.
37:09Yay!
37:12I'm pleased we were up here a bit because I think it's such an imposing structure.
37:16Yeah, you've got much more dynamic sort of perspective as well.
37:27Artists, it's the final, so I hope you're going to do something wheelie good.
37:32You have four hours to complete your artworks and your time starts now.
37:36We'll be right back out.
37:37A pilgrimage to the Falkirk Wheel
37:39How?
37:58You've got 30 miles from the Falkirk Wheel
38:03You've got 60 miles from the Falkirk Wheel
38:05You've got 60 miles from the Falkirk Wheel
38:24The final judging saw the artist's depiction of the Falkirk wheel
38:27alongside a commission piece they'd painted in their own time.
38:31Oh, what a day here in the tropics.
38:34This incredible view that's just had everything really, isn't it?
38:39Yeah, a real testing ground.
38:41I think there's something in today's landscape that somehow has allowed each other's artists
38:46to really explore their languages and their visions and I think you can really see this
38:50in the three works that they've made today.
38:53I mean, Kim is serene, isn't she?
38:55There's a serenity and a calmness and a gentleness to her and looking at the two paintings together,
39:00she can convey a sense of mystery, can't she?
39:02Mm.
39:03They're very resonant.
39:04The colours sort of move very elegantly in tonal harmony.
39:10That's what she gave us in her commission as well.
39:12I think today's work is very much about, you know, am I actually looking at a landscape or is this
39:19an abstract painting?
39:20And I think there's something really gorgeous in that state of confusion.
39:23So, yeah, I'm into it.
39:27Mm.
39:28Libby's works are just full, aren't they?
39:31They're so vibrant.
39:32There's so much going on.
39:33What did you like about what she did today?
39:35It's so alive.
39:37It's alive.
39:38It's alive in every single detail, much like the commission.
39:41And I think today's work, it's all about movement.
39:44And the commission of this rainy park in Glasgow.
39:49That's Glasgow?
39:50Yeah.
39:50Yeah.
39:51Looks like Narnia.
39:53I mean, that's what you initially think because of the colour saturation.
39:57And then you start looking in the undergrowth and you suddenly see, no, it's just gnarly wet ground.
40:02So, yeah, just a magical painting.
40:03I'm looking at Tom's.
40:05It's so interesting looking at them side by side.
40:07You have to fight your way through a foreground.
40:08Then the foreground just ends up being more interesting, doesn't it?
40:11Today, is he telling us to look at the background or is he telling us to look at the wheel?
40:14He's telling us where we are.
40:15I mean, it's incredibly well constructed, the painting today.
40:18You really get a sense of where we are, where that ground is, where the water is and how your
40:23eye crosses that landscape.
40:25So, it's just phenomenal understanding of how to create space.
40:27Yeah, I think he knew right from the start that there were elements that needed to be put in balance.
40:32And similarly, in the commission here, that grass in the foreground.
40:36And then the detail of the light and the way it falls differently on the houses at the different points
40:42along the street.
40:43It's little touches like that that hold the whole thing together.
40:46Right, well, there we go.
40:48You've seen all the painting you're gonna see.
40:50Now you have to do your final job and select the landscape artist of the year.
41:01Kim, Libby, Tom, thank you for all your hard work throughout the summer.
41:06It's been an absolute joy watching you progress through the competition.
41:09You are all wonderful and talented artists, but the judges have made their decision.
41:16The winner of landscape artist of the year is...
41:26Kim Day.
41:32I can't, I can't believe it. I feel really overwhelmed and emotional. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah.
41:43I'm kind of happy and sad. Now it's all over.
41:46Oh.
41:47Traveling around as a happy family, looking at art, talking about art non-stop.
41:52With our new daughter.
41:53Yes.
41:54I'm so sad.
41:55But I think the entire process has been extraordinary, and we should be proud of our work here.
42:00But we had to anchor this decision in, you know, who would do the best job with the commission, and
42:05it's Kim.
42:06One of the things I think that Kim showed us throughout the competition is the range of what she could
42:10do.
42:11And then to give us that magical, enchanted glade that is full of poetry and elegy.
42:19I thought the commission was just a step above what we'd seen from her.
42:23It had a kind of finish and a solidity to it, but still imbuing with that lyricism and magic.
42:28And for that, it feels like a particularly appropriate choice, really, for tackling Chorepatrick, which is a holy mountain.
42:38The experience has been amazing.
42:40I don't know how things will change, but I really hope it just means that I get to do more
42:44of what I love more often.
42:47I think I might just lie on the floor for a bit and just take it all in.
42:52Just hug my son and my husband and, yeah, maybe we'll go and get a bit bubbly. Yeah.
43:10One month later, Kim travelled to Chorepatrick in County Mayo to research her winning commission for the National Gallery of
43:17Ireland.
43:36The final painting was unveiled in front of an audience of invited guests, museum curators and our very own judges.
43:46The only idea what's under here?
43:48I think it's a painting.
43:52You look so relaxed, Kim. Are you feeling relaxed?
43:55Yeah, kind of. I mean, it's strange.
43:58Right, well, let's not prolong the agony any longer, shall we?
44:00Right, here we go.
44:02Three, two, one.
44:08Wow!
44:14She has stepped up and given us something that will sit very confidently in these Hallows Halls.
44:19It's not easy being a judge.
44:22We have some incredible artists that come through the programme and you never ever really know until that red curtain
44:29comes off.
44:31But today, you know, I think Kim really did, all three judges, very, very proud.
44:38If you'd like to find out more about the competition or the work of the selected artists, go to our
44:43website, skyartsartistoftheyear.tv.
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