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Landscape Artist of the Year - Season 11 - Episode 01: Derwentwater
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00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:30It's heat one, and we've presented eight more of Britain's best amateur and professional artists with another challenging but impressive
00:37vista.
00:40It's just perfect, really. The drama of the mountains and the sky's a big area.
00:48I'm not painting that.
00:51The whole place is just sublime.
00:54And as always, our artists will be working under the scrutiny of our three demanding judges.
01:00Artist Taishan Schierenberg, director of Freeze London and new judge Ava Longray, and curator Kathleen Soriano.
01:08It's getting there.
01:09Getting there?
01:10Yeah.
01:10I mean, I can see a ground and some brown marks.
01:13Alongside a formation of 50 landscape artist wildcards.
01:18This feels like sort of colourful county floss.
01:21Oh, it is. It's gorgeous. It's addictive.
01:23You just want to play with it.
01:23Can I eat it?
01:24No, don't do that.
01:25At stake is a prestigious prize.
01:28A £10,000 commission to create an artwork of Crowpatrick in County Mayo for the National Gallery of Ireland.
01:35But everything depends on getting through today.
01:38I just need to reflect and not make any rash decisions.
01:43I'm not feeling too nervous about it, but yes, it's going really fast.
01:48So, buckle up.
01:53You all right?
01:54As we search for the next Landscape Artist of the Year.
01:59It could contain Stephen King penning some gothic horror story about murderings.
02:06I mean, you know, it could be.
02:07I'm just spoiling it for me.
02:37I'm just spoiling it for me.
02:42Andy Cropper from Sheffield.
02:45I think I've got my work cut out.
02:48Well, I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I don't screw it up.
02:53Also joining us today are professional artist Kevin Day from Newcastle.
02:59Illustrator and animator Callum Howard-Tracy.
03:01And Kim Day, a film scene illustrator, both from Dorset.
03:07And Judy Flanagan, a professional artist from the East Riding of Yorkshire.
03:13It's an amazing privilege to be part of Landscape Artist of the Year.
03:16Didn't expect to get in, but really excited to get going.
03:20All artists were handpicked on the basis of a submitted landscape, which they've brought along for the judges to look
03:26at later.
03:28But for now, it's time to settle into the pods, ready for the day.
03:34Hello. Sorry.
03:35I just want to say hello.
03:36Hi.
03:36Very nice to meet you.
03:38I'm excited about painting outdoors.
03:40I was certainly nervous and thinking about this an awful lot before now, but now I'm here, I feel a
03:46little bit calmer.
03:53Right, it's going to be a beautiful day.
03:55I can feel it in my Derwent waters.
03:58You have four hours to paint your landscape, and your time starts now.
04:18Just a short walk from the busy Cumbrian town of Keswick, our artist's view is out over Derwent Water, a
04:27scenic lake with leisure boats crossing still waters.
04:30Beneath a landscape of towering fells and ancient woodland.
04:35In the centre of the view is Derwent Island, with its Italianate boathouse, flanked by the popular hiking spot of
04:43Cat Bells to the West.
04:45Ah, the view today is just glorious, honestly.
04:49I couldn't be more pleased at having this location.
04:53The clouds and the skies really are lovely and so deep textured, and the whole place is just sublime.
05:17There's a broad expanse of water, and I want that to be the interest.
05:20We'll see if I can do it.
05:22Yeah.
05:23Professional artist Andy Cropper has a degree in fine art from Sheffield Hallam University.
05:29His submission, a nocturne in acrylics and oils, took over a week, and is of an office block in the
05:35centre of Sheffield.
05:37Andy.
05:38Yes.
05:38There's a huge expanse of water, there's a lot of beautiful mountains, you've got this island, and you've got barely
05:43no sky.
05:44That's right.
05:44Tell me what your thoughts are.
05:45So, the mountain range vaguely sort of put in there, and then water, which hopefully I should be able to
05:52give a bit of texture and interest in.
05:54It does keep changing the water, doesn't it?
05:56It has got some beautiful ripples, and then suddenly it's just rough and doesn't give you much.
05:59Yes.
06:00Let's talk about your submission.
06:02It's at night.
06:03Yes.
06:04It's of a man-made structure.
06:05It is.
06:06It's very urban.
06:07It's the polar opposite of this.
06:09It is.
06:09It's a great effect of painting, so let's see something similar today, man.
06:12Yes.
06:22I think the island in the middle is pretty exciting.
06:24There's a lot to focus on, a lot of textural detail.
06:27I do also quite like the shade on the island.
06:29It's quite dramatic.
06:32Callum Howard-Tracy is a freelance illustrator and animator, and paints in his spare time in his adopted home of
06:39Hove.
06:41Callum's submission in watercolour and pencil is of Hove Town Hall, as it underwent repairs and plays with perspective to
06:49portray the claustrophobia of living in a city.
06:54Callum, what's going to be the hero in your painting?
06:57Is it the mountains on the side or the island?
06:59You know what?
06:59It's going to be the island.
07:00That's going to be the main thing.
07:01That's where the bulk of the shadow is going to be, which is exciting.
07:03And, of course, in your submission, it's quite light and airy, but it's gritty.
07:08This is quite monumental and stately.
07:12Yeah, I think I'll be painting from a different feeling today.
07:15I'm going to magnify the island, I think.
07:17Oh, okay.
07:17That's my plan.
07:18Great.
07:18I mean, we've given you one of the best views we've ever had.
07:21I expect high standards.
07:32Beautiful, isn't it?
07:33So beautiful.
07:34It's ridiculous.
07:35I can't think of another word for it.
07:36I know.
07:37The blues and the greens and the water and the sky and the sun.
07:41Oh, yeah.
07:42Do you think it's always sunshine in here?
07:43My wife Lynn's from here.
07:45She remembers this freezing over as a child and ice skating here.
07:48Wow.
07:48And we brought the kids up and we walked cat bells.
07:51It rained as well, I've got to say.
07:52So seeing it like this is a miracle.
07:55You know, I don't want anything contemporary or new.
07:58I want something beautiful and romantic.
08:01I want them to capture this as it is.
08:03You want a painting you can hang above a blazing fireplace in an inn.
08:07That's exactly what I want.
08:08It's just so perfect.
08:10Just elemental, yes.
08:11We've got the water.
08:12We've got these ancient hills that are eroding.
08:15We've got the wood.
08:16We've got the beautiful sky.
08:18Or that house.
08:20Oh, here we go.
08:21Oh, here we go.
08:22Oh, here, yes.
08:23It could contain Stephen King penning some gothic horror story about a man in the wilderness
08:29on an island surrounded by emptiness and his, you know, strange behaviour and murderings.
08:37I mean, you know, it could be.
08:38Why are you just spoiling it for me?
08:50Using colour is a really individual thing and I don't always just paint the colours I see.
08:56It's the emotional aspect of it.
08:59I like to think the colours are giving you that feeling, you know.
09:02Kim Dae's day job is concept artist for film and television.
09:06Her submission in mixed media depicts the dunes at Studland Bay in Dorset, using charcoal, pastel, pen and acrylic paints
09:16to capture the form and colour of the dunes.
09:21So, Kim, I think one of the things that really struck us about your submission is your use of colour.
09:26Yeah.
09:27And this really stunning mix of soft pastels and then at the same time, some areas are really intense colours
09:36coming together.
09:37I think with colour, sometimes, I mean, this is quite conventional at the moment, but as I go, I'm hoping
09:43that I'll start to feel more about which colours I want to see and which I don't.
09:48I think the greens could be purple or pink or yellow if I decided to, yeah.
09:54Good luck, yeah.
10:03I'm deeply spiritual and aware of energy and connected to nature, so I do have a dreamlike mixed media style
10:12that incorporates writing and text.
10:15Juan Lin Quinn graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris before moving to London to work as a
10:21professional artist.
10:23Juan Lin's submission in charcoal was drawn during her time at boarding school and depicts a brook on campus.
10:33Juan Lin.
10:34Yes?
10:35This is a poem to your mother.
10:37It is to...
10:39A mother.
10:39Mother nature.
10:40Ah.
10:41The spirit, the energy, the archetype of the mother, and my own.
10:45And this is how I start off this drawing.
10:48Okay.
10:49Are we building up to something substantial here?
10:51This is where I begin, the focal point, and then everything will grow around it.
10:57Your submission is monochrome and drawing.
11:00We love the fact that it gave you all the feeling of this undergrowth without being slavishly sort of, you
11:06know, putting in all the detail.
11:07So you've got a very good shorthand at finding the essence of the material of the landscape.
11:12Well, I'm looking forward to seeing how it evolves.
11:14And I'm kind of excited to see what...
11:16Thank you. Thank you for your open-mindedness.
11:19Our eight artists aren't alone at Derwent Water today.
11:23Marching up the trail opposite the pods, here come our 50 landscape artist wildcards.
11:28And, as always, a veritable art shop of supplies.
11:34I've brought some collaging paper, hand-painted papers, and also some quirky foreign stamps, which I might do a bit
11:42of collaging.
11:43And then finish off with a little bit of ink pencil over the top as well.
11:50I'll never do this outside, ever.
11:53There's bugs, I've been picking spiders out of it.
11:56But it's fun.
11:58I've tried to pack really light, but I've got my watercolours and my watercolour pencils.
12:04We've got the best bits of human traits.
12:07Bribes aside, just one of these wildcards will have the chance to nab a coveted place at this year's semi
12:13-final.
12:15What's that?
12:16I am doing lino print.
12:18OK.
12:18So, essentially, you trace it, pop it on the lino, and then I'm going to start carving it out and
12:28building up layers.
12:29OK.
12:30So, is Penny good at art?
12:32Well, she does do me cards with a paw print.
12:35Oh, does she?
12:36Yes.
12:36Oh.
12:37Yes.
12:37Poor Casso.
12:38Yes.
12:39Sorry.
12:48Our pod artists are now an hour into creating their artworks, but not everyone's feeling like Top Dog just yet.
12:56The painting needs a bit of tightening up.
12:58Hopefully, it should look a lot more like what we're looking at than this sketch that I'm doing at the
13:02moment.
13:05I've spent this first hour working out my composition.
13:08I'm struggling a little bit to identify where the shadows will end up.
13:12I want some nice shadows on the mountains.
13:18I've blocked everything out.
13:19I think the biggest struggle for me is building up the texture.
13:22I'm not feeling too nervous about it, but, yes, it's going really fast.
13:42As the day heats up at Keswick in the Lake District, our eight artists are capturing a truly glorious view
13:49of Derwent water.
13:50And our next artist is using the rays to her advantage.
13:55At the moment, I'm just putting in really tonal values and trying to mix up, bearing in mind that the
14:02light is moving.
14:03And I'm hoping to capture the light on the right-hand side later on today.
14:07Judy Flanagan has recently embarked on a career as a professional artist after years working in primary education.
14:15Her submission in acrylics shows a Lincolnshire country lane, with soft brushstrokes creating romantic light in an atmospheric scene.
14:25Judy, you look very much at ease, but I'm slightly curious.
14:27It looks to me like you are avoiding the main event.
14:29You've gone to the right.
14:31You're not looking at the island.
14:32You've just clicked it.
14:33I have, yes, because I think that we know that the light's going to come across that way.
14:38So I'm playing to the light across the water, I think.
14:40So, yeah, I'm going for a golden hour.
14:43Your work is very romantic, isn't it?
14:45And some of it's very impressionistic.
14:48I'm looking at your submission in particular.
14:50I think it's the sort of the brushstrokes as well.
14:52They're very breathy and feels like they're just about touching the surface.
14:56I'm curious to see how the light is going to work.
14:59Yes.
15:08I think the mountains are big areas, the sky's a big area.
15:18I'm not painting that.
15:20I suppose I like a particularly graphic, clear style.
15:25To get clean lines, I use stencils where I really want to get clarity between different shapes.
15:32David Garrett studied graphic design at De Montfort University,
15:35and after serving as a Church of England priest,
15:38he now works part-time as a school chaplain in Eastbourne.
15:42His painting of Lullington Church in East Sussex
15:45contrasts a dark sky with bright sunlight,
15:48using distinctive shapes and lines.
15:52David, we loved your submission.
15:54It looks realistic,
15:57and then within it are these very sharp accents.
16:01And I couldn't work out how you did them until I saw this in your hand.
16:05I have tried to paint looser,
16:07but I am slightly obsessed with clean lines
16:10and things looking neat and tidy.
16:12Your sharpness is about rhythm, isn't it?
16:14I think it's clarity.
16:16I just kind of like, I quite like things to be clear.
16:18On the other hand, there are softer passages,
16:21so you are fully aware of the painterly qualities and contrast.
16:25I mean, that has got sharp edges,
16:27and so that has appealed to you.
16:29Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.
16:30It has a great rhythm,
16:31and it has great contrast between soft and sharp,
16:33so I'll let you get on.
16:35Yeah, definitely.
16:44Your work talks a lot about trying to capture people in mood of a place.
16:49I just think that when you put a person in a landscape,
16:51it gives it a narrative, a kind of resistor.
16:54With a diploma in illustration under his belt,
16:57professional artist Kevin Day has been painting scenes
17:01around his hometown of Newcastle for over 20 years.
17:06His submission in oils with his trademark figures
17:09aim to capture beauty in the everyday.
17:14So, Kevin, tell me a little bit about the figures in the landscape
17:18and maybe the story that they're telling.
17:20It was just a mother and a daughter that were just on the beach,
17:24so I'm just drawn to put figures in there.
17:26I know it might not be popular,
17:27but it was two nights writers of me wife and daughter,
17:30so I had to put them in.
17:31They make me think about scale a lot, actually,
17:35you know, the relationship between...
17:36the size of the landscape.
17:38And how one feels when one is surrounded
17:41by such a grand landscape.
17:43I mean, when I think about your submission,
17:45it seems to me that you're mostly interested
17:46in lively scenes of the everyday.
17:49Yeah, it's definitely completely different in this environment.
17:52Well, I think it looks really great.
18:01I'm using some of the elements over by the jetties
18:04because there's lots of kind of structures there
18:06and I'm really interested in playing with mark-making
18:09to create depth of field.
18:11Rosie Good studied painting and printmaking
18:14at the Royal Academy of Arts
18:15and uses expressive mark-making
18:17in her depictions of derelict buildings and ruins.
18:21Rosie's submission in water-based mixed media
18:24is of wasteland near her home in East Sussex.
18:28Rosie, one of the things that we loved about your submission
18:30was the scale of it and the level of details,
18:33like everything piled on top of everything else.
18:36How did you find that way of working?
18:39I quite like having a lot of layers in the actual subject matter
18:42and then try and work layers into the picture.
18:45I think using lots of little lines and marks
18:47helps me to understand the terrain
18:49and the three-dimensional qualities of things.
18:51I've been watching you.
18:52I mean, there's a lot of clear lines that are drawn
18:54and then there's an awful lot of scribbling
18:55that happens as well
18:56when you're not even looking at the page.
18:58And here you're using very particular vertical
19:01and then horizontal lines.
19:03And I can see the way in which you apply the mark-making,
19:05that it's got a lot of vigour and energy.
19:07It's a great start already, actually.
19:11And if you're after even more vigour and energy,
19:13it's over to the Wild Cards,
19:15who've got all kinds of art on show today.
19:20So, Jackie, this feels like sort of colourful candy floss.
19:24Oh, it is. It's gorgeous.
19:25It's addictive.
19:26You just want to play with it.
19:27Can I eat it?
19:27No, don't do that.
19:28What is it, wool?
19:29Yeah, you've got different Welsh wools.
19:31It's mad.
19:32It's sort of magical and fluffy and colourful.
19:35You want to touch it all?
19:36You do want to touch it all.
19:41I'm loving the textures on here.
19:43Tell me why you need a magnifying glass.
19:46So, I'm registered sight-impaired
19:48and I use a magnifier to try and get into more of the details.
19:52This is miraculous.
19:54I think it's fantastic.
19:59So, Liz, Karen, where's your artwork?
20:02Where?
20:02Support team here.
20:04You're the support team?
20:05We're the support team.
20:05Yes.
20:06We're the art angels.
20:07What does being an art angel involve?
20:09It involves looking all the picnic stuff.
20:11What have you got?
20:12All sorts of things.
20:13OK.
20:14I think I might become an art angel.
20:15It sounds like it's quite a good job.
20:18It's the best.
20:30Along the shoreline from the angelic wildcards,
20:33pressure is mounting at the pods.
20:36Two hours, it's gone by in two minutes.
20:39It's still looking a bit basic.
20:41Hopefully, with the remaining time,
20:43I'll be able to get some more detail in,
20:44as well as knocking out the red undercoat.
20:52I think for the next hour,
20:54I want to get the rest of the blocking in done.
20:56So, when I put the light in,
20:58it will just bring you right the way through the painting.
21:04The change in lights, that's the main problem,
21:06but the clouds don't look too bad
21:07if it stays like this sort of light.
21:10But you've got to go with what you've got,
21:12so it'll be OK.
21:24In Cumbria, our eight artists are halfway through
21:28creating their own unique versions
21:30of the summery scene in front of them.
21:36So, right now, I'm adding on
21:37Dentele de Calais,
21:39which is a type of French lace
21:40I like to embroider
21:42because that gives it a texture
21:44and an intimate aspect, like skin.
21:46And that's going to add even more depth.
21:52I've been trying to be a bit decisive
21:55about shadow placement.
21:56I can't quite wait for the end of the daylight,
21:59so I'm painting in where I'd like the shadows to be.
22:02And then getting all the beautiful colours in
22:04and then working back in pencil.
22:06But even in one of the most beautiful landscapes in the UK,
22:10you can't please everyone.
22:13I'm not happy, Andy.
22:14Oh, no.
22:15You're going too slow.
22:16I want this to move on.
22:17OK.
22:17It's competition.
22:18I know, I know.
22:20It's getting there.
22:21Getting there?
22:21Yeah.
22:22I mean, I can see a ground and some brown marks.
22:24No, no, it's coming together.
22:26Oh, great.
22:29Have we peaked?
22:30Will we ever get a better view than this?
22:33I think it's the best we've ever had.
22:35There is truly a range of approaches,
22:38and I'm really excited to see, actually, where they all go.
22:41David's working with this stencil, which has straight lines,
22:45but it's a hard place to find straight lines in.
22:48How's he getting on?
22:49But this morning when we started,
22:50you could see the mountains really far,
22:53and I think at that moment there were quite a lot of straight lines,
22:56and he's really bringing out the geometry in the landscape.
22:59It's not obvious, but it's there.
23:01What does work very well for me and David's work
23:03is that combination of soft and sharp edges,
23:07and in between those, the red coming through.
23:09It's got a very beautiful touch, the way he puts paint down.
23:12Kim zoomed right in, hasn't she,
23:13on the house over there on the island?
23:15Kim has really completely filled up her page with the landscape,
23:21and in doing this, she's abstracting it,
23:24and I think she's great at colours,
23:27but she's also great at textures.
23:29Yeah, I like what Kim's doing.
23:30I mean, when you see the palette on its own,
23:32I sort of get a bit allergic to it,
23:33and I think, oh, it's lots of complementary colours,
23:35jewel-like tones and things like that,
23:37but when you get close up, it is full of mood.
23:40Callum got here with a very urban submission.
23:43We have not given him an urban landscape.
23:45How's he getting on?
23:46For someone who's really interested in animation and illustration,
23:50this is a classic animation backdrop.
23:53You know, you can see that in Disney, Miyazaki,
23:56like, you know, these people would have a field day here,
23:58and I think this is what he's having fun with.
24:00In his submission, there was a wonkiness to the drawing that gave it a charm,
24:04but what I'm slightly worried about is the landscape has a huge weight to it,
24:07which I don't feel in this image.
24:09He's got to keep it a bit more balanced, I think.
24:11Judy's chosen the central path of Cat Bell as the focal point,
24:16and lots of scratches, and how are you finding her work?
24:18She's doing some really interesting stuff with the light.
24:21You've got beautiful shadow on the side of Cat Bell,
24:23and it is coming together in a very romantic way,
24:26but there's lots of grandeur, there's lots of majesty.
24:29At the moment, there's some really beautiful touches.
24:31You feel the light and the denseness of the air,
24:34but the more that's being put in,
24:35it's shifting inexorably towards a conventional landscape.
24:39So I like to say, tell her to stop,
24:41but I can see that more needs to be done, so it's a difficult one.
24:44Andy seems to be in his blue period.
24:46It's blue. It's blue here, blue there, blue everywhere.
24:49Andy's given us a fantastic sense of the foreground.
24:51We've got the water, which...
24:53The way in which he's constructed it,
24:55you really feel that sense of journeying across it towards the island.
24:58You've got this lovely big expanse.
25:00You need it to be finished.
25:01From what I understand,
25:02I think this is also someone who isn't a fast painter,
25:05and so he's adopting a much looser way of painting,
25:08which is really miles away from the submission.
25:10So it's a complete mystery to me how this is going to turn out.
25:14It's all going on in Wanlin's piece of work.
25:18We've got lace, we've got a poem, we've got drawing.
25:22I think Wanlin is someone who works across various disciplines,
25:27and she doesn't make the distinction between the writing practice
25:30and the painting and the drawing practice.
25:33So it's all coming together in the work.
25:35I think the different elements aren't combining somehow.
25:38All her ideas are being kept in separate strata.
25:42Interesting approach, but I think it needs a bit of finessing.
25:46Kevin has given us some people.
25:48Why are you looking at me?
25:50Well, I know, Ty, that this is not something you generally like.
25:52It's really interesting.
25:53It's what Kevin does, though, isn't it?
25:54It's his thing.
25:55Yes, I loved the emptiness as he started today.
25:58And I thought somehow he wasn't capturing the magnificence of the landscape,
26:02but he was capturing a quietness.
26:04And then he's put the two figures in.
26:06And then I realised it was an adult and a child.
26:08And suddenly the narrative shifts.
26:10Is it about handing over this beautiful landscape in an intact way to the next general?
26:16Is that the narrative?
26:18Look at you being sucked in.
26:21There's something in the Derwent water.
26:22Yeah.
26:23I do wonder a little bit about scale, because are they the right proportion?
26:26But it's a beautiful painting, lovely oiliness of the paint.
26:30He's a beautiful painter.
26:32Rosie's drawing, watercolour, vibrates.
26:35There's so much going on.
26:36It's alive, isn't it?
26:37I think Rosie's found a really interesting corner.
26:40Lots of layering, lots of busyness, lots of verticals, lots of horizontals.
26:44I really loved Rosie's submission.
26:46It was speaking of the landscapes that are forgotten,
26:51that are being taken over by nature.
26:54It was about entanglement.
26:57And today she's had to look away from where everybody else is looking.
27:01And I'm really excited, actually, for her vision.
27:03I think it's quite unique.
27:15So, Kim, are we there yet?
27:17We're getting there.
27:18I'm slightly worried at that stage of the overwork and...
27:21Yeah.
27:21I can see you've been fiddling around a little bit.
27:24Is there a really fine balance between these little ditty-dobby marks
27:27and then the overall impression?
27:29Yeah, because if they become too strong,
27:32it just starts to erode the softness, I think.
27:42Hi, Rosie.
27:43Hi.
27:44Were you getting it done?
27:45Because it looks in great shape.
27:46Oh, thank you.
27:47It's full of very small lines,
27:49so I'm trying to put some slightly bigger marks in there as well.
27:51I need to work out what I'm doing with the sky and the foreground
27:57and actually the middle ground as well.
27:59So, the top, the middle and the bottom.
28:01Yeah, yeah, everything.
28:11Derwent Water, known as the Queen of the Lakes,
28:15thanks to its majestic surroundings,
28:17has also lent its name to an object fundamentally close
28:21to our artists' hearts.
28:23According to legend, between the 1550s, 1560s,
28:27there was a great big storm through the Borrowdale Valley
28:30and the next day when shepherds were tending to their flocks,
28:33they found what they thought was a lump of coal
28:36in the roots of an overturned tree,
28:38but it wasn't coal, it was graphite.
28:40But it also left their hands really stained,
28:42so they decided they'd take this rock,
28:44wrap it in bits of leather and twine and string
28:47and they made essentially what was the first pencil.
28:50By the 1630s, graphite production had become
28:54a cottage industry in the local area
28:56and then in the 19th century,
28:58Keswick gained a reputation for producing
29:00some of the world's finest pencils.
29:03So, the first big pencil manufacturing factory
29:06opened in 1832 here in Keswick
29:09and it was what helped promote it
29:12from being a small, scenic touristy town
29:14into the heart of pencil production.
29:17The Devont Pencil Museum opened in 1982.
29:20We have the biggest coloured pencil in the world.
29:23You might need a couple of friends to help you lift with it,
29:25but it's actually a real pencil,
29:27has a full core
29:27and you could draw a beautiful piece of artwork with it
29:30if you tried.
29:37Alongside our pod artists,
29:39with the wildcards now drawing
29:40to the end of their day's painting,
29:42the judges are sniffing around
29:44for their favourite artwork.
29:46Hiya.
29:47Hello.
29:47I'm here because there's a beautiful smell
29:49emanating from your workstation.
29:51It smells of sweet.
29:53What are you working with?
29:54I work with lavender spike oil.
29:56It's not carcinogenic,
29:57so it prolongs your life as an artist.
30:00That's very sensible
30:01and it smells good.
30:05And tell me a little bit about the graffito there,
30:08so this idea of, you know,
30:09scratching the paint away
30:10to reveal the surface underneath.
30:12Yeah, because I like the grounding underneath
30:14but also you've got some amazing pathways.
30:16It's almost like I was walking
30:18with my finger.
30:19Yeah.
30:20Only one wildcard can win today.
30:26I always seem to be ending up here.
30:28I think you produce some very fine art.
30:31Thank you so much.
30:32It's Gemma, isn't it?
30:35Gemma Ramsden's rich, textured panorama
30:38is the judges' overall favourite.
30:41For somebody who has to feel their way
30:43through the landscape,
30:44you've done an amazing job
30:46and produced that really beautiful...
30:47I want to touch it and I won't.
30:51It's really good
30:52because I'm not hindered to what I can do.
30:54I can still work the same as any other artist,
30:57but I just need a few different tools to help.
31:01Gemma from Dunkeld in the Scottish Highlands
31:03enters a pool of wildcard winners,
31:05one of whom will be picked to paint in the semi-final.
31:19I was waiting for the sun to arrive
31:21and that really was going to add the drama,
31:23so it was a risk this morning whether to wait for it.
31:25So I now have Sparkle on the water.
31:34I think I've managed to get a bit of the spirit of the place,
31:37so changing lights are always a challenge.
31:43There's a lot of trees.
31:44I thought it was just all mountain,
31:46but at least half of the view is trees.
31:48So just trying to work out
31:49what I can get done with the time that's left.
32:03Our eight artists are nearing the end of their day
32:06on the shores of Derwent Water in Keswick.
32:09Do you know how long we've got?
32:11Fifteen minutes.
32:12OK.
32:18Is she all right?
32:20Yeah.
32:21There you go.
32:25Juan Lin, what are you doing out here?
32:27It's nearly the end.
32:28I'm looking at the details
32:30that I find really beautiful.
32:32I want to get the essence of the trees.
32:37So I'm drawing in all the textures that I can see,
32:39and that's being done with a Derwent pencil.
32:41Yeah.
32:422B or not 2B?
32:43Oh, it is 2B.
32:44It is.
32:48Andy, I walked past here in one direction
32:51and it was all monochrome.
32:53Yeah.
32:54And then I walked back the other direction
32:55and it was full of colour and light
32:58and some magic trick occurred.
33:02I'm just considering how much more light I can put in.
33:05I just need to reflect and not make any rash decisions,
33:09otherwise it could all go the wrong way.
33:13It would be great to have a few more hours,
33:15but obviously that's not available.
33:18Right, artists, time for finishing touches.
33:20If you haven't done them yet,
33:22remember, it's never too late.
33:26You've got five minutes.
33:27Oh, my gosh.
33:30Thanks for the sympathy laugh.
33:36I would like a bit more time
33:37to just put some more texture in the water.
33:40There was a little bit cloudy earlier,
33:41so I couldn't work on it.
33:44I'm just looking at anything
33:46that I could make a bit more interesting
33:48without overworking it.
33:49It's difficult to find the right balance.
33:54I'm not crying,
33:55it's just my peritone's wearing off.
34:06Artists, your time is up.
34:07Please stop what you're doing
34:09and step away from your artworks.
34:12APPLAUSE
34:26Just one of these eight artists
34:27can go through to the semi-final
34:29and be in the running
34:30for the coveted title
34:32of Landscape Artist of the Year.
34:35Our winner will travel to County Mayo
34:37to create a landscape
34:38of fabled Cro-Patrick,
34:41Ireland's holy mountain.
34:43Rising high above the Atlantic shore,
34:46its pyramid-shaped peak
34:47can be seen on the horizon
34:49for miles around,
34:50and over 100,000 people
34:52climb to the summit every year.
34:54It will be our artists' task
34:56to capture the grandeur
34:58of this famous mountain
34:59in their commission
35:00for the National Gallery of Ireland.
35:08For now, in the Lake District,
35:10it's time for the judges
35:11to look at the eight finished works.
35:13To help decide which artists
35:15to send through
35:15to this year's semi-final,
35:17the selection is narrowed
35:18to a shortlist of three.
35:21Fabulous day.
35:22I get a sense of
35:23a real understanding of light here.
35:25There's a number of artists there
35:26who are really not used
35:27to these type of sceneries,
35:28and I think everyone
35:29has risen up to the challenge
35:31and adapted their way of looking
35:35to really match this landscape.
35:38David has a particular touch
35:41to his sharp edges.
35:43He sort of leads the eye
35:44through the landscape
35:45across that sheet of water
35:47and through to the distant mountains
35:49and really well constructed.
35:51I really like the way
35:52in which that diagonal
35:52that moves across the water
35:54is also echoed
35:55in the diagonal across the sky.
35:58There was a simplicity
35:59and abstraction
36:00to Kim's work early on
36:01where the trees
36:03were still paint or shapes,
36:04and now they've been rendered
36:06into trees.
36:07And actually,
36:07the more I stand here,
36:09the more I think it's brilliant.
36:11I agree.
36:11It feels so harmonious
36:14as a painting,
36:15and she's picked up
36:16on the spirapoli undertones
36:19and the pinkish undertones
36:20of this landscape,
36:21which are not that obvious
36:22to pick up on,
36:23but they're here.
36:25I think Callum's actually
36:26given us a real sense
36:27of the island as a whole.
36:29He's really carved it out
36:32from that backdrop
36:33of the mountains
36:34very effectively.
36:35I think what he's picked up
36:36on today
36:37is this narrative potential
36:39in that landscape
36:40as like a place
36:41where stories have happened,
36:43a backdrop for stories
36:44to happen,
36:45and I think that backdrop
36:46is the stuff of dreams.
36:48Once Julia decided
36:49that that's where the sun's going,
36:50in that top right-hand corner,
36:51she then had to treat
36:52the water accordingly.
36:53The soft brushwork
36:54is beautiful.
36:55The tones are fantastic.
36:57That brevity
36:58that she brings
36:59to her mark-making,
37:00even though it's actually
37:00much more labored
37:01than you realize.
37:02When I look at it,
37:03I feel slightly blinded
37:04by the light.
37:05The background is sublime
37:06and it's just whispered on,
37:07and then these rather heavy marks
37:09in the front,
37:09it works together.
37:13I really love Andy's tones.
37:15I just think he revels
37:17in wonderful blues,
37:18and that huge expanse of water
37:20that he gave us,
37:21it's very uncompromising.
37:22This is so completely
37:24the polar opposite
37:25of what he normally does.
37:27There are some
37:27really gorgeous moments
37:29in this water
37:30that suggest reflection,
37:31but are also
37:32leaning towards abstraction.
37:36I think Juan Lin's
37:37way of working
37:38is interesting.
37:40The way Cat Bell sits
37:41in the page
37:42is very believable.
37:43You understand the slopes,
37:44so she can make physical space.
37:45The island works.
37:46So how do you then add
37:48the written word?
37:50How do you add texture?
37:51How do you sew it
37:52and add glitter to it?
37:53I think these are things
37:54that need to be negotiated
37:55with a bit more finesse.
37:57I like the idea
37:58of Juan Lin's work.
38:00I think there's
38:00a certain generosity
38:02there to the way
38:03in which she's meshing
38:04poetry and craft
38:07and various textures,
38:09various ways of working
38:11within the same painting,
38:12and I really love that.
38:16That's a fabulous piece
38:17of water, isn't it?
38:18Kevin's really gives you
38:19a sense of the distance
38:20between the shore
38:21and that distant mountain.
38:23It has a physical presence
38:24and shape and volume
38:25and a very realist,
38:27I think incredibly
38:28well-understood landscape
38:30and a really good understanding
38:32of how to recreate it.
38:33I really love Kevin's approach.
38:36I love that freedom he has
38:37and that painterliness
38:39that we've seen
38:39and the fact
38:40that he managed
38:42to introduce figures
38:43and in a good way.
38:45I like Rosie's,
38:47what is it?
38:49Just making marks
38:50in response
38:51to what she's seeing.
38:52There's something
38:52unprecious
38:54and spontaneous
38:55and the image appears
38:57and it feels very organic.
38:59I like this idea
39:00of layers in the work
39:01and it's almost like
39:02she's presenting us
39:04with all the various stages
39:06that she went through today
39:07when she was tackling
39:08this landscape
39:09all at once
39:10so you get a sense
39:11that the final work
39:12shows the process
39:14and shows
39:15how it's come to be now.
39:18I think I might struggle
39:19to get to my final three today
39:20because there are more
39:23that need to go
39:23into the final three
39:24than three.
39:29Artists,
39:29you've all done
39:30sterling work today.
39:31Thank you so much.
39:32Three of you
39:32will be going forward
39:33to the judges' shortlist
39:34and those artists are
39:39Kim Day.
39:48Andy Cropper.
39:56And finally,
39:59Rosie Goode.
40:09Considering how difficult
40:12it's been today,
40:13I'm absolutely stoked.
40:14Being shortlisted
40:16means everything to me.
40:18I had a look
40:19at Kim and Andy's work
40:20and I thought
40:21their paintings
40:21were beautiful
40:22but yeah,
40:23it was really,
40:23really strong work.
40:25The judges now
40:26have the difficult task
40:27of picking today's winner.
40:29Only one artist
40:30can go through
40:30to the semi-final.
40:32To help them,
40:32they also consider
40:33the selected artist's submissions.
40:37It's been a privilege
40:38to be here really today,
40:40hasn't it,
40:40on a day like this?
40:41I mean, any day,
40:42it's such a gorgeous spot.
40:43The majesty
40:44of the scenery today,
40:46I think,
40:46definitely made everybody
40:48raise their game
40:48a little bit.
40:49So Kim zoomed in today
40:51on that mysterious boathouse,
40:54Stephen King's writing room,
40:56you know,
40:57party house,
40:58whatever's going on
40:58over there,
40:59obviously brought out
41:00a lot of beautiful colours
41:01in both the submission
41:01and today,
41:02didn't she?
41:02Now,
41:03I remember seeing
41:03Kim's submission
41:04and thinking,
41:05could it be
41:06all the colours
41:07are made up
41:08and it's just
41:09somebody's having fun here
41:11and now having seen
41:13her work today,
41:13she's reacting
41:14to what she's seeing
41:15and it feels authentic.
41:16I like to go
41:17on this journey.
41:18It's all about
41:19how colour works together,
41:21how colours mix,
41:23how she blends them,
41:24how they work
41:25against one another.
41:26In the submission,
41:27there was a lot
41:28of softness
41:29and a lot of gentleness
41:31through that landscape
41:32and I think you still
41:33have that in today's work.
41:36Of all the artists today,
41:37I think you'd probably
41:38find Andy's work
41:39hardest to pair up,
41:41the submission
41:41and today's work.
41:42They're so different.
41:43I think with Andy's works,
41:44they both have
41:45different merits.
41:46The pops of light
41:47on the electric light
41:48on his submission
41:49are just incredible
41:50because they're not precise.
41:52They bleed out
41:52in the way that light does
41:53and then the beautiful
41:55passages of water
41:56that we see
41:57in the painting today
41:58where you understand
42:00the reflections of the sky,
42:01you understand
42:02the glassiness of the water
42:04and it's sketchy
42:05but it's also very open.
42:06There's a certain economy
42:08there in the gesture
42:09for how he's approached
42:12the water
42:12but it works,
42:13it functions
42:14and it's a few brushes
42:15that signify reflection,
42:17it's a few brushes
42:18that signify movement.
42:19You get it.
42:21I don't know
42:22if a painting
42:23gives us an insight
42:24into what's going on
42:25in an artist's mind.
42:26If it does,
42:28Rosie's head
42:29must be chaos.
42:30Yeah.
42:31She chooses subject matter
42:33where the man-made
42:34meets organic
42:35and the overlooked
42:36but it is just reacting
42:38with marks
42:39to what you're seeing
42:40and then the image
42:41gets its own life.
42:42So you think
42:42a vision,
42:43I want to paint
42:44or draw this
42:45and then thousands
42:46of marks
42:48made from look,
42:49mark, look, mark,
42:50create, build up this.
42:51Because there's so many layers
42:51things start to coalesce
42:52from the bottom
42:53or sideways
42:54and the image
42:55starts to take form.
42:57When I see them together,
42:59of course there's a connection
43:00in terms of the mark making
43:02but I also think about
43:04a certain way
43:05of representing time
43:06and how, you know,
43:08in the submission
43:08this was about
43:09what time does
43:10to the landscape.
43:12You know,
43:12time destroys the landscape
43:14bit by bit
43:14and this idea
43:15that eventually nature
43:18reclaims it.
43:19Rosie is a teacher
43:20so she shows us
43:21her work.
43:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
43:26Kim, Andy, Rosie,
43:28you've all done immensely well
43:30to get through
43:30to the judges' shortlist
43:31but only one of you
43:32can win today
43:33and the artist
43:34going through
43:35to the semi-final
43:38is...
43:41Kim Day.
43:42CHEERING
43:52I really had no expectations
43:54so it's just
43:55a fantastic end
43:56to the day
43:57and, yeah,
43:58I can't stop smiling
43:58so, yeah,
43:59it's really great.
44:00I think I'm going to celebrate
44:01by just having
44:02a nice drink
44:03and maybe some pizza.
44:07I'm a little bit sad
44:08but absolutely beautiful day
44:10and Kim's done amazing.
44:11I think it's
44:12a beautiful piece of work.
44:14Kim's got the most
44:15delicious sense of colour
44:17and she showed us
44:19and she showed us
44:19that she can really
44:19respond to place.
44:21It's magical
44:22and deep
44:23and rich
44:24and what Kim has done
44:26really well
44:26is she's got
44:27that majesty,
44:29that stature,
44:30especially of the mountains
44:31sitting behind the island
44:32but she's brought
44:34that little bit
44:35of herself to it
44:37and you could feel
44:38the artist
44:38through the work.
44:39If you'd like
44:40to test the waters
44:41and enter next year's competition
44:43or want to find out
44:44more about the work
44:45of our featured artists
44:46visit our website
44:49skyartsartistoftheyear.tv
44:56Next time
44:57don't forget your SPF
44:59we're at St James' Park
45:01on one of the hottest
45:02days of the year.
45:03Four hours of panic
45:04I think
45:05that's what it's going to be.
45:06With eight new artists
45:07stepping into the spotlight.
45:09I've never painted outdoors before
45:11I'm very good
45:12at inventing excuses
45:13not to do it.
45:15Who will be sent
45:16packing from the palace?
45:17My paints are drying
45:18very quickly
45:19on my brush
45:20not just on the palette.
45:21And who will reign supreme?
45:23Hopefully
45:23this very pencil here
45:25I can get all the details
45:26I need.
45:51Can you answer arc?
46:13The point is
46:13the beginningof this is
46:14the other one
46:14we're going to try
46:14and further
46:14I can't buy it.
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