Landscape Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 9)

The deadline for entries for the art competition –
Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 9)
is NOON on Friday 28th April 2023. This is filmed in Summer 2023 and normally broadcast in early 2024.

This is a VERY LONG post!

Below I provide my OVERVIEW OF THE CALL FOR ENTRIES – plus TIPS

The order below is

Key Features of the competition
So you want to paint a landscape in 4 hours on television?

Can SKY ARTS upgrade the competence of those in the pods?
You may be out of pocket….

Who can enter
Eligible Landscape paintings – for submission
Your digital entry (and what will disqualify you)
What are the Judges looking for?
My Reviews of Previous Heats (2018 – 2022)

You might want to have a think about whether you want to enter and/or defer
finalising your application until AFTER:

you’ve seen what the competition looks like on screen:
read / view look my reviews of past series (listed at the end of this
post) which include lots of pics and quite a few tips

To receive information on filming dates and locations and updates about the
series, you can:

Key features of the competition

This is a televised art competition – made by Storyvault Films on behalf
of the broadcaster Sky Arts.

Filming the Heats of Landscape Artist of the Year 2024 (Series 9) is planned
to take place around the UK during Summer 2023.
Heat Dates are as follows (at locations to be decided – usually three locations which offer
two alternative venues)

Heats One and Two: in the week commencing 12th June
2023
Heats Three and Four: in the week commencing 19 th June 2023
Heats Five and Six: in the week commencing 26th June 2023
in July(?) 2023 re. the Semi Finals, Finals (and
Commission?)

The programme will (probably) be broadcast in early 2024.
The winner is awarded a £10,000 commission from a national
organisation to paint a particular place.

You should think of it more like a job with a reasonable fee of
£10,000 than a straight prize per se.
(see my note about the taxation of prizes for professional and
amateur artists at the end)

Around 40 artists are selected for the 8 pods in each of the 5
Heats
Around 50 artists are selected tas Wildcards to paint close
to the pods at one of the 5 Heats

All applicants for the Wild Card Competition must have previously
applied to the main competition to be eligible.

More details about how to enter are below. But first……

So you want to paint a landscape in 4 hours on television?

My view is that the television producers almost certainly aim to get a
good mix and diversity of artists in terms of background, media used,
ethnicity etc.

If I’m right this makes the people painting more relatable to the
viewing public.
I THINK (i.e. don’t know) that they choose the 40 artists for the
Heats on the basis of their art alone.

However my view is that:

for those longlisted, the competition organisers should also look at
their websites and/or social media sites – as I do – to see if they
have the capacity for producing consistently decent artwork.
Their choices would be a lot more robust if they looked at their
websites as well – some of the things the Judges sometimes say about a
painting are self-evidently not true/representative of that artist’s
work on their website.
Plus it serves to validate whether the person painted the painting!

I THINK (i.e. don’t know) that the Producers choose who goes in which Heat so there is a
good mix
ie.

they don’t make the mistake of putting all the good ones in one heat
and the weaker ones in another heat.
Plus they mix it up on gender and ethnicity and what they do etc.

We do not cast for characters – instead, our expert judges select participants based purely on the
quality of their submission artwork. The success of the show depends on the standard of the art
produced, so from the outset the programme is a genuine
celebration of good art and an intelligent, fascinating
examination of the artistic process. Sky website

Can SKY ARTS upgrade the competence of those in the
pods?

EVERY SINGLE YEAR I’ve watched there have been artists painting as
wildcards who are obviously much better than some of the artists
painting in the pods.

It is so very annoying when you can see people in the wildcards pool
who are obviously used to painting plein air and who are painting much
better than those in the pods

I am never ever surprised that this happens given the existing terms of
entry.

i.e. not expected to provide info about previous plein air painting
not asked for any details of websites or social media accounts

If they are selecting on the quality of the landscape painting submitted, I
can only think that
there must be some very good wildcard artists who have been sloppy about
the digital image of the landscape they submitted – in terms of subject,
crop or file size.

The size of the digital photos you create will depend on a range of
factors. For … Landscape Artist of the Year, your submission
painting photographs must each have a file size of at least 800KB and
ideally no more than 5MB.
How to Photograph Art

That said,

the Judges think there are submission paintings which are good which I
think are rubbish.
the Judges only see the digital image before selecting – whereas
I have the benefit of seeing them hung at their real size – and can
compare paintings when hung on the wall – albeit I have to pause my feed
to do this!

Surely it’s not too much to ask to indicate more clearly to Judges what the
size of a painting is? They should NOT be surprised when standing looking at
the submissions at the start of every programme. It just makes them look
like they’re incompetent at choosing the right people.

I’d love to see this the competition being restricted to artists who
have already painted plein air – and have evidence to show this.
(i.e. look at the websites!!!!!)

I cannot tell you the times I’ve been disappointed by paintings in the
heats where the artist was evidently completely out of their depth given
that they had:

never painted outside before
totally “at sea” when it comes the changing weather and light (i.e.
four seasons in one day – with wind)
have absolutely no strategies for how to cope with this
have never ever painted to a time limit (as plein air artists do all
the time – because of the changing light, weather etc!!)

Does Sky really need to embarrass people on national television every
year because individuals get selected to be in the pods who simply do
NOT realise what they’re letting themselves in for?

The only people I have ever seen who cope reasonably well
are:

those who are extremely experienced artists
who paint on a very regular basis and hence they know all the
basics
and are only having to work out how to paint
to a time limit outside!

IMO it’s OK to let people try out first as wildcards if they’ve not
painted plein air before – but NOT artists selected for the
pods.

wildcard artists in Yorkshire – in the driving rain

You may be out of pocket….

….depending on the location of the heat and where you live.

Bottom line you have to be able to get

all painting gear
plus overnight ‘stuff’
to a Heat which might be located anywhere in the country
for a very early start – which for most means staying at or very
near the location the night before
and/or having a driver who can get you there for the very early
start!

They now arrange to pick up your artwork in advance – to make
sure it gets there on time and undamaged. I’m not too sure how
it gets home again
(can anybody elucidate? Do you take it on the day if you fail to
win the Heat?)

If you are chosen as a Shortlisted Artist, or a Reserved Shortlisted
Artist, the Producer will make an ex gratia payment of £50 (fifty pounds)
towards your travel/hotel and subsistence costs incurred in attending
the Heats – irrespective of where you live and where the Heat is.

Anywhere means anywhere – these artists had to be at Loch Fyne
in Scotland before 7am

For the avoidance of doubt:

the ex-gratia payment is payable in cash on the day of the heat which
you are attending – and not before.
Bearing in mind the distance some people have had to travel to get
from home to the heat location I’d say you need to be VERY KEEN to be
able to paint in a pod to enter this competition as £50 goes
absolutely nowhere if you have to travel any distance and hence stay
overnight. Even more so if you bring a supporter with you.

Who can enter

The Competition is open to all artists – amateur, professional or
hobbyists

Any artist – amateur or professional or hobbyist, can enter the competition – who is:

aged 16+,
enjoys good health (and you can be certain that will be tested in various
ways!!); and
has been resident in the UK for at least a year (since 5th October 2021)

Terms and conditions

YOU can ONLY enter IF you:

are aged 16 or over as at 5th October 2020
are in good health
know of no reason which might prevent you from participating in
the competition
hold a valid passport
(worth checking if yours has run out!)
have been LEGALLY resident in the UK, Gibraltar, Falkland
Islands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland
for at least one year since 5th October 2021
can provide documentation to support all of the above (ie. birth
certificate; passport, any relevant documentation relating to
your immigration/residency status) AND keep the organisers
updated about your immigration status.

AND are NOT

one of the winners or finalists of ANY of the earlier Series
of Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year
(i.e. there is a bonus to being a semi-finalist who didn’t
make it to the Final!!)
one of the pod participating artists in Series 8 in 2022
(but may participate again in 2024)
selected to participate in the Heats for Portrait Artist of
the Year Series 10
i.e. you can only participate in one competition each
year
affiliated to any of the key players – see below. The onus is
on YOU to declare any potential source of conflict /
relationship. If you don’t and they discover it later (or I
do!) you can expect to be deselected / cancelled.

Artists with an affiliation with any of our partners (e.g.,
any of the Judges / Sky / Cass / Storyvault )

that could be deemed a conflict-of-interest

MAY not be eligible to take part

In addition,
you MUST be available for filming in Spring / Summer 2023 (I predict dates will become clearer nearer to the deadline for
entries – it will probably be June and July)

If you are chosen as the Winner, you MUST also be available between
the Final Date and another specific date in 2024 to

attend the Winner’s Prize Location and
produce the Winner’s Prize Artwork on exact dates to be
determined by the Producer.

Any artist who is less than 18 years old MUST

provide written agreement from his or her parents (or legal
guardian) to you entering the competition
written parental consent to you being filmed prior to filming.
be accompanied by a parent / legal guardian / a nominated adult
at all filming.

If an insufficient number of entries are received have satisfied
the entry and judging criteria, then

the deadline might be extended (it has certainly happened in the
past).
I do know that sometimes artists are approached to enter – and
it’s often at this stage that the programme-makers start
actively looking for possibles.

Eligible Landscape paintings – for submission

Artists are selected to attend the heats based on the artwork
submitted as part of the entry.

I cannot emphasise enough HOW IMPORTANT THE SUBMISSION LANDSCAPE IS. This is the painting that:

gets you into the competition;
counts as part of the assessment of how you might deliver a
commission
– given there is no limit on the amount of time required
for your submission painting
decides whether or not you will be a Heat Winner
i.e. it will be lined up alongside your heat painting if
you get in a pod and get shortlisted to determine who
wins
goes to the Semi Finals and the Finals – should you get
that far – and
counts as part of the process for deciding the overall
winner

In other words it’s never ever JUST the Heat Painting which
decides how you progress in the competition.

You have an excellent opportunity to help yourself progress
by

choosing and submitting a very good quality image
of an appropriate high quality painting.

Images of landscape paintings that are eligible for submission
are defined as follows:

MUST be a painting of a landscape vista
MAY be may be abstract or expressive
MUST be recognisable as a representation of a landscape
MAY be produced in any media – including collage and mixed
media works – except those not allowed i.e. MUST NOT include
photography, video, sculpture and all forms of digital media.
MUST be produced in the last five years.
MUST be no bigger than 1220 x 914 mm (48” x 36”) unframed
MUST show the complete painting
MUST each have a
file size no more than 5MB (NOTE: This has changed since earlier series)
Additional Work(s) of Art submitted can be any size, and can
also be in any material other than photography, video,
sculpture or any form of digital media.

The Landscape Entry submitted must be a painting of a
landscape vista, and can be produced in any material excluding
photography, video, sculpture, and all forms of digital media.
Collage and mixed media works are all allowed. The work may be
abstract or expressive as long as it is recognisably a
representation of a landscape that has been produced within
the last five years. It should be a maximum of 1220mm [height]
x 914 mm [width]. The Additional Work(s) of Art submitted, at
least one compulsory, can be any size, and can also be in any
material other than photography, video, sculpture, or any form
of digital media.

NOTE RE TRANSPORT OF ARTWORK:
the Terms and Conditions state that you must take the Submitted
Artwork to the Heat (and potentially home again afterwards).
Whereas I’ve been advised that PAOTY artists had their submissions
collected from them in advance. It’s worth getting clarification
on this as it might affect what size painting you submit!!

Your digital entry

Only one entry can be submitted per person.

Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted.

Your COMPLETED DIGITAL ENTRY
comprises

a completed form
four photographs/images (each max.size 5MB) as follows

A photograph of your main landscape submission. This artwork must
have been made in the last 5 years’. The photograph should
NOT include the frame or surroundings (I.E. JUST THE PAINTING!)
A photograph of an additional landscape.
An optional third photograph of art from your portfolio. This does
not have to be a landscape.
One passport style photograph of yourself (max size 5MB)

The images of the Landscape Entry and the Additional Works of
Art must not be manipulated in any way
and must be of the work of art submitted for consideration (my bold)

Sky Arts has some advice about

Disqualification

You will be disqualified if

Your entry is incomplete;
You do not meet the entry criteria;
You are not eligible to enter the Competition;
You cannot be contacted;
You do not respond within 48 hours of being contacted by the
production company in relation to your competition
entry;
You are not reasonably available to participate in the Series in
accordance with the production requirements of the Series

What are the Judges looking for?

Well first of all they’re looking for decent photos of your landscapes
– because the judges will view artists’ submissions on a screen.

Sky Arts want them to see photos that have the maximum
impact and do the paintings justice.

Landscape painting is a peculiarly British fascination and this
country has produced incredibly innovative artists such as Turner
and Constable in this discipline. As the competition evolves and
we introduce ever more interesting and complex locations, we hope
to find artists who will rise to the occasion and emulate those
great artists in a fresh and contemporary way.
Tai

Landscape painting gives artists a real opportunity to be creative
and thoughtful. I’m not looking for something ‘correct’ or
‘accurate,’ rather I want to see a particular scene through
someone else’s eyes. I really recommend applying, everyone tells
us how much they get out of it.
Kate Bryan

I want to see artworks that celebrate the great, the
good, the bad and the ugly of our fabulous landscapes. Landscape
in the broadest and most challenging sense. Whether you’re a
confident old hand or a tentative beginner, we can’t wait to see
what surprises are in store for us.
Kathleen Soriano

Taxation of Art Prizes

See my webpage on see
Tax on art awards and prize money | Art Business Info. for Artists.

The prize is:

taxable if you are a professional artist
in theory not taxable if an amateur artist HOWEVER

winning a prize of this sort instantly converts your ad hoc art
income into taxable
– plus any other income from art that you earn i.e. you can’t be an
amateur if you earn more than £1,000 from your art.
Your free gift includes a self-assessment tax form from HM Revenue
& Customs.

The key issue is whether the prize is something that many artists try to
earn. If it is a ‘professional receipt’ then it is taxable.

My Reviews of Previous Heats (2018 – 2021)

including LEARNING POINTS

2022: SERIES 7

All the reviews in Series 7 include themes for reference by
future participants – or plein air painters working to a time
frame – in terms of problems experienced and challenges
overcome.

2021: SERIES 6

Filmed in 2020 after the first lockdown – and the production
company were not travelling far from London!

EPISODE 1:
Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at
Chartwell + themes

Artist profiles
Composition and completion
Simplification and what to leave in and what to leave out
The importance of shadows
Highly Coloured Grounds

PLUS participant blog posts:

PLUS Participants blog posts:

What is a landscape?
Location: Do your research before the day
Why you need a hat and umbrella to cope with extreme heat
Having a strong base colour
How to capture time as well as a landscape
UPDATE: The need to train to generate your best result

“I had been called by the production company at the end
of June to tell me that I had been selected. I knew I
would only have four hours to paint something on the day,
so set about training myself on days in July to create
something acceptable in my style in four hours, I took
some days off work and went off on my bike to paint for
four hours in the open, so that on the day I would be used
to sitting and painting for that time. It meant that on
the day I was able to focus and not panic. In the end I
think I did the best I could, but everyone can judge when
they watch the programme.”
Stephen Jordan –
Lecturer displays artistic talent on Sky Arts
– who produced one of my favourite landscape entries for the
competition (which had taken a while to paint).

SEMI-FINAL:
Review: Semi Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at
the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

What the Judges want to see
Who is most likely to do well?
Consistency versus Experimentation
Coping with changing light and challenging weather
Saying what you’re painting

In my view those most likely to do well put very
simply are

those who have a well developed method for
painting
i.e. they know what they’re doing and they’ve done it
lots of time before

those well used to painting plein air – and
coping with all sorts of weather and variation of
weather and light during the time you are painting

artists who focus on composition and how best to
represent the view

those who produce the best paintings. It’s not
about style – it’s about quality

2020: SERIES 5

Below you can find the link to

my review THEMES for each of my reviews are highlighted under
the link for each review of the episode
links to blog posts written by the participants – always very
helpful!

Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Smeaton
Tower, Plymouth Hoe

A dominant vertical and a strong horizontal and an awful lot of
water
Being flexible with your formats
No game plan
Finding the beauty on the day – and avoiding the twee
and finally – don’t arrive with a gimmick to market your normal
artwork

Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Herstmonceux
Observatory

Finding clothing / kit solutions for extremely challenging weather
Skies are important: what to do about a grey sky which keeps on
changing
The value of a coloured support
Don’t dodge the complexity (What to do when you don’t like the
subject)
Where have the tablets all gone?

Review: Episode 3 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 – Millenium
Bridge Gateshead

How to crop a complicated view
Sketching as preparation
How to work out the wildcard winner before the announcement
Tools: masking tape and sharp edges
Game Plans and time management
Use the Heats to enhance your preparation

Plus posts by participating artists

Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 | Camilla Dowse
Landscape Artist of the Year 2019- Gateshead | Fujiko Rose
Sky Arts ‘Landscape Artist of the Year 2019’ An amateur artist’s
journey … | Keith Tunnicliffe
Filming Day… | Keith Tunnicliffe

Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Herstmonceux
Castle

What to do when it’s a grey day with bad lighting
Buildings versus nature
What to do about a very BIG building which is very full on?
Practical tips from a pod artist

PLUS

Smile for the Camera: Sky Landscape Artist of the Year | Sarah
Manolescue
Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 – Wild Card

Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at the Tyne
Bridge

Studio Artist vs Plein Air Painter
How many different ways can you paint the same view
Where is the sun?
To shadow or not to shadow
Don’t be twee!
Different tools for different folks

plus

Sky Landscape Artist of The Year Contestant! by Clare Bowen

Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 – Drake’s
Island

Submission paintings reflecting last year’s venues
Which view to choose in bad weather?
Which medium to use in changing weather?
Lush oil and interesting brushwork
Hold back on the kitsch
Not a lot of tablets

Review: Semi-Final of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Cromarty
Firth

Landscape Artist of the Year | Semi Finals | Cromarty Oil Rigs |
Fujiko Rose

FINAL: Fujiko Rose won Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 in Final at
Battersea Power Station

2018: SERIES 4

HEAT 1: Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Fountains
Abbey, Yorkshire)

the importance of the submission piece to the outcome
why experienced plein air painters can paint to a deadline

HEAT 2: Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 (Viking
Bay, Kent)

Learning points included:

Save yourself some guesswork and research the location
Practice painting plein air
Practice completing a painting in four hours – in changing weather
Have a PLAN!

HEAT 3:
Review: Episode 3 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 at Loch
Fyne
(Loch Fyne, Scotland)

The themes which jumped out for me were
Dealing with a lot of landscape and changing weather
Knowing what format works best
Knowing what to leave out and when to stop
The importance of a sense of place

HEAT 4: Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 at
Studley Royal Water Garden

Learning Points and themes were
be different

HEAT 5: Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 –
Broadstairs Beach

The themes this week are:

People in a landscape
Editing a complex scene / landscape
Of the now or of the past?
What you submit might be what you get
The importance of being true to YOU!

PLUS

the heat; the view; the wind;
the interruptions from the camera crew, judges and presenters
– and moving ships which obliterate the scene!

Tags: Artist

Key features of the competition

So you want to paint a landscape in 4 hours on television?

Can SKY ARTS upgrade the competence of those in the pods?

You may be out of pocket….

Who can enter

Terms and conditions

Eligible Landscape paintings – for submission

Your digital entry

Disqualification

What are the Judges looking for?

Taxation of Art Prizes

See my webpage on see Tax on art awards and prize money | Art Business Info. for Artists.

My Reviews of Previous Heats (2018 – 2021)

including LEARNING POINTS

2022: SERIES 7

2021: SERIES 6

EPISODE 1: Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at Chartwell + themes

SEMI-FINAL: Review: Semi Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

2020: SERIES 5

Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Smeaton Tower, Plymouth Hoe

Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Herstmonceux Observatory

Review: Episode 3 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 – Millenium Bridge Gateshead

Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Herstmonceux Castle

Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at the Tyne Bridge

Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 – Drake’s Island

Review: Semi-Final of Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 at Cromarty Firth

FINAL: Fujiko Rose won Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 in Final at Battersea Power Station