A week or so ago while searching online I ran across an enjoyable art series that some readers of the blog might enjoy. The program is a competition called Portrait Artist of the Year, from the U.K. So far as I know it hasn't been broadcast here in the states, but has been available online. In any event, the program has been through at least six previous series which are viewable on YouTube and are well worth the time.
The
premise is a competition among painters to determine who can produce
the best portrait from life in four hours while being watched and
filmed. The format is rather like many talent reality shows on
television. A group of artists are chosen from a pool of applicants
online, based on a painted (or drawn) self-portrait. Each segment
spotlights nine artists who are tasked with making a portrait of a
celebrity. There is a panel of artist-judges who circulate during the
filming, interviewing the artists and showing them working. When the
time is up, the celebrity has an opportunity to see their portraits for
the first time and choose one to take home. The judges line up all nine
portraits, choose three finalists and then make a big reveal of the
winner. Each week's winner is part of the finals; the eventual Portrait
Artist of the Year wins a high-paying commission. An individual episode
is about fifty minutes long.
For a painter, the program is an unusual chance to see a number of other artists at work through an entire painting. Here you have a chance to see how a particular painter starts a portrait and goes through whatever steps needed to complete it. Although they aren't emphasized, materials and medium are easy to discern. Most of the artists use oil paint but a few are acrylic or watercolor painters. Techniques are very interesting too--everything from brushwork to edge control to draftsmanship are on full display.
A week or so ago while searching online I ran across an enjoyable art series that some readers of the blog might enjoy. The program is a competition called Portrait Artist of the Year, from the U.K. So far as I know it hasn't been broadcast here in the states, but has been available online. In any event, the program has been through at least six previous series which are viewable on YouTube and are well worth the time.
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