Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series.

I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.  Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating.

None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B was there too, shown here, a wonderful detailed picture with a real sense of the person.

Although I’d loved Tom’s work when you saw the pieces by the winner, Duncan Shoosmith, you could see why he won. He also sculpts heads using strokes of paint which gradually build up into a thoughtful likeness. It was nice that the show included one of his preliminary paintings for his prize commission to paint Tom Jones. The face was a wonderful patchwork of colours building into a striking likeness.  I think Duncan’s work was more suited to the competition format of producing a picture in four hours.

Closes 24 April 2019