The Artist of the Year franchise is expanding its palette with the upcoming launch of a new series of Masterclasses…
‘Artist of the Year: Masterclass’ will showcase live tutorials from an array of skilled artists who have participated in either ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’ or ‘Landscape Artist of the Year.’ These sessions will offer simple-to-follow techniques for aspiring artists to practice at home. Additionally, series judge Tai-Shan Schierenberg will host his own masterclasses, providing insights into his method of crafting a significant portrait.
Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky:
“Portrait and Landscape Artist of the year have inspired huge numbers of people to take up a brush or a pencil (or any variety of materials) and have a go themselves. Now with this deep dive into technique courtesy of Tai and some of the programme’s brilliant alumni we can all pick up tips to turn ourselves into artists too…Order your berets and smocks now!”
The new Sky Original series builds on the tremendous success of Portrait Artist of the Year, whose eleventh series premiered last month to impressive Sky Arts viewership.
In 2020, millions also watched Portrait Artist of the Week, which featured celebrities posing live for their portraits amid the Covid-19 lockdown. Last year, the series set a Guinness World Record for the largest number of people simultaneously painting a portrait, as thousands of enthusiastic artists depicted Sir Lenny Henry, marking the tenth anniversary of Portrait Artist of the Year.
Joining Tai-Shan Schierenberg in delivering masterclasses are artists such as Gareth Reid, last year’s Portrait Artist of the Decade, Adebanji Alade, Wendy Barratt, Morag Caister, Finn Campbell-Notman, Phoebe Hicks, Christian Hook, Clare Lord, Sara Reeve, and Fujiko Rose. Each masterclass will concentrate on a distinct subject or technique, aiming to demystify the fundamentals of painting and drawing for the audience. The classes will range from exploring tone and Alla Prima painting to crafting a landscape, botanical flowers, and even animal portraiture.
