LANDSCAPE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Sky Arts, 8pm
FOR an hour of complete escape, this is the perfect antidote to the news – a calming, fascinating, altogether polite painting contest.
Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan, a total gift of a presenting duo, guide us serenely along as 36 gifted artists do battle with their brushes.
Selected from thousands of entries, these artists are hoping to win glory – and a £10,000 commission from the National Trust.
They can paint, print or draw, but have just four hours to complete their landscapes under the watchful eye of judges, artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, curator Kathleen Soriano and art historian Kate Bryan.
This time four amateurs and two professionals paint a view of Chartwell in Kent, an imposing red brick mansion on the side of a small valley.
As they begin, one starts taking photos, another is drawing with pencil, while another immediately splashes bright paint onto canvas.
Same view, all completely different, and absolutely compelling to watch.