Review: Episode 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - Inveraray Castle
Episode 6 of the Heats for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year was at Inveraray Castle in Scotland.
This is the last heat - after this there are only three more episodes left!
The location was lovely - on the estate of a very attractive Castle with views from the grounds of the landscape round about.
Inveraray Castle is is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell. It's found near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Scotland’s longest sea loch Loch Fyne, the venue for the heat which aired as Episode 3 of the Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 series. The castle is one of the earliest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. It was also the chosen location for the Downton Abbey Christmas 2012 episode.
The film company were wowed by it
Links to websites are embedded in their name and links to their social media sites follow their name.
There were six professional artists - alphabetically as follows
The two Amateur artists were:
As ever there were also 50 Wildcard artists painting a view from a large flat area inbetween the castle and the river - and it was as crowded as ever!
There have been some "know-it-alls" doing some online complaining about the quality of the paintings done by the wildcard artists.
For my part I really think such people either know nothing or forget that plein air painting as part of a Wildcard entry is a completely different proposition to choosing your spot when you only have yourself to please while plein air painting.
A more accurate term might be "cheek by jowl" painting!
The themes this week are:
This is the last heat - after this there are only three more episodes left!
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| The pods in front of Inveraray Castle and its rose garden |
The Location
The location was lovely - on the estate of a very attractive Castle with views from the grounds of the landscape round about.
Inveraray Castle is is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell. It's found near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Scotland’s longest sea loch Loch Fyne, the venue for the heat which aired as Episode 3 of the Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 series. The castle is one of the earliest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. It was also the chosen location for the Downton Abbey Christmas 2012 episode.
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| View of Inveraray Castle from above - with the Wildcards' view down to the river and the bridge on the top right |
“The opportunity to paint the view of this historic castle, framed by the beautiful rose gardens, and overlooked by the Dun na Cuaiche folly in the distance, was too good to pass up. Plus the view of a glassy Loch Fyne reflecting the sky, surrounded by rugged mountains, gives a feeling of being on the frontier and in a truly wild place. Collectively it’s something that heats artists have never experienced in Landscape Artist before, so we just had to come." Argyll and Bute News
The Artists
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| Artists in their pods at the beginning of the Heat |
Six Professional Artists
There were six professional artists - alphabetically as follows
- Dawn Beckles [Facebook/Twitter/Instagram] - A mixed media artist specialising in painting, collage and printing. She paints still lives involving exotic flora as a recurrent subject matter i.e. not a landscape artist at all! Describes herself as currently a Londoner by ways of Barbados and Northern England. She graduated with a BA Design from the John Cass School of Art. Based at Wimbledon Studios.
- Nikolai Bojadziev [Facebook/Twitter/Instagram] - I can't find a thing about him, but what the programme told us. He's a collage artist from Bulgaria.
- Andrew Halliday [Facebook/Twitter/Instagram] - studied at Bournville Schoolof Art before graduating with a BA honours degree from Wimbledon School of Art in 1991. Based in Barnes in South-West London and Lymington in Hampshire. Works as a framer in a gallery as well as being a professional artist. Tends to have a very colourful palette and likes artificial light.
- Martina Krupičková [Facebook/Instagram] - came to live in the UK from the Czech Republic 3 years ago. She always starts with a black canvas and uses a spatula. She graduated from a prestigious fashion design school in Brno, Czech Republica and majored in Textile and Knitwear. This is where she developed her skill in drawing and painting. This a blog post about her day by her friend who accompanied her to the Heat - see Martina Krupičková on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018
- Allan Martin [Facebook/Twitter/Instagram] - Born in Scotland in1956. In 1978, left Glasgow School of Art with a Diploma of Art: Printed Textiles and a traveling scholarship. Worked as a graphic designer and moved to London in 1981. Had illustration and design clients in the music world. Also worked as a decorative paint specialist. Gave up his career as a graphic designer 8 years ago to dedicate himself to being a professional painter. This is his submission (I think).
Following the idea to at least think about challenges that appear outside a comfort zone and to consider the ethos of 'never say never’. Due to chance circumstance I found myself applying for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018, fully expecting to have a reply that said thank you for applying but…
I didn’t expect a call to say, “The judges unanimously loved your work and we would like to offer you a pod!”
- Keira Rathbone [Facebook/Twitter/Instagram] - Lives in West London and makes a living from her type based artwork for the last 14 years. She uses old manual typewriters to create her artwork - using their type face for their shape and tone and to build up an impression, always working direct from life. I can't tell you a lot more since her website has crashed due to the overload of traffic of people visiting following this episode! This is a Bored Panda article about her and her work Amazing Typewriter Art By Keira Rathbone
Artist. Travelling through life by typing scenes and the people who pass through them. LIFE is KEY . You're all characters
Two Amateur Artists
The two Amateur artists were:
- Sam Hencher - works as a visual effects artist (using Flame) working primarily on commercials and music videos. He's also an English painter and illustrator, born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1971 who has exhibited at The Other Art Fair in London. I'm not quite sure why he rates himself as an amateur. Sam is emphatically NOT my definition of an amateur artist in terms of his standard of painting.
My work is done in watercolour or oils depending on the subject. I like to paint both landscapes/cityscapes and figuratively and am more inspired by the light and mood of the subject than the physical element that is used to convey it.
- Nick Shaw - lives in Cumbria and works as a supermarket delivery driver. I couldn't find him online.
The Wildcards
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| Just some of the wild card artists and their set-ups |
There have been some "know-it-alls" doing some online complaining about the quality of the paintings done by the wildcard artists.
For my part I really think such people either know nothing or forget that plein air painting as part of a Wildcard entry is a completely different proposition to choosing your spot when you only have yourself to please while plein air painting.
A more accurate term might be "cheek by jowl" painting!
Themes and Learning Points
The themes this week are:
- Disney versus Dreich: a Scottish colour palette and flat light (a.k.a. or what to do when you can only see grey like Tai!)
- How to stand out from the crowd - and avoid painting the obvious
- Atmosphere versus Detail
- The interesting technique tip
