Artist of the Year: The Masterclass

In this first masterclass, Artist of the Year judge Tai-Shan Schierenberg explores tone and how light and dark create depth, form, and realism in painting. Through a practical demonstration using simple objects, he explains tonal relationships, transitions, and how to develop a three-dimensional illusion on a flat surface.

In this tutorial, artist Sara Reeve demonstrates the alla prima (wet-on-wet) oil painting technique, guiding viewers through a portrait from start to finish in one sitting. She begins with a thin burnt umber ground, sketches the face with loose brushwork, and builds tonal structure before introducing color.

Adebanji Alade, Landscape Artist of the Year artist, shares his passion for painting trees in this insightful masterclass. Viewing trees as landscapes in themselves, he begins with a carefully prepared base and a structured sketch, mapping out shapes, tones, and contours.

Morag Caister, winner of Portrait Artist of the Year Series 9, demonstrates her process for working on a small scale to help refine composition, color choices, and key details while removing unnecessary complexities. Using pencil and paint, she captures the essence of her subject with just a few expressive marks.

Fujiko Rose, the only ink artist to win Landscape Artist of the Year, shares her in-depth process for creating stunning ink landscapes. Using a photograph from the Lake District, she walks through the steps of composition sketching, pre-planning with masking fluid, and ink application.

Portrait Artist of the Decade, Gareth Reid, demonstrates his methodical approach to portraiture using charcoal. He emphasizes building a strong foundation to ensure accurate likeness, starting with broad, loose lines before refining details.

In this masterclass, Wendy Barratt, winner of Portrait Artist of the Year Series 10, demonstrates how to paint a portrait using a limited palette of just three colours :ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and titanium white. Wendy guides viewers through mixing various tones and creating shadows, highlights, and mid-tones to capture the essence of her subject.

Phoebe Hicks, a Portrait Artist of The Year semi-finalist, demonstrates her approach to pet portraiture in this masterclass. She begins by establishing proportions and using soft charcoal on pastel card to create broad shapes and tonal contrasts. Focusing on landmarks and light, she builds up the drawing step by step, blending and erasing to refine details.

In this session, Landscape Artist of the Year finalist Clare Lord guides viewers through the process of creating a still life painting. She emphasizes the importance of artistic choice, from selecting objects and considering their composition to lighting and using tools like a viewfinder for planning.

Finn Campbell-Notman, Landscape Artist of the Year series 8 winner, demonstrates how to compose a traditional English landscape painting. Using Duncliffe Wood as his reference, he explains the process of framing the view, applying the rule of thirds, and using the "Rembrandt triangle" to direct the viewer's eye.

Sara Reeve, a Portrait Artist of the Year semi-finalist, encourages artists to loosen up their painting techniques using just one large brush. This approach helps avoid tight, controlled works, often caused by using tiny brushes too early. Reeve demonstrates how a big brush can create broad, dynamic strokes, especially useful for capturing the key shapes of light and dark.

Gareth demonstrates his approach to achieving a likeness in a portrait by breaking down the features into abstract shapes.

Fujiko demonstrates her technique and approach to creating a botanical drawing with ink, using both brush and pen.

Morag demonstrates her approach to creating a portrait with lines observing body language and posture.

In this tutorial, Series 1 Landscape Artist of the Year artist Adebanji Alade demonstrates his method for painting figures into landscapes. He focuses on organic sketching, using complementary colors to create contrast, and emphasizes fluid strokes that capture movement without overworking the details.

Phoebe Hicks demonstrates her approach to creating a child's portrait using charcoal, focusing on her son Billy. She starts by blocking in the head's shape, emphasizing the importance of capturing the soft, rounded features of children's faces. Hicks highlights key facial areas like the eyes, mouth, and nostrils to ensure a likeness.

Christian Hook teaches a vibrant and expressive approach to using colour in painting. He demonstrates how to mix colours from six essential hues-two types each of blue, red, and yellow-to create any desired shade.

Finn Campbell-Notman, the winner of Landscape Artist of the Year series 8, guides us through his process of painting skies and clouds, integral elements of his emotionally charged landscapes. He explains how clouds play a crucial role in conveying mood and atmosphere in his work, emphasizing their soft, diffuse nature.

Wendy Barratt demonstrates her favorite painting technique: drawing with paint. Using a small hog's hairbrush, she starts by mapping out Fred's features, exploring the dynamic and expressive qualities of marks. Wendy emphasizes the importance of drawing through the painting process, allowing lines to remain visible as the piece evolves.

In this final masterclass, Artist of the Year judge Tai-Shan Schierenberg shares his approach to painting a portrait with energy and creativity. Using a small canvas and a limited palette, Tai-Shan demonstrates how to work quickly and boldly, focusing on the structure and expression of the face.

In this masterclass, Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year artist Gail Davies takes us back to the basics, with an introduction to life drawing. Working with a professional life model, Gail shows how to loosen up and get used to the shapes and angles of a nude model with quick, loose charcoal sketches.

This masterclass is all about experimentation, as Portrait Artist of the Year Series 8 artist Amy Dury demonstrates how she creates a portrait using a variety of mediums. The mixed media techniques she shares could be used for any subject and can be used to produce an exploratory piece that might lead to a moral formal piece.

Portrait Artist of the Year Series 11 artist Polly Pincott talks about that elusive thing that many portrait artists struggle with, finding likeness. She shares some of her top tips including the choice of subject, gridding to get proportions right, the importance of getting the foundation drawing correct, the use of tone to help capture a subject's likeness and troubleshooting.

Portrait Artist of the Year Series 4 artist Tom Croft takes us on a journey of self-discovery as he demonstrates how to approach a self-portrait. By sharing his tips, Tom helps to make something that many artists feel daunted about, more accessible.