Painting Scotland's Wildest Loch in 4 Hours | Landscape Artist of the Year

Hello, and welcome to the shores of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest and deepest sea loch. For centuries only accessible by boat, it's a wild haven for dolphins, sea otters, and today, eight lesser-spotted landscape artists. To show off their skills, they've travelled thousands of miles, hailing from as far as Dartmoor in Devon, County Cork in Ireland, and even the Adriatic coast of Italy. Yes, they're not in the Mediterranean anymore. Welcome to Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year. From Kent's sandy beaches to the lochs and castles of the Scottish Highlands. We've travelled across Britain searching for stunning scenery for the artists to paint. It's obviously challenging conditions today. I quite like painting grey, but this is going to be really pushing it to the extreme, I think. I got one of the lads to get some seaweed. Do you like that? From hundreds of paintings submitted, only eight competitors have been chosen for each heat. And today, we have five professional artists. Peter Nardini, Clark Nicol, Sarah Long, Michael Weller, and John Skelcher. It's like a therapy, in a way, painting. If you're stressed, just try it. De-stress in the landscape. And joining them are a trio of amateur artists. Maria Rose, Brian Ramsey, and Andrea Cryer. I just want to take in the view and then find some colour amongst all the grey and then just go for it. As usual, the artists will work under the watchful eyes of our judges. Independent curator Kathleen Soriano, art historian Kate Bryan, and award-winning artist Taishan Schurenberg. There is a kind of engineering aspect to your drawing. I prefer to say architectural. Engineers are not, you know, renowned for their artistic bent. They're all competing for an extraordinary prize, a £10,000 commission from the Imperial War Museum. To mark the centenary of the First World War armistice, they'll create an artwork inspired by the landscape of a forgotten battlefield. As well as the chosen eight, we've invited 50 more artists to compete as wildcards. Just one of them will go through to the next stage of the competition. It looks as if this is your normal style. Rainy. Not far from it. I love the mood. I did do a rain dance last night. You did this? So which of today's artists will win a place in the semi-final? That apron is a work of art in itself and it's got all the colours that we see in the look today. You could actually just enter that. It's a great idea. Protected from the worst of the weather by their pods, our artists have brought an array of familiar tools to tackle the challenge ahead. I've got three different grades of bubble wrap, a load of palette knives, rubber brushes, and this, which is my favourite paint rag. It's my daughter's t-shirt when she was about eight, 20 years ago. So this is the thing that cost me the extra on the plane. If I'd been organised, I'd have weighed it, obviously. All of the artists were chosen on the basis of a digital image and the judges now get to see the real thing for the first time. Welcome to the wall and if we can make ourselves heard above the rain, I'd like to know what you think of these pictures. This is bad weather. Yeah, the paintbrush marks are so light and rough and sketchy, but it gives it a really great sense of distance all the way back to that horizon line. And it's obviously somebody who does this a lot, goes out into the landscape and paints weather. I think it's a wonderful combination of ink drawing, watercolour and sewing, you know, mashing all those things together in a very sort of painterly fashion. All those loose threads that we normally pick off our clothes gives you a sense of this sort of cityscape being lived in, like an old jacket. You really get a sense of light and daytime and a place and landscape without anything being shown. And I think we like it when people give us things which are this undone. I think it's an interesting approach to landscape where obviously the artist has gone into the landscape, found bits of leaves and stuff. I'm quite intrigued what they're going to do today because I think you need a certain dryness of foliage to be able to do this. We get a lot of submissions of boats and we have to be careful with them because sometimes they can seem a little bit like a cliché scene. They've very cleverly used the ropes tying the boats to the harbour to give you that sense of swinging across the work. For me it feels like that's more than just observation, that's someone who actually knew that they had to introduce this sense of rhythm. It's just a well-observed bit of realism. Yeah, I think it really transports you there. You suddenly feel very warmed. What I like about it is that there's an inconsistency of the way that they've put the paint down which shows that not only do they enjoy painting but they understand that they need to break up this surface because it's a lot of landscape in a relatively small scene. It looks like totally abstract painting to me. It's only as I approach from further away that all these marks made sense and you suddenly realise it is a waterfall. There's possibly some collage elements. It looks like it's been mistreated and pushed and pulled around in order to get this effect but it gives you the right kind of colours and the right kind of texture to understand that you're outside. That green moss on the side, I can almost feel my hand running above the hard wall and then the soft moss above it and the way in which it chimes with the double yellow line and then the side of that building in the background bounces your eye around really elegantly. It's got all that feel of a crisp, bright winter day. You can feel the weather. You're going to have to feel the weather today, guys. It came down yesterday, you could see the hills, the trees, all the lines in the hills. I'm thinking, yep, great, I can handle that. Come down this morning, there's nothing. So I'm going to have to be inventive. It's really impressive. It lends itself to a kind of abstract way of looking at the picture, which I like. It reminds me of King Arthur being rowed away to Avalon just as he's about to die. Artists, the moment has arrived. Your challenge is about to begin. You have four hours to complete your landscape and your time starts now. As the artists get started, their challenge is to find a compelling composition from a landscape which may or may not emerge from a shroud of low cloud and mist. Here in Inveraray, at the head of Loch Fyne in Argyll, our artists' view is across the expanse of Scotland's deepest loch, with only a splash of red from an old Clyde puffer to break the overwhelming grey of the scene. We brought them to Scotland. Their weather is not going to be their friend. It's going to do what it wants. It's going to change all day long. You just think, how are they going to deal with all these white tones? And of course, once the white lifts, we might potentially start to see reflections in the water, which then become more interesting than that stillness. They're all going to have to make some pretty good, quick compromises, be adaptable. Adaptability today. Well, it's just what it is. You know, you get weather like this, it's one of those days, and you've got to show it how it is. It's not a problem. I live in the Midlands, but I go out and I teach in Italy. It's about the light and the mood. And we've certainly got a lot of light and mood here, so hopefully I can transfer those sort of thoughts into this stunning Scottish luck. John Skelcher from Warwickshire studied classical painting in Paris and Florence. Every summer, he teaches landscape painting at an art school in the Marche region of Italy, which is where he painted his submission of a traditional Italian farmhouse. John, I'm looking out there, and the landscape's pretty minimal. Is there something you can work with? Well, it's going to be the boat that's going to be my focal point, because that's adding the colour. Thank God it came. But I'm not sure if I'm going to leave the boat there or bring it out to the right to balance, because you've got a dark mass on the left, and the boat's a dark mass. Is it your responding to the landscape and the light there, but you're thinking of how to make a dynamic painting? Well, yeah. I'm thinking about various types of composition and hope I can create an interest that will draw someone in to buy it. But I've got to like it myself first. It's starting to smell like an old dog. How are you doing? All right. Can I say, first of all, that apron is a work of art in itself, and it's got all the colours that we see in the lock today. You could actually just enter that. That's a great idea. Peter Nardini studied at Glasgow School of Art. Having taught art for 20 years, he now concentrates on his own painting, focusing on the contrast between dark and light. He often includes a figure, as with this submission, looking towards Glasgow University's Gothic Tower. It's difficult to tell with this background. What are you going to paint today? I took a photograph of someone walking across just in front of me here with an umbrella. So I just thought that was appropriate for the type of day. So is this the figure here? This is the figure here. That's Ty. That's going to go down well, buttering up Ty there by having him. To be honest, it wasn't until after it that I realised it was Ty. But I just saw a figure, and I thought, yeah, that's what I like painting. Are we going to see the boat? No. The boat's going to go? Just going to sink. Boat's going to sink. Our eight competitors at Loch Fyne today are joined by 50 wildcard artists determined to do justice to the view, despite all the great British weather can throw at them. We've had three weeks of sunshine. Because it's raining, I've got a bin bag from the hotel. I've got a bubble wrap, and we're going to pop down and get an umbrella shortly. Never painted with water pouring down my canvas and my paint. With oil, you can paint anywhere, fingers crossed. So we'll see. I went down to the loch to gather some water because after weeks of preparation, I forgot to pack my own water source. So conveniently, we're actually located right by a loch. The artist who most impresses the judges will then compete with the wildcard winners from the rest of the heats for a place in the semi-final. You've got a fantastic sense of the mood that you've captured. Yeah, I love painting outdoors, but normally quick 20-minute sketches. You're an artist full-time? Oh, I wish. This is just weekends. But no wonder you've got to be fast. Absolutely. Make best use of the time. I don't normally go out on a day like this. Normally just wait till it's summertime. We've given you, you know, a pretty literal scene. You're right up close to this loch. Yeah. What's your approach going to be? I think I'm going to focus on the stones on the ceilings. Yeah, it strikes me that you like the details. Yeah, I like looking at the lines and things. Recently graduated art student Sarah Long comes from rural Cork. She uses anything from acrylic to charcoal to create either cityscapes or wild landscapes, like her submission, which was inspired by hedgerows near her home. Now, when you work for your submission, you obviously brought pieces of nature into your studio. Yeah, I'm debating whether or not to do that. You might be able to get down there and bring some, do you want me to bring you some seaweed? Yeah. I'm normally an urban sketcher, so I draw lots of buildings. So when I'm in a landscape, and it's just landscape, I try and see the architecture in the landscape. Brian Ramsey from County Durham works as a design manager for a construction firm. He rekindled his love of drawing when he started sketching a classic car he'd bought. His submission of boats moored at Stathes in North Yorkshire was completed in several hours with fine liners and water-soluble ink. Brian, you've almost finished. You've got the horizon line, the boats, the pier. I can't see much more. And I believe you're in the construction business. So there is a kind of engineering drawing aspect to your drawing. I prefer to say architectural. Engineers are not renowned for their artistic bent. It is very atmospheric. Is there going to be more of that watercolour? I don't think so. But the board's got to get some colour in. All right, okay. That was going to happen. Yeah, the board will get some colour in. Well, look, it's a very good start. I'm excited to see how it goes on. The artists are one hour into their four-hour challenge. And at last, there's a break in the weather. The light has changed a lot. There's much more information to work with now. Stuff that we can use. So this is good. It's exciting now. I'm just trying to get the background the way I want it before I put in the figure. So I'm trying to build up the light in the painting. It's a process of layers. One layer on top of the other. This morning, there was literally nothing to see and draw and paint. But now we've got stuff we can work with. So I'm feeling really comfortable now. Much more relaxing than the day job. Let's put it that way. Here at Loch Fyne in Argyle, our eight artists are just over one hour into their four-hour challenge. The rain stopped. Yes, that's a blessing. What is it about this that you're enjoying? The light is changing very quickly. So I don't know if I'd say I'm enjoying that necessarily. But it's interesting. It's a challenge. Maria Rose has a degree in fine art and regularly paints en plein air with a group of artists in Devon, where she lives. Her submission was painted during a severe cold spell when the temperature outside was minus five. So what's the goal? Is it to become a professional artist? Yeah, definitely. That's the dream. So this competition is quite a big deal in that respect, I'd imagine. Yeah, it is. No pressure. No. I've gone for a panoramic view because I pretty much draw to scale. So what I see is what I draw. My wife would say I was massively overconfident, but I'm trying to reign it in today. You wanted seaweed. I got one of the lads to get some seaweed for you. I think it's ladder rack, is it? I think so. How will you use it? I would cover it with acrylic paint and then use it to print with it for texture. Oh, right. Yeah. Most painters that I know are very tidy painters. I am not. Paint gets everywhere. Every time I speak to somebody when I'm outside painting, I say, do you know you've got paint on your face? Every time. That's how it is when I paint. An award-winning landscape painter, Michael Weller also teaches art. His submission of the view from St Catherine's Hill in Winchester was a process of trial and error, with some parts scrubbed out with newspaper and the sky scraped back. I prefer slightly unfinished paintings, slightly underpowered paintings. It's not capturing a moment so much as capturing a lot of moments. A sense of a place, not reality. More like a dream a bit. Here we are in the west of Scotland. A couple of hours ago, the mist was in. Couldn't see anything. It was the rain and the mist. The rain and the mist. And now look at this. Beautiful. And it is just fantastic, isn't it? Suddenly we're getting textures. And the loch is like a mirror in places. And then you've got the wind catching it and it causes ripples. And the light effect is very subtle. And I've seen blues and purples. Suddenly I'm seeing tartan. You see suddenly where the purples and the greens and tartan come from. It is in the landscape. There's something here. So it's very beautiful, but it's on a very narrow band range. The boat, the vital spot. That is the one accent that works as a counterpoint. So it's there to be one. And does this very big view, although a lot of it is grey, does that present compositional issues? If you're not careful where you put your horizon line, you could end up with a lot of empty space which has no dynamics to it. And suddenly you could get sort of lost. So that might be a problem. I'm glad it's a flat loch because Joan and I are going water skiing on it later. I can't wait to see that. Yeah. We're doing a human pyramid with Kathleen on the top. So Clark, this is not your first time on this show, is that right? Yeah, 2016. So you feel you're a different artist to you were a couple of years ago? Yeah, I had a big sort of battle with cancer in 2016, and that made me think differently about the work that I do and made me take more risks, I think. You know, it was like, do it now, don't put it off any longer. Could have been epiphany. Yeah, you could say that. Clark Nicholl studied painting in Dundee and teaches art at a school in Devon. In the two years since he took part in Landscape Artist of the Year and was diagnosed with cancer, his painting has become far more abstract. With his submission of a waterfall in Perthshire, he used framing and texture to depict the many moods of the water. So this quite difficult period in your life has sort of cracked you open as an artist in some way, has it? It has. I mean, the idea of playing around with the surface, with lines and shapes and things on it, was something that I've been obsessed with since the 70s, but I've only finally started to refine that in recent years, which is great. Another artist has also broken away from conventional techniques to find her artistic voice. Andrea, what of you? How are you going to tackle it? Well, it's stunning and I'm tackling it in a freestyle, freehand way. Wow, you're feeling your way. Yeah. The sewing machine is just a tool, it's a drawing tool, that's all. So it's like using a pencil or a pen. After a career as a solicitor, Andrea Cryer studied for a degree in fine art and textiles in 2003. Her submission of a bookshop in Bath was made using fabric, thread, dyes and bleach and took 40 hours to complete. So you gave up being a solicitor, which was a nice steady income. Do you have a nice steady income now? No, I'm not a professional. I do it because I enjoy doing it and I have other commitments. I've just become a grandma, so that's really nice. And she's only a week old. Wow. So I struggled to get here really. Yeah, it's amazing that you're here. Well done.