Capture Sir Trevor McDonald's Gaze - Portrait Artist of the Year - Art Documentary

[Music] foreign Arts Center for our favorite experiment what do you get if you take a splash of celebrity hold it near a blaze of creativity and add a measure of Jeopardy it's the best kind of chemistry it's portrait artist of the year among those competing in today's heat seven are professional artists Patrick Morales Lee Katie papino Francesca Curry Jamie ampleford Helen Fox Susan lagar and Danny Byrne I have been preparing over the last couple of weeks trying to produce a painting in four hours and I can't and there are two amateur artists Paul's Ark and Curtis holder my worst case scenario would be getting a hand cramp and having to draw a supermodel oh today's nine artists are hoping to impress with their talent in portraiture portrait competitions obviously your metier it's a word I heard someone use once but they'll only have four hours I don't really want the same risk doing something a bit drastic and will be under the watchful eye of our three judges am I nervous can you tell they're competing for the chance to win a 10 000 pound commission to paint the iconic ballet dancer Carlos Acosta for the Birmingham Museum and art gallery so is the pressure mounts who will hold their nerve are we plain sailing ahead I would say stormy seas ahead to get through to the semi-final are you worrying about seconds ticking away the buzz are about to go palette don't panic [Music] while the artists start unpacking the usual pencils paints skulls the judges take a closer look at their submission portraits judges welcome to the wall there is certainly plenty going on in our first self-portrait I'm so excited by this it's sort of Back to Future quality the paintings being pulled and pushed in different dimensions it's like we've got a mad scientist artist this one feels like a piece of fabric I think it's rather magical and it's surprising because it's belied by a kind of crudeness I can't quite work out what it's been painted with it's of a monoprint oh to monoprint next we have a man in communion with his hand it's the sort of pose that you see of someone looking at their phone but it feels much more contempted than that I feel almost as if I can see in color because they've used light so effectively slightly intimidated by this next one yeah I mean it's a painting about confidence and this will direct eye contact this fantastic poster on the wall there's something always brutal about this painting I love the composition that your eye is drawn into the quality of the living Cranium and then you promptly compare it to the skull I can feel my own skull sort of twitching when I look at it I recognize this artist I think we've had her before it reminds me a little bit of a Polaroid photograph it does it's got that sort of contemporary feel but it's also just luscious in the coloration and the tonality this is a very gentle vase it's evocative it's doing a lot with not very much that sort of enigmatic smile is what you're always doing she's looking forward to something happening out of our view this next one is almost alive it reminds me of those pens I had when I was a kid which you could pull down the different colors all the time I get the sense of the Artist as the hero marching into this empty space and I think it lives off the fact that this artist has got a very beautiful profile what a nose art is bad for you is it bad for you because it makes you look older than you are I mean it's very honest the way that the eyes are rendered is really loaded I mean what's happening are they sort of like deep in thought are they anxious are they worried It's A peculiar dark little work well let's see for our artists today if art is good for them [Music] canvases have been arranged paints have been mixed all the artists need now is a celebrity sitter to fill those empty chairs artists your sitter today is a veteran reporter whose quest for a story has brought him face to face with everyone from astronauts and actors to world leaders like Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela but today he is the subject of your scrutiny please welcome sir Trevor McDonald [Applause] [Music] okay welcome thanks for having me I imagine you lead Quite A busy life do you get much chance to spend four hours sitting and doing very little um generally no it's pretty hectic but we are a strange kind of confection of creatures and we We complain when it's very busy We complain when it's not oh we like to complain absolutely we like to complain well you've got four hours good luck painting Trevor she's gonna be exciting I'd like to get the full body and yeah I'm happy whichever way the ring is nice as well yeah and then if you can find somewhere for your eyes to go to do you mean I mustn't move around too much that would be lovely but I'm not expecting that artists your sitter today is a rising star of British television after a TV debut in Netflix hit sex education she went on to Captivate the nation with her incredible performance as a troubled teenager in the BBC drama The Nest please welcome Miriam Mack [Music] how are you I'm very very well is this new ground for you you've had a portrait painted no my sister once painted me for 15 minutes in the garden but um I was a very fidgety but I'm not going to be today have some fantastic Celtic hair take care yes are you looking for them to feature that I think so I feel like my spirit comes from my hair so oh fantastic Mirren your artists artists how would you like it so just smiling don't show your teeth okay and then just just be comfortable is that okay yes brilliant thank you artists while you've been gearing yourself up for your four hour challenge your sitter has spent four hours turning herself into a walking work of art she skyrocketed to Fame by winning RuPaul's Drag Race in 2019 it's the Vivian [Applause] [Music] wow you look amazing thank you amazing how comfortable are you going to be to sitting here corset arm hips heels Nails everything else so it's kind of we're gonna find out artists enjoy painting the Vivian feel like rose on the Titanic how would you like me how would you like to see [Laughter] um I think legs are comfortable like that gorgeous yeah okay I'm good [Music] artists it's time to focus on the art and to put everything else out of your mind you have four hours to complete your portraits good luck everyone your time starts now is it off I just get fired [Music] today many of our artists have decided to start with Fast and Furious sketches either on canvases or separate pieces of paper foreign [Music] looming up like that it's amazing isn't it and you've done more than one drawing I've done a few just to get used to the shape of her body which I really like this is me really looking at the Vivian because my nightmare before I started this was don't get me a beautiful woman because it will be how dare you yes but then what I've got Now is better Curtis holder is a primary school teacher from London who works in colored pencils his submission was his first ever self-portrait and took only two and a half hours I've noticed that you don't move your pencil off the page you sort of like a continuous line even though it's really fast well I think because I'm constantly looking up and down the habit of keeping my pencil on the paper has just helped me stay in place it's a bit like an Etch A Sketch but those little lines always sort of went slightly further than they did them too yeah but sometimes those little accidents are what makes something really special [Music] oh Helen I love the Devotion to Black and White from a crown wardrobe yeah that's more laziness than anything just no don't say that I see a connection with your work and your wardrobe it's sort of very resolute Helen Fox is a professional artist from Stroud her incredibly detailed submission using black charcoal on white paper took a whopping 30 hours to save time today she's decided to modify her process I'm using white charcoal on black just because it's faster will there be any black going in there to mix Grays it depends on how how much pressure you put on the white charcoal pencil so the more pressure you put the more brighter it gets I just got one pencil so the whole thing is about how hard you press that yeah and also the blending as well I've never seen this in exercise the four hour window have you been practicing I've completed 42 and actually it's 42 and a half portraits man you are in the zone some artists stick their brushes into Terps or linseed oil to change the consistency of the paint but that's not to everyone's taste foreign what's that about you're not going to be doing that with the acrylic well these are flavored paints especially made oh are they I see instead of not scratched and sniff but I can smell yeah that's it yes that's disgusting I know Danny Byrne is a professional artist from Bristol his self-portrait took him two days he enjoys injecting narrative and humor into his work something he's developed throughout his artistic career I started my life off as a political cartoonist oh this is a sort of element of caricature there I suppose yes since I started painting I'm always amazed just how small everything is right I was in a cartoon and a character well as I say exaggerated well not ever you see a nose you double it right you know you see a chin you have it okay and then you stick the general rule of thumb [Music] thank you [Music] you paint quickly there's a kind of energy level it's quite High yeah am I nervous can you tell is that to get stuff down or is that the level you painted all the time I don't want to hold the idea too long in my brain I want to put it there and see where it works she was my guts whether it's good or not we'll see Susan lagar is a professional artist and painted Geraldine James in portrait artist of the year 2019. the judges love the angle in her self-portrait but today Suzanne will have to tackle her sitter face on I know from tradition and I find myself that I prefer three quarters or something that gives the product inbuilt Dynamic yes if you had asked me yesterday I would have preferred aside the today I'm actually super happy to respond to this length there is a diamond shape in the way she's holding her elbows out quite lovely The crucial first hour of the competition is drawing to a close I think the structure if you don't spend time doing that at the beginning all the best drawing in the world is not going to save you so I'm hoping I kind of don't even know I got a fairly good likeness I think it's a bit messy but that's how I am but I'm confident I'll get most of it done I hope [Music] I'm not as fast as I would be under normal circumstances but these are normal circumstances [Music] at Battersea Arts Center Nine artists have three hours left to paint Sir Trevor McDonald mirror and Mack and the Vivian for our artists being faced with a surprise sitter poses new and unexpected challenges some more than others So Jamie has been makeup very carefully applied there yeah and now you're having to almost learn how to apply yourself yeah I know I could do some tips if you have any applying it or maybe this will lead to an alternative career in makeup for you I think I've got a bit of a way to go yet but yeah I think that's a no isn't it well yeah Jamie ampleford is a fine art graduate from West Sussex not one to overanalyze his own work he's always intrigued to hear what other people read into his paintings your self-portrait is very intimidating if I'm honest are you quite aggressive is what I'm saying no I'm not too aggressive are you competitive yeah okay I will to win is strong yeah I'm a sore loser oh are you yeah we're going to see some canvases thrown I see smashing up an easel later if you don't work just leave me to it [Music] oh Patrick your image of mirin is very sensitive do you think you'll struggle to capture her likeness without getting her eyes wide open uh I'm not too worried about that I sometimes get a bit bored of a Trope of just the eyes being windowed to the soul and I think there's so much other things about it from bone structure to hair to just to look and feeling so did you take a lot of pictures yeah so I was at first oh that was quite Stark isn't it yeah I wanted to try and go a bit straight on and kind of almost quite handmaid's tail almost Patrick Morales Lee is a professional artist and Commercial illustrator from whitstable he enjoys pushing the boundaries of composition in his work to give a suggestion of narrative and his self-portrait took three days there must have been a temptation as I saw in some of the photographs to think about doing mirin's full hair this is you know some of the best hair we've ever seen I think dim hole hair my body just think it takes away so it's really what yeah focus on one thing this feels very distinctively yours yeah you seem very calm I'm over in Trevor's section having started an acrylic painting from Life Paul has decided to start again this time using a straight on photo for reference okay Paul so you've got the first drawing as your assistant this is now the second attempt are we plain sailing ahead I would say it's stormy seas ahead I probably should work from life really instead of you made you decide to not work from life trying to fit the composition on the canvas was too difficult usually I paint heads quite big and it made the head tiny so okay I got in a model really that's the bottom line meditation I feel [Music] Paul's Ark is a photographer from London working in oils his self-portrait took him 10 hours and reflects his Love of All Things Gothic one of the things I loved about your self-portrait was the sensitivity of the pose of your head and if you can capture that today I think it will be fun well if that's a big if though I really like the way he's filling the canvas it's almost like his hands have become like your skull in a way yeah there's another object in there I have faith good luck in each heat the backdrops reference how famous artists choose to fill the area around the sitter the sets today Ty are we having a domestic um yes we are referencing domestic spaces well let's start with the bathroom bonnar painted endless portraits of his wife in the bath and then we have shutters that's Freud and hockney used because of that beautiful light pattern you can play with and here we have mysterious doors and corners and windows at Twilight the Vivian has chosen a very dramatic pose is that going to be hard to maintain I think part of the ethos is sort of giving good pose whatever the consequence you won't break me exactly being a drug queen I'm used to pain so I am kind of hiding it as well as I can I chose drug I should have chose a more comfortable profession really I could have wore tracksuit and trainers [Music] Kate the sets so Trevor McDonald is in the toilet maybe just get out of the bath but I think that there's something really great about tiles as a backdrop they're cold and so smooth and so flat against a human warm body we have I think a very disciplined sitter I mean it's not Trevor it's Sir Trevor McDonald isn't it I mean he really is properly sitting today and Performing and taking this very seriously out and we would expect no less it's not very normal to sit having your picture painted so I'm finding it something that you have to get used to and to be able to sit and do nothing in this way is is a bit strange Marin has a fabulous head of hair I mean this mirror and the two of us it's three's fabulous I know it's incredible and mirin said something earlier that I completely agree with is that her spirit is in her hair so my goodness if our three artists today don't capture that hair in some glorious form they'll be held to pay [Music] I was quite afraid that I'd fall asleep because I am very good at falling asleep at the wrong time but I've been totally mesmerized by what's going on so it's been much more exciting than I could have imagined [Music] Katie it's lovely being here because it's like being in a studio yeah that's kind of what I wanted to do is make it feel as much as possible like I was working in my studio and doing lots of sketches to prepare are you thinking your way through the problem this is how you would do it usually yeah I think so I probably would spend longer working out my color palette but this is more or less the stages that I go through Katie papano is a professional artist her monoprint submission was created by painting oil-based inks onto an aluminum board before pressing the image onto paper today she is painting using her own combination of raw pigments mixed with different mediums you submitted a mono print I used to have exclusively work in monoprint and then gradually over time that's sort of been usurped by painting but interestingly with your painting you don't use like normal you don't squeeze it out of a tube that also becomes part of the process doesn't it I think why I like it is because I can control how and way of working is so please continue thank you [Music] [Music] how are you finding today I'm okay so quite relaxed yeah weird I don't know what happened there portrait competition is obviously your metier pretending what that means but I'm guessing though it's a word I heard someone use once Francesca Curry is a classically trained art graduate from Cheltenham who now sells commissions for a living she hated painting herself portrait and wore both a hat and a scarf to cover up as much of her face as possible your self-portrait is such a warm sunny face it's really nice to meet you see that you're actually no to see that you are like that oh I don't know I look a lot younger but that's because normally my friends say that I wrote yourself kind of older and fatter yeah I suppose if you make yourself look good people will say huh but if you if you do go the other way yeah get too real but then when people see you in real life they're like oh much prettier in person it's lovely the artists are almost halfway through the four-hour challenge [Music] I've done the kind of technical hard linear drawing and that's just a case of starting this shading so sort of 50 50 how it's going really if I sit and look at it too long just beat myself up over it so I just need to just work for it [Music] it's got slightly better but it's not good I'm beginning to think I should abandon it and go back to plan A which is a shame because it's a nice pose but I don't think I'll make a success so [Music] at the moment this stage it's still a big mess so they have to go through this mess to get hopefully somewhere else but I'm not sure yet where we're going [Music] here at Battersea Arts Center Sir Trevor McDonald the Vivian and mirror and Mack are sitting still for our nine artists over the course of four hours so how are we doing good you've got an accent yes Sterling Scotland if you've seen Braveheart I'm named after William Wallace oh is that right did you like the film Braveheart it's Freedom highly inaccurate historically but it's a brilliant film I would paint myself blue you would like a bit of Freedom everybody should have a bit of freedom in their life laughs [Music] halfway through our artists seem to be split into two camps those who are working on one piece of work and another group who seem to be spinning lots of different projects yeah Katie made a lot of sketches each image she has made has caught something specific of the Vivian and I'm watching Katie work on this I presume to be a final piece I'm not getting the energy that was there before I'm should be fine don't worry Curtis has been on the floor he stood up he's worked in landscape he's worked in portraits it's really interesting to watch him and I think you can learn a lot of lessons about how to select things how to edit how to learn from your mistakes that was exciting for us when we can see an artist who's got that freedom and confidence to experiment great so Trevor being painted by Paul Francesca and Helen yeah I'm really enjoying watching Helen work well there's Trevor's frown lines are sort of a well-lived life and what she's done with them and make him look very worried and I don't think he does look worried he looks just like a very wise man Mirren has Patrick Susan and Danny Patrick ran a full-scale photo shoot I love the photograph that you took of her her eyes resting downwards but on the drawing itself they're now much more alert and I actually think that something's lost as he becomes more painterly with the pencil I think that might balance out that issue I mean the likeness is extraordinary I do feel mirror and apps absolutely there Suzanne started in a frenzy Suzanne's been with us before so she knows that these hours just disappear but it really was dramatic she was playing around getting the marks down and then only once she had confidence doing that would she go for the finer likeness I liked that approach well we're only halfway through but time does funny things in the second half of this competition so it'll be interested to see how they get on [Music] the principal thing in my mind was to respect the way you are seen by the artist you know we like to think of ourselves in a certain way and it may have nothing to do with reality [Music] I'm a little bit nervous because I can't picture what I'd want and also hearing how passionate and how much work has gone into this I've fallen a bit in love with each of them so we'll see my worst nightmare would be if they turned their results and I look like Bozo the Clown but it wouldn't be the first time I've been telling us with time ticking away some of our artists are still deciding which piece to commit to Curtis you started drawing on the floor and then the Vivian turned up in horizontal now this drawing is the one this drawing is the one so are you feeling that you're getting closer and closer what do you think that is Vivian has gone to the effort of looking amazing and I want to be true to that effort which is a nightmare but flawless she's Flawless I'm laughing because we think drawing is a very quick medium and that's a lot to do it is [Music] hi Paul hello you seem to be sort of swapping your canvases quite a lot I was about to swap right so is this it now yeah so why did you not want to carry on working on this one everything's wet so it's kind of hard to move it around now until it dries right have you found the experience then today more difficult than expected I thought I'd Breeze in just knocks into how easy right it's been like that super hard but all there's not lots there's still time [Music] Beyond composition and likeness for some artists the success of their portrait relies on adding the finishing touches to make it stand out from the crowd well I don't always use collage but I just thought it would really suit the Vivian and the big shapes that she has I don't feel like I've got quite enough time to get it where I want to but I feel a fine apart from that [Music] Patrick what's the Spritz scene it looks like it might be gin and lime cordial but it's nearly not it's Terps and what does Terps do that water or gin wouldn't it just breaks down the charcoal in the pencil I've tried what before and it just disintegrates the paper I wasn't convinced that you had the likeness until you started working on the hair I just thought by doing it in a more abstract way it would give that sense of it being a bit more magical maybe but now I just need to look into it I look forward to seeing more magic more Spirits hold off on the fairies yeah that'd be good yeah our nine artists have just under half an hour left foreign I'm on the edge of panicking are you worrying about time passes I I think so clock counting down yeah seconds ticking away the buzz are about to go don't palette don't panic most of it is there like the portrait itself I don't really want to risk doing something a bit drastically thank you it's reaching the point now where there's quite a bit of paint on and so sometimes when you try and put more on it ends up just taking it off so it's a bit of a battle [Music] we're into the final stages of our artist's four-hour challenge painting sitters the Vivian mirror and mac and Sir Trevor McDonald I've lived my life trying to work to deadlines the body begins to tremble and it's all terrible but for you I'm sure it's going to be great it's a little bit of a lightness developing I'm happier than I was 10 minutes ago even but still thin ice that I'm on artists you have five minutes left five minutes I might stop any minutes I should stop I don't know oh [Music] thank you I haven't had a look at everybody else's but I know for a fact there's gonna be a lot of amazing artists here and I think it's just in the upper the Gods artists your time is up please put down your equipment and step away from your easels [Applause] after four hours the time has finally arrived for the sitters to see the portraits and choose one to take home [Music] Trevor how did you spend the time in the end well it's really lovely to sit back and watch other people work a great deal I didn't quite understand right but all this will become clear very very soon all will become clear right now okay artists please turn your easels wow I'm lost in admiration well let's have a closer look okay it's terribly immodest to look an image of yourself and and be so entranced by but that's absolutely superb I think I know that guy it's a great Linus isn't it I'm just amazed thank you so much I saw the care and I saw some of the movements and the scale of it it's fantastic well you get to take one home with you for me one problem about Paul's is that it's such a picture of such size will have a very bad effect on my personality I think I I am not that grand um which one would I have it's an impossible Choice um May I choose Francesca's you make well done Francesca [Music] Marin how are you feeling now I just cannot wait to see what's on the other side of these boards let's not prolong the agony artists please turn your easels delicious food with my eyes right let's have a closer look shall we [Music] it's amazing the eyes are so intricate and you got the bum chin oh there she is absolutely amazing it's just stunning and like the movement in it makes it feel alive because the more you look at it the more amazing things you can see that is my nose and the little bits of wispy hair that definitely exists in my life creatively detailed so then can we take one with you oh I'm so indecisive I should have brought a coin I think I'm gonna go with Danny [Applause] well let's not keep you in suspense any longer artists please turn your easels [Music] oh my goodness they're all so different you've all made me not look too fat as well thank you all right let's have a closer look let's do it from afar it looks like threads I think you've got the profile of my face absolutely right absolutely amazing it kind of looks like Flames behind me like there's a fire outside yeah I love it well done the way you've got the makeup considering you've never won you might have played with makeup before I don't know you're not judging anyone here it's just absolutely amazing well which one are you gonna go for I've got to go with Jamie [Applause] [Music] well the artists take a moment to relax the judges are left alone with the portraits I think Patrick's drawing of moon is magical I'm surprised that Patrick's able to do something which is so moody and sensual with something which is usually quite hard and graphic I think Suzanne's chosen the perfect format I love that little slice of mirror and I think she captured the sense of her really well even though you've got these almost blocky arms and hands Danny's work is unlike anything else today quite the right likeness but I mean he's really interesting and inventive and this is what you know art should be Paul struggled so much today but he did the right thing sticking with that great image face on with Trevor I know it's not an exact likeness but I really think he's caught something there I just love the way Francesca puts paint down especially in the collar of Sir Trevor's shirt I mean it's just a beautiful crisp juicy bit of painting I think what Helen's done is give us you know the hard-hitting penetrating interview the way in which she put him in that top right hand corner I think adds to that feeling as well there's a lot of story there yeah has Vivian actually left the set oh my goodness what I think is great about Jamie though is he has this extraordinary facility but he doesn't waste it on things that are boring he makes good choices I'm actually really surprised by what Katie's managed to achieve you were right Kate I didn't think she would pull it all together by the end of the day wow Curtis is drawing of Vivian I mean it's Monumental and he's found the perfect form for the Vivian in this vertical it's not something one sees every day you go it was a really good day today I really love these four should we just move that yeah let's move the two end ones and see what happens that is fabulous isn't it this is really cool yeah let's have this as our final three that'll be different oh my goodness I'm not looking forward to the next bit artists it's been a pleasure watching you create your portraits today after scrutinizing your work the judges have chosen a short list of three the first artist is Suzanne Lagarde [Music] the second artist is Curtis holder [Music] the third artist to be shortlisted is Patrick Morales Lee [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'm pleased it wasn't a complete disaster and I'm really thrilled for the winners they've done really well I'm going to go home and sleep fascinating mix of sitters today she had some incredible autism the fact that we've got two drawings at this stage is quite something I think for us Suzanne painting Mirren did she hit the jackpot with the sitter today yeah I think she did very well she's a really interesting artist and I like the way that she sort of fights to get something she's not a tortured artist she likes playing around Patrick also painted mirin it's curious because I see painting I don't see drawing even though he was using pencil and charcoal I agree totally with you that actually when I'm looking at Patrick's work it's not drawing I'm looking at it's somebody who tells stories so it doesn't really matter what he's using but he's a master of it what was it about Curtis's portrait today that you fell in love with it's scratchy and it's rough and it's energetic but the product is peaceful and Serene and calm how does he do that it's like a little piece of magic it is magical and I think it's not only courageous but also kind of right startlingly new well now you have to pick one of these three very different works yeah how long have we got you've not got long as the artists are waiting with trepidation [Music] Curtis Cezanne and Patrick you have all impressed the judges today but I'm afraid only one of you can go through to the next stage of the competition the artists the judges have selected displayed a refreshing and Innovative rendering of their sitter that artist is Curtis holder [Applause] I am speechless that's not something I usually am I'm in shock I'm really excited I'm super happy for characters I'm such a fan of his work [Music] find an artist moving forward having invented their own style that is absolutely unique to them is so rare I can't wait to see what happens next and it is an adventure with Curtis amazing I'm gonna celebrate tonight with fish and chips but I shall do that after I've sat in a dark room for a while and just got over the shock oh [Music] foreign

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Length: 44min 26sec (2666 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2024