(bright music) - Hello and welcome to Wray Castle on the banks of the stunning Lake Windermere, where we're about to watch some really talented people create some really, really impressive art.

- And today's eight artists have packed all the essentials.

Paint brushes, of course, but credit cards, wax, bleach?

What's going on?

- That sounds like my leaving-the-house checklist.

(Joan chuckles) Anyway, welcome to Sky Arts "Landscape Artist of the Year."

- [Joan] Today, eight more artists have traveled from all over Britain and Ireland to tackle another spectacular view, with the express purpose of impressing our three judges: Independent curator, Kathleen Soriano, art historian, Kate Bryan, and award-winning artist, Tai-Shan Schierenberg.

- I just absolutely love it.

Charming, and nice, and I would have it on my wall.

- [Frank] All for the chance to win a £10,000 commission to paint Petworth House, made famous by JMW Turner, for the permanent collection of the National Trust.

- I wouldn't be at all surprised to find a dragon in that forest.

(Anna laughs) But they're not the only ones.

50 more artists have descended upon Wray to try their luck as a wildcard.

- Reminds me of my mum's old lace curtains.

But with only four hours to complete their landscape.

- It's just balancing things out at the moment.

- The final balancing act.

- I know.

- [Joan] Who will win another place in the semi-final?

- It's a sort of a Wray Castle greatest hits.

(laughter) - I like that.

- Yeah.

(bright music) (lively music) - [Frank] Among the artists who have made it to today's heat, five are professional.

James McGarry, Jackie White, Mark Scorer, Brian Steventon, and Anna Perlin.

- Normally, I'm in my studio on my own working for quite a few hours a day, not seeing anyone else, so it's really nice to come together with other people who do the same thing as me.

- [Joan] And three are amateur artists.

Michele McLaughlin, Imogen Guy, and Tom Quigley.

- I'm just really looking forward to painting the natural landscape, to be honest.

It's something a little bit different than I normally do.

Just so green.

(chuckle) - [Joan] The paintings the artists submitted to reach the heat are here today, hanging on the wall for the judges to inspect further.

Let's begin here.

- It's got this really moody quality to it, but then it's not so depressing, because the sky has got so much movement and energy, and there's just these tiny hints of the paper glowing through.

I think really brilliantly composed.

It looks like it's all a big accident, but at the same time, it holds together so well.

- And they've been tearing up bits of paper.

It's collagey.

The way the paint drips through it.

It's a fantastic evocation of decay.

- I think there's a huge amount of energy.

It's knowing that that sun is on the other side of the peak.

It's not just well observed, it's also incredibly well composed.

- It's a very simple painting at first glance.

It's just a peak.

But it's so beautifully rendered and inventive in the way the paint's been layered.

I've not actually seen this done before.

I don't even know how they've done it.

- It'll be interesting to see them at work, won't it?

- I love the push and pull between giving us things which we can recognize and then just making it abstract.

It's almost like looking through a really dirty, wet windscreen in a car.

It feels like I have seen landscapes like this, in some way.

- I feel these are poppies going along here.

- I get a feeling of some incidental landscape on a holiday in France, some little place with a little canal that I might've driven past, and this is kind of memory of it.

- [Joan] Now, this is perhaps the most exotically eccentric submission we've ever had.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- There's lots of fabric put on here.

- Is it real or stenciled?

Oh, I see.

- It is stencil and collage.

- [Kate] I think what's great is that, sometimes with collage, you're interested in the way that they've cut things, pasted things, and that distracts you.

Whereas, actually here, you come to that second.

- It's like ice cream in the background.

It's almost like a raspberry ripple up here.

I think there's so much to see here.

(peaceful music) - [Frank] Sitting on the shoreline of Lake Windermere in the heart of the Lake District is Wray Castle.

It's owner wasn't a medieval lord, but a rich Victorian doctor who used his wife's fortune to build it in 1840.

Now part of the National Trust, today, it's the task of the artist to paint this neogothic castle and its surrounding view.

- It's amazing to see the castle.

And with the tree, they're both key features that stand out.

So I'm gonna give it my best shot.

- It's got a really dramatic backdrop at the moment, with the clouds and everything.

I just hope I can bring it to life.

- [Frank] Amateur artist Michele McLaughlin lives in Birmingham and spent her childhood in Jamaica, where she became fascinated by the sea.

She still loves painting water, a feature of her submission, which she felt captured a sense of calm.

- The whole atmosphere, the whole energy of it.

The castle is beautiful.

You know, the angles of it, to come here and see it three-dimensionally is just, it's fabulous.

It's like you're really pumped.

You just really wanna run around the field and go, "Yeah!"

- Artists, it's castle time.

You have four hours to complete your interpretation of this amazing building.

- The moment you've been waiting for has arrived.

The time starts now.

(lively music) For most of today's artists, this is their first visit to Wray Castle.

But for one, it's part of her family history.

You were just telling me that you used to come here when you were a child.

- Yes, that's right.

- What did you make of the castle then, and what did you make of it now?

- I found it a really scary place.

The image I've got in my head from my memories, and seeing it today, they just don't match at all.

- [Joan] Does that make it a challenge to paint?

- Yeah, it does.

I can see that's my childhood image.

And then I've got this, that's nothing like it.

- [Joan] Jackie White worked as an art teacher before becoming a full-time professional artist.

She lives in Staffordshire and painted her submission in the rocky moors of the Peak District.

She's the only artist using watercolor in today's heat.

- I love the fact that the skies are quite moody today.

- [Joan] That's nice for watercolor, isn't it?

- Absolutely.

I mean, if it rains, I'll be happy.

I want to look for mood.

I'd like to make it into a little bit of a castle, which I think it should've been.

- [Frank] From bleach to spray paint to cloth, several artists are using a variety of methods to create their work.

- What a lovely start.

You've got a lot down there.

- Yes, I tend to just throw paint at the canvas to begin with, and then I'll use mixed media.

So, a lot of fabrics at the moment, I like.

So when I've got the rough painting mapped out with the paint, I'll then put mixed media, and then I'll put paint on top of that.

- Presumably it's quite time consuming, getting that collage right.

- 'Cause it is summer and I know it's green, I have looked at which greens sit well together.

- Do you just have shelves overflowing with fabrics?

- (laugh) Yeah, everywhere.

- [Joan] Anna Perlin lives in Hartfordshire and took the plunge to become a professional artist after working for Disney in product placement.

Her submission is of Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire, where she wanted to capture the autumn light.

- One of the things I really like about the submission are the different techniques and styles of painting that you have almost in each layer.

Are you going be able to introduce that here, or have you not got sufficient layers here?

- No, I hope so.

And I think it'll come together at the end.

There's really beautiful plants actually in the meadow, like the buttercups.

- Yeah.

- So I might try and use that to create a sense of perspective going backwards, with the paint and with the collage.

- Perfect combination.

- Exactly.

- Fantastic.

(bright music) - So you're off.

- I'm off.

- It's great watching you work.

I must say, it's like watching a mechanic from a distance.

You're banging away, you've got the spray paints here and stuff.

You've gone urban.

- Urban spray.

- Yeah.

After a long career in engineering,, Brian Steventon turned to art professionally nine years ago.

He now tutors and enjoys painting the local landscape in Staffordshire, as in his submission of Pen Common completed in acrylic and spray paint.

So I already like this.

- Good.

- [Frank] And you're starting with sort of an initial skirmish.

- [Brian] I'm then gonna pull out the main features.

That's the plan, as per my sketch.

- [Frank] Can I have a look at your sketchbook?

- You made by all means.

- [Frank] Wowwie.

How long would something like that take, the sheep?

- [Brian] Oh, maybe an hour.

- (scoffs) What a gift it is.

Honestly, this is a really beautiful artifact.

(laugh) I actually find it quite exciting, just looking at it.

- Good, good.

- [Joan] As usual, it's not just our eight artists who've made the journey to Wray.

50 more have crossed Lake Windermere to try to catch the eye of the judges as a wildcard.

And if one succeeds, they could win a place in the semi-final.

- This is my travel kit.

It's a Pochade box.

It's all compact, I can pack this away, and it can carry up a hill no problem.

- Sometimes when you're painting outside, you can see too much.

It's just there, so I can focus in a bit more.

- [Frank] What's your patterning there?

- Vintage textiles and spray paints.

- Reminds me of me mum's old lace curtains.

- It is exactly that.

- When I grew up, I saw a lot of the world through lace curtains.

- (laugh) I hadn't thought of it like that.

- Yeah, so it makes absolute sense, I think.

(bright music) - You've made it a very wild landscape, indeed.

- It's a lit district.

(chuckle) - Yes, but that's a little bit mellow, isn't it?

This isn't like the Himalayas.

(laugh) - You've been given perhaps one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen, and thought, no, actually I'm gonna do that field over there.

- Yep.

- What I like about the wildcard thing is you feel like you're part of a community.

And then some people come and work right on the very, very edge, looking at a different view.

(laughter) (gentle music) Competing for a guaranteed place in the semi-final, our eight heat artists have been working for almost an hour.

- There's a lot more light, which there wasn't earlier on.

It was quite a flat light.

There's a lot of colors that have come out that weren't there before.

So I'm trying to express those into what I'm seeing now.

- It will be interesting to try and balance the building in with all the natural landscaping, so that it doesn't feel like there's a big concrete building in it.

- The immediacy of the marks and the fact that I'm a little bit nervous is maybe working okay.

We'll see what the end result's like.

It might be a big splotch (laugh) by the end of it.

- It's crazy painting outside.

A few bugs here and there.

Incorporated them.

(laugh) (mellow music) - [Joan] Here at Wray Castle in the Lake District, our eight heat artists have been busy planning and painting for just over an hour.

And each one has their own distinct method of creating their piece.

- That entrance is pretty much finished.

Is that how you work?

Do you get a bit really detailed, and then spread out from there?

- I thought I'd totally just get something painted in, and then work around it.

As like a focal point, and then spread out on the canvas.

- You know, I find that more effective as well.

'Cause you get a sense of the light and the place in one bit, and then it sorta spreads.

You can spread it out.

- [Frank] Mark Scorer is a professional sports artist, painting everything from horse races to boxers.

He's recently started painting landscapes, such as his submission of a local forest near his home in Newcastle, where he walks his dog.

- Your submission, the light falling through the foliage, it's just amazing.

I would've thought that's what interests you, light.

- Yeah, definitely, the fall of light, how it transforms.

- So this fabulous gray day that you've got here, is it problematic?

- I mean, it is.

I could deal with maybe a little bit more color.

But at the same time, you've got a lot of daylight to work on, and a bit of light hitting the hedges.

That'll certainly help.

And I think it is getting a little bit lighter as well.

- Well, that's a fabulous start.

I'll let you spread it out.

- Okay.

- [Joan] For those artists used to painting nature's landscapes, the castle comes with its own set of challenges.

- Does the architecture's presence bother you?

I mean, would you have preferred not to have it there?

- I'm not used to drawing architecture, so I'm gonna just try my best at it.

So, maybe I could have just focused on the tree, but I thought, well, should try something different.

- [Frank] After studying at Glasgow School of Art, amateur artist Imogen Guy now works as an arts therapy teacher.

She loves using pattern in her work, and painted a submission of the Kilpatrick Hills in Scotland in gouache, a type of opaque watercolor.

- Do you have a color palette that you consistently go back to?

And in that sense, before you came today, knew what kind of tone ranges you were going to use?

- I probably just try and keep it in, yeah, think about four colors I'm using- - [Kate] Yeah, I see that.

It looks like you've enjoyed it.

- I've still got to figure out the foreground and try and get more pattern in it, and line to direct it towards the castle.

- Well we'll let you get on with your- - Yeah, good luck, enjoy it.

- Thank you.

(peaceful music) - Castle, trees, grass, sky.

It's all the basic ingredients, isn't it?

- (laugh) If you asked a little boy to draw a castle, he would come out with that, wouldn't he?

- I had toy forts, I suppose we could call them, that looked exactly like that.

- It's a beautiful shape.

It's gonna be quite difficult for the artists to find depth.

'Cause you haven't got sort of things going off in the distance.

- Well, it's almost like we're at an outdoor theater.

Don't you think?

- Yeah yeah yeah.

- Because that could be a theater set, the castle.

- I dunno whether the sun's gonna come around and create more light and shadow on the castle.

- What would worry me if I was painting it, more than anything, is what I would do with the foreground.

You know, we could have put 'em here.

We could have put 'em much nearer to the castle.

But you've given them some decisions to make about this big field.

- Often we find that they actually rearrange bits of the landscape to suit their purposes.

They have got choices where you've got these breaks in the trees, and it goes through to the distant hills.

And of course you've got this fabulous sky.

And now as we're talking, the sun is starting to come out and create light patches on the castle itself, and making that more three dimensional.

- Oh yeah, it's a bit of a turret highlighting.

- (laugh) Technical term, yeah yeah, technical term.

- [Joan] And one artist is using a particular medium to try and capture that technical term.

- I'm using acrylic paint today.

It dries quickly; It gives me a chance to build up layers.

Sort of translucent layers, try and get the light transmitting through.

- [Joan] James McGarry is a professional artist from Cleveland in the Northeast of England.

His submission is of the Redcar Blast Furnace in D side, and was painted in the soft evening light known as the golden hour.

In deep contrast to the conditions here at Wray today.

Do you find the light a bit of a challenge?

- I think it's all right, actually.

I'd rather it was like this than just blue sky.

This is actually interesting, 'cause it is moving, it's dynamic.

If it's just blue sky, it becomes all a bit flat.

If it stays like this, I'll be relatively happy.

- Make the most of it.

- I will try.

(gentle chiming music) - Looks like a castle.

- It looks like I'm doing the right thing, then.

- [Frank] How are you feeling about the castle as a topic?

- I love buildings.

But with castle, you're always a sense, almost childhood look of things.

You don't see a building like that every day, do you?

Something with turrets and towers.

So, trying to make that look quite mature and sensible on the page is quite a difficulty.

- [Frank] After studying fine art at Leed's Metropolitan University, amateur artist Tom Quigley moved to Manchester to become an art teacher.

His submission is of the Hacienda Music Hall in Manchester, and is painted in acrylic and his favorite medium, pen ink.

You're a school teacher, is that right?

- Yes, yes.

- It's got a school teacher feel this, though you're working on the flat and you've got your rubber (chuckle) ruler.

- Yeah, I like to be quite regimented with a building.

It's manmade, so if you start doing lines that are a little bit offset, it's not gonna look right.

- So it's it's draftsmanship really, this section.

- Yes.

Once all the fine line is in, Quink washes will be out, and I'll be with the sponges, and I'll be a lot more free.

- I look forward to that moment.

(gentle chiming music) - [Joan] With a place in the semi-final on offer, the wildcards are doing all they can to impress the judges.

(gentle chiming music) - It's going quite well now, 'cause I put my daughter into it.

She was sitting here, and I told her to make herself occupied.

(chuckle) I like doing skies, so, ooh!

I like doing skies.

But it's this part here I'm having trouble (chuckle) with, the main part.

(gentle chiming music) - It's so original to paint the people who are painting.

These are so characteristic, these people.

You capture them absolutely brilliantly.

- We just wanna catch those little moments where someone's doing something interesting, but they tend to be quite quick, you know- - Of course, and you've lost them, then they're gone.

- [James] So there's a lot of sort of memory.

- [Joan] Well it's worth doing.

(gentle chiming music) - Good afternoon.

- Lovely moody mountains.

Do you think you're gonna add any color, or are we gonna keep this lovely monochrome?

- There might be an opportunity to just slightly tint some areas.

Which move the composition.

- Yeah, and just lift it slightly in different ways.

- So do you paint the Langdales a lot, then?

- I've done it once or twice.

- And have you walked them?

- I have.

I've left a cardigan and a dog lead up there.

(Kathleen laughs) The wife's cardigan.

(chuckle) - Do you think it makes a difference if you know a landscape like that, when you paint it?

- Yes, it is.

Yes, you know where it's falling and how it's coming towards you, so you can get a little bit of depth in it.

- It's a very good level today, I've got a feeling.

The majority of them are producing great work, because it's just fantastic wherever you look.

There's just a good view.

There are quite a few artists who've got all their very professional kit.

I never had kit like that.

I'm learning a lot about kit from these people.

(chuckle) - [Frank] Our eight heat artists are nearly halfway through the competition.

And while most are content to work on just one piece, Brian has other ideas.

- I think I'm certain that I've finished.

I'll kinda review it within the next hour or so, but in the meantime, I'm gonna start working on another painting.

(peaceful music) - I'm gonna take the canvas off the easel now so that I can start my collage work.

I'm gonna use the collage on the trees.

The greens of the trees will really bring out, hopefully, the castle as well.

So that's where it'll start to be a summer's day.

- The next stage is the first two layers of Quink, which are diluted in water.

I'll use the spray bottle to actually try and create almost, like, a bleeding effect, sponge, which would create these puddling effects to mimic some of the leaves on the trees.

- If I can try and just work with the colors that I've got and not introduce anymore, then I should have a finished picture, hopefully.

- What I like is part of you making stuff happen, and part of you rolling the dice a bit and seeing what comes out.

- Yeah, I do like rolling the dice.

- Yeah, but that's great.

- Yeah.

(sweeping music) - [Joan] Here at Wray Castle in the Lake District, our artists are halfway through their painting challenge.

And as the sun attempts to shine, the artists take a moment to look at each other's work.

- I like the way she's caught the mood, because you've got that lovely gray sky coming in.

- Definitely capture the atmosphere, and sorta the constantly changing conditions.

- Yeah, with this brush stroke that she has.

- So nice to see the drawing underneath it, actually, like, the way that comes through.

- The judges have also been observing each artist carefully.

So we're just about halfway in the challenge.

- [Kathleen] Jackie's doing a fantastic job, creating senses of mood, energy, weather.

She's doing it all in watercolor.

- We've always presumed it to be a fast medium, but she's just slowing it all down, and she will take all day to get where she wants.

But it will look very fast.

- There are some aspects of the castle drawing which artists, (sigh) they're really special.

So next we have Imogen.

- I think that there's definitely a strong foundation, and that she's timed it really well.

So she's got a lot there.

It's a bit chunky, but when she gets that paint on, she can kind of breathe a bit of life into it.

- [Tai Shan] What is beautiful, her palette.

The colors are just stunning.

- [Frank] The colors are great.

So, Tom.

- He's timing himself very, very carefully.

Classic teacher, he's got a timetable in his head.

(Frank chuckles) But he did a really, really good job with that drawing.

And I think he's starting, potentially, to make something quite interesting.

- I like the colors are bleeding out of the Quink that he's using.

I like the accidents in the sky he's started.

It's exciting.

- I know he's aiming for still a very limited palette.

So, Anna.

- [Tai Shan] She's put down the base colors, the first bits of fabric have gone on.

- She's also been looking a lot, which is really important, because you don't wanna have to just, like, collage all this stuff in, and it be all completely from her imagination.

And when she starts painting, she can bring it together in a nice seamless whole.

(bright music) - I have finished putting down all my collage pieces, and now I'm going to paint on top of them.

So, the challenge is to make the painting sit all together and lead your eye into the castle.

(bright music) - This is the most beautiful design.

Pink trees and yellow cloud background.

What made you go for such an unusual and particular group of colors?

- Colors can evoke definite emotions, or just be quite cheery as well, (laugh) so.

- [Joan] It's quite cheery.

- Well, I've just used masking fluid just to mask out this area.

And then I'll work over where that's been, as well with some brighter colors.

- [Joan] Back in the 18th century, the popularity of the Lake District increased when roads were built to this previously remote area.

But it really exploded when Europe was closed off by the Napoleonic Wars, leaving middle class tourists in need of a place to visit, and to paint.

- Well, the kinda people are coming here we're talking about is the new middle classes and the upper classes.

The wealthy are the people traveling, fundamentally, to the late district.

The literary classes, people who could understand literature, who were interested in art.

- [Joan] The Lake District's sublime mountains and lakes became rich inspiration for British landscape painting.

And to help potential artists identify the views, in 1779, Thomas West wrote a guidebook.

- So, West explained the virtues of the place to the public.

And one of the ways he did that and made his guide accessible and popular was to define a number of different stations or viewing locations around this lake and many others in the Lake District, as a way of contemplating landscape at its most favorable.

- [Joan] One viewing station at Claife has reconstructed features which were originally built to help artists compose their views.

- We know from written accounts that this building was well known for its colored glass windows.

You could use this glass to sort of separate yourself creatively from the landscape.

You can introduce different kinds of colored tints to it.

One visitor to the station described the purple glass giving the landscape a sort of thundery and rather threatening hue.

And pale green was described as signifying spring.

It's an example of that sort of playfulness that the 18th century visitor could engage with the landscape in a painterly way or a pictorial way.

- [Joan] So from being a remote place which few wanted to visit, the Lake District has become the artistic enthusiast's dream.

And 200 years later, nearly 17 million people come in search of its perfect views every year.

(gentle music) - [Frank] Oh, it's been a lovely day for a bit of en plein air, but a difficult decision now has to be made as the judges take one more look at the wildcards before they decide on today's winner.

- As we sit here making daisy chains (chuckle), what do you think about the wildcards?

- I think it's fantastic.

I'm really liking the man who's painting all the people in.

- Yeah.

- The people are real.

They're the people that you can actually see.

- There's the guy who painted like Turner, that major colorist, who's very proud of being, he's finished already.

- I like the woman who's got a very black painting.

She got it quite early on, and then she's just really working in the detail.

Has resisted the urge to put color on it.

- Is this the one who's closest to us?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- [Frank] But who is today's wildcard winner?

- We've never had anybody celebrate what we do here and meld it in with the landscape.

So, congratulations.

(applause) It's a lovely celebration of the day.

- Just so exciting to get recognition for doing something that you spend so much time practicing and working on, for people to recognize that.

Very rewarding.

- So chipper for you.

- [Frank] James Cope from Glasgow will now join a pool of wildcard winners from the other heats, from which one will claim a place in the semifinal.

- [Joan] With just 30 minutes left, every mark our artists make counts.

(hurrying classical music) - I've not got everything down that I want.

I'm just worried that the lead in isn't quite how I want it.

But I'm panicking 'cause I'm not quite sure how to put it right.

(hurrying classical music) - And you're pleased with this?

Much more to do?

- Yeah, got quite a bit to do.

Gotta sort out the sky, refine it a little bit with a bit of detail using pen.

But yeah, I just need to race on and get it finished, yeah.

- Okay, I think that's my cue.

(laughter) - Thank you.

(hurrying classical music) - I do love your castle.

I love it.

- Get out.

(chuckle) I hope it looks like Wray Castle, even though it's really rough.

- I want to go there.

I want to go into this picture.

More than I wanna visit that, I wanna visit that.

(hurrying classical music) (sweeping music) - [Joan] In the heart of the Lake District at Wray Castle, our eight heat artists are nearing the end of their challenge.

(hurrying classical music) - I'd like to have done a lot more on the castle.

I haven't got my fence in, I haven't got my greens in.

- Artists, you have five minutes to go.

- Got five minutes?

I can't talk to you.

(laugh) (hurrying classical music) - I'm quite pleased with my second painting.

May very well go with this.

(hurrying classical music) - The critical question is how do you know when you are finished?

When is enough enough?

- [Jackie] It's just balancing things out at the moment.

- The final balancing act.

- I know.

- Artists, your four hours are up.

- [Joan] Please put down your brushes and step away from your work.

(applause) - [Frank] Although it's the decision of our esteemed judges that really counts, our spectators have a few things to say about today's art as well.

- The fact that it's monochromatic compared to all the others, where there's so much color makes it actually stand out.

- That sky is really, really exciting.

- I like the way the tree comes out at you, doesn't it?

You know, you could almost- - And everything's- - Touch it.

- Kinda flowing at you, isn't it?

Like the water's flowing at you.

- [Joan] Now the artists' work is over, the judges' first task is to whittle down the eight contenders to a short list of three.

- It's a very tempestuous painting, isn't it?

We have this really vibrant green landscape, this solid castle, and she's turned it into something completely different.

There are some really beautiful pieces of painting, but then there's some parts of the castle that I'm not quite sure are fully resolved enough.

Although I love the energy of it.

- I really love her passion for watercolor and the vibrancy and dynamism that she gets in the work.

But there's something about this one that isn't as controlled as the peak.

And here, there's a sort of a fight.

And I don't think anyone's won through.

- They may think that she's just put lots of splodges on a paper.

And they may think that maybe I've been true to my memories.

So, I don't know.

(laugh) - [Kathleen] Great drawing underneath.

I love the combination of the rigidity and the mathematical with the sort of free form.

- Just the way he's made marks and space, and been very inventive.

I don't know that I've ever seen this kind of pallette, and we're working for- - So is that brown coming from the bleach in the creek then?

- Yeah- - Ah, so clever.

- He's just spread it out.

- Aesthetically, I'm not sure that it completely pleases me.

I do feel a bit like the ceiling's been our text in the top left hand corner a little bit.

- Oh, I like that bit.

- Well, yeah, I'm still wrestling with whether or not I'm happy with that.

It's almost like chapters of a book, isn't it?

You sort of engage with different sections of it at different times, and different ways of looking.

And I'm really pleased that she pushed the textiles back a little bit.

- It's a very strange sort of purple/green palette, which I've never seen anywhere.

And it gives it an incredible richness.

- What I love, though, is the castle.

It looks like it's a old newspaper print collaged in, and yet she painted that.

And I like its relationship to these detailed flowers in the foreground, which are, you know, peculiar, but it's a really effective way of adding in detail and texture.

- I've loved today.

It's been a really great experience.

I'm not sure whether I've done enough or not.

Obviously mine is quite different with the fabric and the mixed media.

I hope that they've been intrigued by it.

- I just absolutely love it.

I love the colors in it, I like the space she's created.

Yeah, I just think it's charming, and nice, and I would have it on my wall.

- Yeah, there's a real charming quality to it.

It's funny because it's completely flat.

You know, there's no texture to that paint whatsoever.

The colors aren't normal.

You know, like trees aren't lilac.

And then you leave all of that aside, brilliant eye line in, you understand the composition, those darker trees in the background.

- And the sky, the clouds, sort of suggestive more than anything else.

- That's the only weak spot for me, because everything is so clear in it's graphicness.

Here these scratchy marks seem a bit sort of indecisive, which is a pity.

It doesn't actually fit in with the language that she's used before.

- I'm so pleased that he went with the second version.

- Mm, this is a very simple composition.

But it's more effective for it.

I feel a certain solidity in it, which he needs, because of the way he puts the paint on.

- I love that purple and blue coming from behind the castle.

- You can feel the speed with which he's made it.

But it feels a little bit still unresolved, I think.

And I'm assuming that he meant to cut off that top white section.

- Yeah.

- The second piece was slightly more abstracted, which I like.

But I still think the first piece was a reasonably good piece.

So, it's a gamble.

- I'm sensing that you two are drawn more towards these two.

- So number three is either one of these two or that one.

- I think for me, that's the one I go for, because I think they've got a great sense of promise.

- But who has made the top three?

The first artist on that shortlist is Jackie White.

(applause) - The second artist is Anna Perlin.

(applause) - And the third artist to be shortlisted is Imogen Guy.

(applause) - Consolations and commiseration for the rest of you, but we really have had some splendid work done today, and it's been a very tough decision.

- Well done.

(applause) - I'm a little bit disappointed, but then, being up against such great other artists, I'm quite proud of myself for getting to this stage.

It's been marvelous.

- I think I have to say, first of all, it's great to have three women shortlist.

(chuckle) Imogen is highly individual, isn't she?

- [Tai Shan] I love the colors she uses, I like the stylization of the trees.

It's playful, but it's got atmosphere as well.

- And I think she's very good in getting a sense of depth as well.

Because I think often when you're working in that sort of way, it can end up being very flat and one dimensional.

- I mean, you'll feel that anything Imogen painted would be instantly recognizable at 100 yards, you know?

It's so, so clear.

- It's brilliant seeing them side by side as well, because I think the one or two things I'm not sure worked today, you can find working over here.

And I think that's almost true of all of them.

- I'm just really pleased to have finished the work.

And it's quite exciting when people are looking at you for the reaction that they give.

- [Frank] So what about Anna's work?

- Anna's landscape and the space that you traverse as you look into it is very impressive, and has inventiveness with the use of that.

There's lot of stencils and bits of cloth, and the way she's worked that in.

It works very well.

- She's playing around with craft versus fine art, but also in the color ranges.

I think she's pushing things a bit.

- I think I've shown what I'm capable to doing within four hours, and depicting the castle and the landscape around it.

It has to be enough, 'cause it represents me.

- [Frank] So, Jackie.

- I just love that submission.

I think that that is a really sort of bravura piece of painting.

And today she gives us that same sense of energy and dynamism.

- Some of the marks she made today in that green bit in the front, there's sort of bits missing, and it's all spread.

She's very experimental.

- [Kathleen] She looked, she took her time.

She decided very clearly on what that composition was going to be.

- I feel like she lost her way slightly with the castle.

But at the same time, it's still a really convincing piece of narrative painting.

It's got its own weather cycle and its own drama.

- I think it's representative of how I felt about the castle, rather than too realistic or trying to do exactly what was in front of me.

- At this point, do you feel that you're led towards one?

- I think it's really difficult, because they're all genuinely really distinctive.

They're using visual languages of the kind that we don't see very often, if ever.

- Imogen, Anna, Jackie, one of you is going through to the semifinal, but which one?

- Well, the judges have chosen an artist who, and I quote, displayed a tantalizing originality in both her submission and today's painting, that left them wanting to see more.

And that artist is Anna Perlin.

(applause) Well done, Anna.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

I'm really excited to make it through.

I can't believe it.

So, the other two artists are amazing, and I know it was a really difficult decision, but I'm thrilled, so pleased.

Thank you, thank you!

- Well done, excellent work.

- Anna has such a passion for the approach to her work.

You know, she's combining so many different techniques, she's trying to break down all sorts of boundaries.

So, she really deserved to be the winner.

- Well done!

All that all fabric!

- I know!

(laugh) It is a little bit of a dream come true, (chuckle) because that's why I wanted to be a part of this, to show my work and for other people to appreciate it.

So the fact that they do appreciate it is amazing.

(mellow music) (chiming music)