(gentle music) - Hello from Sussex and the historic splendor of Herstmonceux Castle - Remarkably, though dating back to the 15th century, the castle has never witnessed a battle.

Until today that is.

- Yes, we've got eight eager artists, all lined up to get medieval on their art.

It's the battle of the brushes, it's "Landscape Artist of the Year".

Throughout the summer, we're visiting some of the most stunning and inspiring scenery that bountiful Britain has to offer.

- So you felt quite happy when you learned you were coming to a castle?

- This is, like, perfect.

- [Joan] 48 talented artists will commit to canvas these magnificent views in their quest to create their own landscape masterpieces.

- I'm pretending I'm a child with poster paints.

- Okay.

Splash it on.

Competing at today's heat are seven professional artists: Issy Wingham, Gary Jeffrey, Satdeep Grewal, Colin Watson, Fatma Ummanel, Ian Leaver and Sarah Manolescue.

- I think I've been quite anxious in the buildup.

I'm quite easily rattled, but I'm here to paint.

So I just wanna get on and paint.

- [Stephen] And one amateur artist, Russell Ashcroft.

- Never worked outdoor before.

I am feeling very nervous, it's all very surreal.

I didn't sleep a wink last night.

- [Joan] The artists are competing for the prize of a £10,000 commission to paint a scene in Venice, in celebration of Victorian art critic, John Ruskin.

- [Stephen] To be in with a chance of taking the top prize, the artists must impress our three accomplished judges, Tai-Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano and Kate Bryan.

- [Russell] This is Biro spread with deodorant.

- Biro, and deodorant?

- Yeah.

(both laughing) - [Joan] Also hoping to gain favor with the judges, at every heat are an extra 50 artists, our wildcards.

- [Tai] The colors you're gonna use are gonna be bonkers.

- I may get bonkers.

I have to sort of- - We like bonkers.

- [Stephen] Are you a competitive person?

- I like to win.

- So that's a yes.

- Pressure's on.

(gentle music) (gentle music) - While the eight artists prepare for their challenge, the judges review their qualifying online submissions.

Eight artists, eight submissions.

Let's say hello to a painting of an aloe.

(chuckling) (groaning) - You're starting early today.

- Yeah, don't worry about that.

I'm all over it.

- [Tai] The colors of that hot climate are very sort of silvery and there's a certain sort of atmosphere to them.

- [Kate] This is almost like a complete absence of liquid in the way that they've put the paint down.

It's dry, it's chalky.

And of course, that just underscores the kind of terrain that you're looking at and really suits this fantastic plant.

(gentle music) - [Kathleen] There's a lot of stamping, printing and it feels like a sort of gritty urban scene.

They've somehow elevated with pattern and with color.

- Yeah, I mean, I really like this.

It's a very strange way of putting textures and paints down.

But at the same time time, I think they've struck a nice balance between being realistic and being a bit experimental with their process.

(gentle music) - As soon as I look at this, I'm taken right through art history and lots of paintings where out of the background of some scene, Icarus falling or Bruegel's walkers through the forest.

You have this town in the background and it makes it so powerful.

- [Kathleen] And such attention to detail.

You just know that they haven't missed a single roof tile.

(gentle music) - [Kate] I love this because it's so surreal.

And I think the crab is a complete tour of force and these fantastic patterns that they've created.

And it's still really believable as crab shell.

- Come on., it's bonkers.

- It's brilliantly bonkers though!

- The sort of fifties horror movies.

- Yeah.

- I mean, I'm quite intrigued to what they're gonna bring today.

It's gonna be an interesting clash.

- So from killer crabs to a slice of London suburbia.

- [Tai] Very beautifully caught the way the street runs through the picture.

They've found an interesting sort of composition, which keeps the whole thing alive really.

- But also full of story.

I love it when you can see things like net curtains, and then you start to think about the people who live there, that sort of presence of humanity.

It's a powerful little piece.

- It's very unconventional language that they've used, and it's done very cleverly with that sort of the softness of the water and then the graphic element on top gives us the sense of the surface of the water.

So they've created a language in which they create space and volume, which is very effective.

- It's almost like a little vignette of an old movie, maybe it's because it's the sepia tone that's being used.

- And the only real color is the green of the new shoots.

This plant winds its way across the canvas in a way that sort of guides your eye as well.

A very clever composition.

(gentle music) I really like the brevity of the paint.

That sense of heat is made real by the shadows.

And if you look at the steps, that's where I feel the heat.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Is walking down those steps.

- It's so impressionist.

I can hear the kids screaming in the surf.

We're really there.

And so to do that with such a shorthand is pretty impressive.

- Well, what a mixture of styles.

See what they produce.

Keep an eye out for killer crabs.

(gentle music) Artists, I hope you're feeling inspired because the time has come to put your creative skills to the test.

- You have four hours to complete your landscape and your time starts now.

Today we've placed our artists on the banks of the medieval moat surrounding majestic Herstmonceux Castle in east Sussex.

- Britain is populated by these incredible castles that sort of march across the countryside.

And here we have a fantastic version, which is really gonna challenge, I think, our artists today, with the level of detail that's presented in it.

They need to embrace the castle and that doesn't mean necessarily that they have to show all of it, but they have to give us a really strong sense of it in its detail.

And also this luscious landscape that we're sitting in.

- There's one word I feel about this view, looming.

Yeah, I wanna try and break the monotony of this edifice and make it come to life.

- There's a lot to take in, but I'm gonna try and capture as much as I can of the castle, the trees and the moat.

And I might add some little sneaky things in here as well.

- The usual detailed approach that I do is a really, really time consuming one.

And there's so much detail in all the stone work.

I just really wanna focus in on the parts that are quite impressive.

- [Stephen] When she's not working as a teaching assistant, Norfolk based professional artist Issy Wingham is a passionate history buff who loves to capture historic sites in graphite.

Her meticulous illustration of the town of King's Lynn took over 100 hours to complete.

- Issy.

We loved your submission.

That fantastic detail.

I suppose I don't need to ask if you like brick, 'cause I already know that you do.

- Yeah, really old weathered brick.

I love drawing it.

- So your sketch is next door.

- [Issy] Yeah, that was just an idea of competition.

And then this is the angle that I've chosen.

- [Kate] And you always work in graphite?

- [Issy] I do use soft pastel.

Not charcoal cause it's too smudgy.

The graphite is easier to control.

I would start with the hard pencils first, the light ones and then gradually build up.

- You're not actually delineating all the tiny bricks.

- [Issy] No I'm going to use select areas of where I'll put more detail.

- Well, I'm looking forward to seeing those little bricks emerge.

I love the bricks on your submission.

They were so charming.

Let's hope it doesn't start raining.

Worried about your little piece of paper there.

- My philosophy for today is to take my time.

Cause normally I paint over a two and a half, three hour window, so I've got time, but I don't want to over paint it.

So it's keeping myself in check to make sure I don't do that.

- Professional artist and mom of two, Sarah Manolescue describes herself as an impressionist with a love for figures, color and light, as demonstrated in how Wimbledon street scene.

A seasoned en plein air painter, Sarah's familiar with tight deadlines, managing family life around her artistic working day.

Sarah, you really dashed down with enormous brio, a huge amount in this picture.

- [Sarah] Yep.

It's so important to get everything in the right place before I start putting on the color.

- And you have actually noticed over here a staircase.

- [Sarah] Yeah, I really like that line coming down and the bit of sky poking through that archway.

- You're used to working in the open air.

- I am.

I have to be in front of my subject.

You're absorbing everything.

Everything you hear, you smell, you see, you experience.

It all goes onto the board and it just makes for a much more energetic, lively, emotional piece, I think.

- Great.

Go for it.

- Thank you.

(gentle music) - Also invading the grounds of Herstmonceux, 50 wildcard artists are taking up residence in the castle's orchard.

- Most of my studio with me really, all my big brushes.

- I was on a 12 week course for this.

- There you go.

Look at that, isn't it marvelous?

I'm such an amateur.

- My husband dropped me off and all the children stayed in the car with him and I'm enjoying the calm.

- I'm nervous.

I also get my dissertation results today, so I'm nervous about a lot of things.

If you see me crying in the corner, then you know why.

- I can't really see much of that to make it look good.

So I'm gonna do something a bit different to everyone else with the little trees.

- [Joan] And if any of their landscapes impress the judges, they could win a place in the semifinal.

- The kind of Van Gogh kind of feel to your drawing.

Is that any- - [Man] It's interesting you say.

- Any artistic influences there?

- Well, if it is that, it's gone wrong, 'cause I'm trying to channel Kandinsky.

- Kandinsky?

S An hour into the competition, the overcast gray day and dominant red brick of the castle are definitely not dictating one artist's palette.

- Today, I'm gonna be radical and put down the complete opposite colors to what I can see in front of me as an underpainting in an attempt to make it come to life.

So the first thing is a bright green castle, but don't panic.

- [Stephen] Surrey-based professional artist Gary Jeffrey took part in 2016's "Landscape Artist of the Year", competing at Stowe in Buckinghamshire.

His submission this year, capturing the color of a beach scene, was painted plein air on holiday in Mallorca.

Gary you've made a very bold start there already.

It's kind of very bright colors.

- Yeah, I'm pretending I'm a child with poster paints.

- Okay.

- This is the most fun part.

- Splash it on.

- Yeah.

Big, bold and beautiful.

- Absolutely, yeah.

Are you a bit of a high wire act as a painter?

Are you quite courageous?

- I love being up against it.

- Oh, that's good.

Well, you picked the right place then.

So four hours is not gonna be a problem for you?

- I wouldn't say it wouldn't be a problem, but you have to prioritize to actually make something that's resolved.

- [Stephen] Have you got anyone here supporting you?

- [Gary] My dad.

- [Stephen] Oh yeah, where is he?

- [Gary] He's over in the wildcard section.

- [Stephen] Is he a wildcard?

- [Gary] Yes.

- [Stephen] Do you paint together a lot?

- I don't like going out and painting with him 'cause he gets bored.

- Oh he gets bored.

- Yes and wanders off and goes, "Why have you only done one?

I've done three."

- Oh, so he's the kid and you are the dad basically.

- Yeah, he's got an attention span problem.

- [Stephen] Oh well, listen, do him proud and good luck with it.

- [Gary] I will.

Thank you.

- I use a lot of like yellows and browns just to kind of sketch in where everything will be.

And then I underpaint the colors in with a light wash and build on it throughout the day.

- [Joan] Age 25, Fatma Ummanel is our youngest competitor today.

A professional London based artist, her submission depicts an amalgam of photographs taken on a trip to her parents' homeland of Northern Cyprus.

Presented with today's behemoth of a building, Fatma has chosen to close crop in on her canvas.

- Fatma, you really bought the castle sort of almost smothering us as the viewer, but you've been super clever and you've sort of avoided the water, haven't you?

- I actually wanted to include the water, but I haven't actually got any space to.

Because of the kind of position I am, quite close to the castle, I've opted to zoom in and that's quite difficult 'cause there's a lot of detail.

The brick work, the windows.

So that's been quite tricky.

- But I love it.

I think there's a real sense of oppression.

It's really dominating the scene.

Are you happy with it?

- Yeah I am.

- [Kathleen] Yeah?

Good luck.

- [Fatma] Thank you.

- [Stephen] As the first hour of the challenge draws to a close, will our artists conquer the castle?

- Because it's so big, I don't want to give myself too much to draw.

Well, I should keep very close eye on the time.

- Quite methodical are you, as a person, I see.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- My pencils are all in order.

- All in order.

- There's loads of things worrying me about today.

Not least of which is the weather.

I'm a bit worried that the sun might come out and completely ruin all of my Gothic gloom.

- I never know how a painting's gonna go.

It's always an experiment.

So I really hope I produce something that I'm happy with because if I'm not, then that'll really suck.

(gentle music) (gentle music) - [Stephen] Our eight competing artists are entering the second hour of the four hour challenge to depict the enchanting yet formidable Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex.

- Normally I would paint straightforward landscapes.

Sometimes I do a little bit of architecture, but often the architecture supports the rest of the landscape rather than being such a kind of key feature of it like it is here today.

- A self-taught professional abstract artist, Satdeep Grewal's unique vision of a local beauty spot, on the River Test in Hampshire, demonstrates her approach to the natural landscape.

Your submission involved water.

You used a very schematic way of representing it.

It isn't naturalistic, I wouldn't say.

- Mm.

- [Satdeep] But normally I do start with a realistic approach and I try to capture kind of what's in front of me.

And then the more abstract graphic elements come later when I've thought through the best way to do it.

- Where do you derive your style from?

- [Satdeep] For a while I was obsessed with the golden ratio, which is this pattern repeated throughout nature.

And I think that's what I'm trying to do with the patterns.

- The relationship with nature, it's elusive, isn't it?

- [Satdeep] Yeah, definitely.

(gentle music) - It's a castle, isn't it?

Just a chocolate box castle.

So what you're looking for, I imagine, is something very twee and romantic.

- Absolutely the opposite, of course.

And it's very odd because we're standing in front of this magnificent edifice and we've got this moat and everything is great and ready for a painting.

The light is so bad and gray that there's no contrast.

They've got to find some color in this because that's the only way they're gonna make something that's interesting.

If you stare long enough at this brick, they're reds, they're purples.

There's interesting things to be extrapolated from it.

- And apparently there is a ghost that haunts this castle.

It's a headless drummer.

(dramatic music) - Weird.

- Yeah.

Apparently the headless drummer is armless though.

(laughing) Yeah.

- [Tai] Would you like to live in this castle?

- No, because... - There's a headless drummer running around.

- There's a headless drummer.

(gentle music) - My style is a B movie type of painting.

So seeing famous landmarks and then adding some sort of creepy feature into it.

I know they've got a headless drummer, apparently haunts the grounds, so I might sneak something like that into the picture.

(gentle music) - [Joan] Professional artist Ian Leaver's submission pays homage to two of his favorite things, Brighton and vintage B movie posters.

His work incorporates his love of pop art and sci-fi, inspiring him to paint landscapes with a twist.

- So what are we gonna get today?

Godzilla?

Crabs?

What's happening to the castle?

- I've been sneaking in a drum 'cause of the headless drummer.

- Nice, okay.

It's very flat at the moment.

- Yeah.

- But of course it's that B movie vintage poster look that you're going for again.

- But I'm trying to add different textures and bring it out a bit more 'cause it is just really basecoats at the moment.

I really hope I can make it pop out.

- Well, I think it's gonna be great.

I really hope we see the headless drummer as well as the drum.

- Okay, I'll try and fit him in.

(chuckling) (gentle music) - [Stephen] Enjoying the pastoral pleasures of the castle, our 50 wildcards are vying for the chance of just one place in the semi-final.

- So we've got two canvases here.

- Yeah.

- What's the plan?

I mean, why is this one on the floor here?

- Had to lay it down to pour on some liquid acrylics and then I use methylated spirits.

- Okay.

- Along with the spray paint.

Wow.

Fantastic energy.

Really good.

(laughing) - Cheers.

(gentle music) - Are you staying with this cool palette?

It actually looks like snow.

Really feeling that cold!

- It is a bit chilly, yeah.

My hands are getting a bit... - Do you know a painter called Gary?

- I do, my son.

Yes.

- [Stephen] Are you competitive with each other?

- [Male] No.

- How will he cope if he doesn't do as well as you?

- He'll cry all the way home.

- Will he?

- Yeah.

And I'll have to probably stop and take him in my arms and stop him sobbing.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- God, we should get a camera on that.

That sounds like great telly.

(gentle music) On the other side of the historic site, our only amateur artist competing in a pod is trying not to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the castle.

- I've got this grid basically just to set the composition.

Find a focal point, keeps my focus on like a certain part of the building rather than trying to incorporate it all.

Just focus on an area.

(gentle music) - [Stephen] Russell Ashcroft paints around his working day as a postman in Skipton, where he was born and raised.

His submission, a composite scene of the Peak District, is his first ever landscape.

Painting outside and to a deadline are also new practices.

- Russell, we're quite way into the day.

- Yes.

- And you've done a grid.

- Yes.

(laughing) - [Stephen] What's happened?

- I've decided to start again because I wasn't happy with the composition.

This is my original piece and detail of the castle just overwhelmed me.

So I've decided to simplify it and bring more of the foreground in.

- Okay.

- And just have a little element of the bridge.

- Okay.

- Just for time-wise really.

- Right.

Did you factor that in that that might happen?

Or is this a panic situation?

- A bit of both.

- [Stephen] So taking a deep breath, you're gonna start again.

- [Russell] Yes.

- [Stephen] Are you good under pressure?

- The best.

(laughing) - Suppose were gonna find out.

(gentle music) - I've just blocked in the main sort of fundamental shapes.

At this stage, it's quite open and so I'm moving things around, pushing things around until the whole thing locks and then I'll start refining.

But at this stage I'm just really trying to get the colors, the tones and the shapes right.

- [Joan] Colin Watson is based in Belfast, but a frequent visitor to his wife's homeland of Morocco, which inspires his artistic professional career.

His submission of an aloe vera plant is painted in his homemade blend of treated oils.

- Colin, what we liked about your painting particularly was the sense of texture.

There's a kind of roughness or a dryness.

- Yeah.

- Is it a medium you use?

- Well, I'm using a wax medium.

It gives it a bit of body.

And it sort of clogs the picture a bit.

- The water, which is this dull brown, you've layered it by using this wax so there's color coming through.

- Exactly yeah.

I mean, you've got this sort of dull brown underneath and then this more violet sort of pale gray on top.

I think that helps to give it a bit of life.

- And that sort of visual mixing, in a sense that's what you're doing, isn't it?

Instead of mixing the color, you're mixing on the canvas.

- Exactly, yeah.

Same with the castle itself.

It's not made of one flat color, so there's a lot of colors there.

So I think it helps you to breathe a bit by layering.

- Yeah, it does.

And it creates atmosphere as well.

I mean, you see colors in there which I haven't even imagined so.

- Well maybe they're not there.

- It works.

- [Colin] Well, you have to keep the thing alive.

- Yeah.

- Hopefully.

- Well done.

- Thank you.

(gentle music) - [Stephen] As the second hour of the competition winds down, the wind picks up.

Along with the artists' kit.

- I've actually found the weather quite difficult because, when I'm trying to paint really fine lines, my hand keeps getting knocked from the wind.

- It's survived.

- Just about yeah.

It should be all right.

- Okay.

- Just scraping.

- You sure it was in the wind, it wasn't you getting moody?

- Flinging it.

- Bit of that maybe involved.

- Feeling good.

The early explosion of energy has paid off and I can be a bit more considered.

- Normally when I'm painting I'm under time pressure 'cause I have to go and pick up my kids from school.

My concern today is that I might be tempted to fiddle.

(gentle music) (gentle music) - [Stephen] Our eight competitors are halfway through their challenge at Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex.

With just over two hours left, the sheer scale of the building continues to test the artists.

- You've gone quite close in.

- [Sarah] Yes.

This is bigger than I normally work on.

- [Tai] And it's more complex, in a sense?

- Yes.

'Cause there's so much going on with that building and I do get sucked in by the details.

I mean the brick work is hard because there's so much going on within it.

You know, certain parts look almost sort of pebble dashed in a way.

- We are quite intrigued how this- - Me too!

- No, in a...

Sorry, did I sound...

I'm crouching.

I meant it in the most positive.

I'm intrigued and quite excited to see how you develop this.

(gentle music) - [Kate] Russell, you're a brave man.

You changed tact.

- Yeah, I decided just to concentrate on textures.

- Yeah.

- And larger flat areas.

- What are the priorities that you've gotta crack on with?

- Just to get some more depth in here and then detailing in the bridge.

Other than that, I'm quite happy with sort of the basicness of it.

- You're really happy with the moment at which you killed the castle?

Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Well done.

(gentle music) - Gary, come on up.

I found someone you might remember.

- Oh no.

- How are you feeling about Gary's painting so far?

- Needs a little bit more work I think.

- [Stephen] Right.

What would you suggest?

- Well, you don't wanna start again do you, really?

No.

No, I think you need to start putting some lines in, some linear work onto it.

- All right, father.

- You'll be alright mate.

(gentle music) - Parental advice is one thing, but today the only opinions that really count are those of our judges.

So it's halfway and what sort of overall impression have you got?

- The view that we're asking our artists to paint is almost too close to them.

So some of them are not picking up on some of the subtleties.

- The ones who stick out for me are the ones who've overcome the problem of lack of light and lack of tonal contrast and found color.

- [Joan] Okay, Satdeep, has she pushed it too far?

- I think Satdeep's style of painting is very particular.

You know, she is giving us her own voice.

- I think the thing we're missing with Satdeep is that bold outlining that she did on her submission, which made it more like graphic art.

And we haven't got that yet.

- There is something there that sort of interests me.

I think it's the pools of color and I'm hoping that will all resolve itself as we get towards the end of the day.

- Colin, very keen on color.

- Colin's skill is of course the way he applies paint and finds color and the way he's used wax and how the paint is very dryly sort of overlaid.

I think it's very atmospheric and very beautiful painter.

I think it's gorgeous.

- I also think that Colin's given us a little bit of context.

There's a rather lovely tree that's appeared on the left hand side of the castle.

There's almost dappled light coming through it.

And I'm hoping that that will push the castle back a little bit, maybe.

- Let's consider Gary.

- I liked his very counterintuitive way of painting the castle, of taking every color that he could see of.

What we've got is this kind of Fauvist, wild beasts, warm saturated castle.

- He's working quite small and it's very sort of almost symmetrical version of the castle, but the color, he's bringing off.

- [Joan] Russell?

Bold to start second picture halfway through the competition, isn't it?

- [Kate] I think Russell made such a good decision to stop when he did, because he realized he had too much castle.

- And there's something rather beautiful happening.

He's running a bit behind, but what's there I think is really interesting.

- Sarah, happy as a lark in the open air.

- Sarah's giving us a confident approach, a confident composition.

And I'm looking forward to seeing her give us a bit more mood, a bit more texture.

- At the moment it works, but the gray brown that she's used for the bricks is rather underwhelming.

- [Kate] I really like it, but actually I'm worried that Sarah will have too much time.

It's got a real impressionistic fleeting aspect to it.

And actually she could overwork that.

- [Tai] Yeah.

- So, we'll see how they do this afternoon.

(gentle music) - I'm so excited, I've come at just the right moment.

I've been waiting for you to do something with these blocks of color that you've laid down.

You've now started to define them with the outlines.

It's fantastic.

How do you normally know when it's the right time to start laying on these graphic shapes on top?

- It's usually when I've had about a week to decide that I'm happy with the under painting, which I don't have today.

So that was the kind of most difficult bit.

- I can see how you've got these sorts of circular flumps, or whatever you wanna call it.

If you look at the tree there, it's a perfect sort of circular flump.

- Yeah.

There's a direct relationship between what I'm painting, what I'm seeing, but there's also obviously something else going on in my head.

- Well, I look forward to seeing how it all pulls together at the end.

- [Satdeep] Thank you.

(gentle music) - [Joan] The stately Herstmonceux Castle our artists are painting today was the creation of Sir Roger Fiennes, aspiring Sussex landowner and member of parliament, during the reign of King Henry V. Roger had inherited what was then a modest manor house from his father in 1402.

It was the time of the Hundred Years War, with the ruling families of France and England engaged in a bitter struggle over French territories.

With fame and fortune to be made on the continent, Roger had big plans for his family and for Herstmonceux.

- Roger himself was very ambitious.

He fought for Henry V in France, as did his brother.

They seemed to have been very popular with Henry V and they were rewarded with lands and important posts.

- [Joan] When Roger returned from France, he was determined to build himself a home in keeping with his new status as war hero and royal favorite.

- Roger was given permission to enclose, crenelate, embattle and entower his manor of Herst.

But you could say that what he builds is like the missing link between the really defensive castles of an earlier period and the later Tudor grand stately home.

- [Joan] Inspired by chateaux he'd seen during his time fighting in France, Roger's castle was a huge edifice of red brick, a building material almost unheard of in Britain at the time.

And it looked every inch the medieval fortress.

And yet, on close inspection, it would hardly have withstood a marauding army.

The windows were too large, the gun ports too small, and the walls would've been no match for a barrage of cannon balls.

By the time he died in 1449, Sir Roger had reached the office of Treasurer to the Royal Household of a new king, Henry VI.

With the splendor of Herstmonceux Castle standing as testimony to his wealth and status.

(gentle music) - [Stephen] Enjoying the glory of the castle grounds as they stand today, our 50 wildcards are nearing the end of their challenge.

With the judges selecting only one to go forward and be in with a chance of making it to the semifinal.

- [Joan] But, for someone, there's already good news.

- I got my dissertation results back today.

It's not an official mark, but hopefully I'll get a first.

- Oh!

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- That's wonderful.

- I think you win the prize for the smallest work.

But I love it, it's so precious.

Is this the first one you've done?

- Well, I did start over there, but there was too much green.

I thought, get everyone in so I could put a bit more color.

- You could've put a bit more color in if you'd used a bigger piece of paper.

Yeah.

(laughing) (gentle music) - [Stephen] Do you paint a lot?

- No, I give myself half a day once a week 'cause I've got a job.

- Oh right, what's your job.

- [Female] I'm a GP.

- Are you?

- Yeah.

Oh, that's good cause I've got a little thing on my eye.

- Well, it's fine.

I wondered if- - just take your top off.

- [Stephen] So which of our wildcards has flourished today?

- What about the guy who's slightly up the hill?

- He just did the foliage and the different sort of textures.

- Yeah there so much richness in the color.

And, you know, they're mainly looking at the trees aren't they?

- Yeah, that's fine.

- There's a girl sitting down and the trees are painted very softly and rather sort of- - Smoky.

- Smoky and ghostly.

It's very atmospheric.

- I like that one.

I like that one a lot.

- Do you like that one?

- I do like that one.

- [Kate] Okay.

(gentle music) - Congratulations.

You are our wildcard winner today!

(audience applauding) Well done!

- This has been a really big day and it's really nice to have just a compliment from an outside perspective because your mum's always gonna say it's nice.

So it was really flattering.

- [Joan] On top of receiving a first in her art dissertation, Hannah Buchanan from Kent now joins the selection of wildcard winners from all the heats, at the end of which one will be chosen for a place in the semi-final.

(gentle music) - But for our selected artists, the pressure continues to mount as the competition enters its final hour.

If you're happy with the light, you're happy with the subject... - Just not happy with the painting.

- [Stephen] Why not?

- [Colin] Well, it probably needs another week's work.

- Are you feeling the time pressure?

- I am absolutely.

- You panicking slightly?

- I am.

- Although I'm using a smaller brushes, I'm holding them right at the ends like this to stop me from being tight.

I'm daring myself to be loose and blobby right to the end.

- Time wise, I'm doing better because of the foreground.

It's more area of texture rather than detail of the castle.

I am happier 'cause I feel like I'm accomplishing more.

- I might have a little bit more to do to the water.

I just need to fatten it up now, but I really need to push forward and just attack it.

(gentle music) (gentle music) - [Stephen] Here at Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex, our eight competitors have only minutes left to resolve their landscape works of art.

- At this stage, fatigue steps in so pressure's on.

- The quandary I have is how dark to make the shadows.

And I have to make sure I don't veer off on the wrong path.

- I think I'm okay.

I'm just building up the detail now, but my eyes have given up.

I don't think they can tell what color's what anymore.

- Artists you have one minute left.

- I would like another hour or tow.

- Artists your time is up.

- [Joan] Put down your equipment and stand away from your easels.

(audience applauding) - Well done.

- Well done.

- Well done.

- [Joan] With the artists retired, it's time for the judges to review their completed landscapes.

- I think Gary did rather well today.

There's a subtlety in the drawing, which makes you aware of where you are looking at the castle from how that bridge leads over is ebullient color use.

- Mm but it's not as vibrant as it was.

He's toned it down and he's toned it down with accurate tones and I think the result's excellent.

(gentle music) This feels a little bit simplified.

I love the tones though.

The colors are really representative of this slightly pink castle and she just caught that.

- The overpowering size of the building and the claustrophobia you get in front of it, it feels like standing in front of the building, absolutely.

- [Kathleen] I really like the way in which Ian has taken that lovely view of down into the channel of the moat.

- [Kate] I suppose I'm a bit disappointed that it isn't as surreal as his submission.

- You're just sad you didn't get Godzilla.

- I wanted Godzilla.

I mean, I would've taken the crabs.

(gentle music) - [Kathleen] I really like Issy's drawing.

She's really caught a sense of the ancientness, even though it's small and even though it's only done with, you know, a million different graphite pencils, I think it's got a punch.

- In that sort of long slice, it brings the sky sort of over us, doesn't it?

So you're really immersed in the landscape.

I love the way Colin puts paint on and the atmospheric way.

And I look at it now and I think he's just gone a bit too far.

The paint surface has lost its luster for me.

- But there's a complexity to this work actually that shows a sophisticated and experienced painter.

I thought Satdeep was really good at observing nature and the natural forms and then reducing them into some sort of abstracted language.

I think the graphics thing pulls it all together.

- [Kate] I was really pleased when these big lines went on because they kind of made sense of what her vision was.

Although I'm not mad on the lines that she used in the water.

- I love the reflection that Russell's been able to suggest in that water.

And also the texture of the grass.

I'm more concerned with the stippled nature of the tree.

It doesn't sort of sit so comfortably with this lovely rough texture that we have here.

- Almost looks like a Japanese wood cut.

And to end on that sort of accent of green, I think is very sophisticated.

I like Sarah's understanding of color in the sense that it is subdued way that she's got these browns working against the silvery grays.

I do find the composition a bit oppressive.

- [Kate] I'm really pleased 'cause she didn't over paint it.

I think this painting has got the best water today.

You know, it's really beautifully observed.

- But there some good stuff today, the way we set it up in front of the castle, I thought some sort of, you know, succame to that kind of overpoweredness and others sort of grappled with it very well.

- [Stephen] To help with their decision making, the judges pare down the artists to a short list of three.

The light was bad.

I'm interested in the artists who found a way around that to make interesting paintings.

You know, they did something with the color or did something the way they put paint on.

- [Kathleen] My favorite three are ones that, you know, you have a bit of the castle, but you also have a lot more in nature.

- Yeah I agree with you.

We want a lovely composition and some interesting, yeah, painting.

(gentle music) - Artists, it's been an amazing day and it's been wonderful seeing you create this fantastic work.

- But the judges can only pick three of you to shortlist and they have made their selection.

The first artist on the shortlist is Gary Jeffrey.

(audience applauding) - The second artist is Colin Watson.

(audience applauding) - The third artist is Sarah Manolescue.

(audience applauding) - Our commiserations to the rest of you.

But thank you for joining us and for doing really impressive work as well.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) - I'm really happy for the final three.

They really captured the sort of mood of the castle and the colors.

That was something that I struggled with personally.

So yeah, well done to them.

- The judges must whittle their shortlist down further to pick their winner.

To help them, they take into consideration the selected artists' qualifying submissions.

This castle is a kind of cliche castle, isn't it?

Difficult to avoid a cliche painting.

- [Tai] Somehow they brought their own style to bear and it seemed to avoid that totally.

- I think all three of our finalists today have embraced the dominance of the castle and nature itself.

- Gary showed an interest in his submission in color and he showed an interest today.

We got a very colorful castle.

- Yeah.

And I think there's a lovely perverse logic to how he painted today, where he said he was gonna give us all the opposite colors that were there.

And then he sort of took that experimentation and turned it closer to reality.

- It's easy to use color when you're using it as an impressionistic device, but to make something solid and believable using color as well, it's a step further and that he can do both is pretty impressive.

- [Stephen] Colin can convey a sense of mystery, I feel, in his paintings, - Colin's got a dry way of applying paint.

And I think the way the light bounces off the surface of paint gives us a sense of the air between us and the object.

And that is the atmosphere you're talking about.

And he's been able to create it in both his submission and what he did today and he's very believable.

- And I think the balance in it is really effective, the way in which the tree almost has an equal weight to the castle.

(gentle music) - [Stephen] So Sarah really took on the castle, didn't she?

- [Kathleen] She really took on the water.

- [Kate] Particularly under the bridge.

It's so convincing.

- Sarah loves her paint to be sort of oily and gelatinous and that's complimented the reflective surface.

- [Tai] I think Sarah's very good at lots of small intricate elements and there's a lot of windows and crenelations and she was totally unfazed.

I think she's a very good painter.

- So who will be king or queen of the castle?

(gentle music) - Gary, Colin, Sarah this is the dreaded moment when we have to lose two of you because only one of you can go forward to the semifinal.

And the judges have decided.

- The artist they have chosen to put through to the semi-final is Gary Jeffrey.

(audience applauding) - Getting to the semifinal has given me a great sense of validation about my work.

It means the world.

- Gary's a great artist, he's a great colorist, he puts paint on beautifully, but above all he won because he took risks.

We had this very brushy, vibrant way of putting on paint, but we got a sense of the day and to bridge that painterly language with a sense of realism where he didn't know whether he could pull it off and he did pull it off, I think that's just magical.

- [Dad] I'm delighted for you.

- Thanks dad.

- And I think you've done really well and I hope you can go on further.

- Wow that's- - And if you don't you'll have something to... (gentle music)