Landscape artist of the year 2026

tel

Anybody else watch this show on Sky arts?....I tried to instigate some discussion about this show last year with little success so No it's not deja vue 😆
Wanted opinions on the quality of the work submitted by the contestants and on the way paintings are judged., I know that art is subjective and can only be seen this way by the judges, but there is a definite leaning towards and some might say biased towards impressionist works, it is so predictable when the show reaches the judging stage.
Personally speaking i like to see realism and find impressionism an excuse for being sloppy. Yes i understand many of the great artists were impressionists and it served them well but on this show if a contestant shows any hint at realism such as the inclusion of detail or figures, animals or a boat the painting is dismissed as "Twee" and therefore without merit. Ironically the sister show Portrait artist of the year which has the same judges favours realism.

Felix

I like to watch random episodes of PAOTY on the couch with my girlfriend, sometimes LAOTY.
We sometimes really can't understand why the judges vote the way they do.

TheLandscapePainter

I've watched Landscape a few times tel, and the judging has puzzled me at times. Before the judges step in I've already chosen the winner and what they say doesn't sway me differently. I just like what I like and I don't share their excitement about what they can see in a picture that I can't and vice versa. I've noticed what you describe more in some episodes than others but overall they remind me of TV food critics. I ignore them as well. I admit there's a lot I don't understand about art and cooking, but I would no more hang a Picasso on my wall than I would eat a perfectly seasoned sea slug🤣.
I don't know why they would judge the two shows differently, whether it's to satisfy their own personal taste, or for reasons to do with television perhaps, aiming to make the shows differ in some way?

paintcrazy19

Is that a UK show?

TheLandscapePainter

paintcrazy19 Yes, it's on sky arts but if you don't have sky there are episodes on YouTube. It's been running for 10 years so there's plenty to look at.

paintcrazy19

That is a really great show to watch, i like it and i agree some of the picks don't make sense to me.

tel

Pleased you checked it out Paintcrazy, some of the choices are quite baffling, a lot of sloppy work seems to make the grade

TheLandscapePainter

I might apply to be on the show then and if I win you can say you knew me before I was famous.🤣
Hey tel, if we both appear on the show we could add our matchstick men, they wouldn't dare refer to them as twee would they?!🤣🤣🤣

tel

Ha, great idea Helen...Did you see the winning finalists submission? , croagh patrick mountain in Ireland? without wishing to sound cruel this looked like something a five year old might paint, and now it hangs in One of Irelands finest galleries!

TheLandscapePainter

tel I've got one just like it, hidden behind the wardrobe for the last six years. It's still there for two reasons. When I'm fed up with my progress it reminds me I've improved. And, if Felix decides to do an Adams Family event my willow tree would deffo pass for Cousin It.

Felix

I've looked it up and I love it.

If work is slow in the next couple of days I'll try to get my thoughts on why I like it written down.

paintcrazy19

Beauty in the eye of the beholder is the best way to add it up

TheLandscapePainter

paintcrazy19 That's true, its like looking at both sides of the same coin isn't it. Bob explained it well when he said don't point out the mistakes in your work coz the thing you don't like might be the thing other people like the most. I thought it was just Bob being Bob, offering us encouragement in his usual kindly manner, I didn't really believe it until it happened. A friend came to my home, she said she really loved one of my paintings (its not uploaded here). She chose one I did ages ago that I thought had a really obvious fault in it. I wanted her to have a nicer one so I pointed out the good things about some of my other paintings and suggested she might prefer one of those. Each time I was met with, no, "I want that one", the line made famous by one of my favourite funny TV characters, Andy in Little Britain, and I had to try not to laugh. It just shows how you can't help liking what you like or disliking what you don't. It still makes me smile when I think about how embarrassed I felt at the time and how I didn't have the heart to tell her that the waterfall she admired looked like the Dulux dog. She went away happy with the painting. As Bob says, "painting should make you happy", and it does!

paintcrazy19

So True Bob said it best, Enjoy the art and the beauty of it and not look for faults in the art.

TheLandscapePainter

I just watched an episode of Watercolour Challenge, at Levens Hall, and without wishing to sound mean, the winning painting looked like it was a painting in its ugly stage. The clear winner for me was the young lad's effort which had a combination of depth and detail all in the right places, and the finished piece being pleasing to look at. I tried but failed to see anything good about the winning painting. I just don't get it.

tel

........But your not allowed to say that!, 😆

TheLandscapePainter

tel Isn't that the truth! Mind you, I blame the parents for having such lack of foresight. Mine told me to beware men in raincoats, Albert the tramp and the bogeyman, they never warned me about the thought police 60 years down the line.😳🤣

tel

Yeah the Bogeyman, he lived in the wardrobe. i expect to our overseas members this would have a completely different meaning.😁

TheLandscapePainter

tel I know what you mean, it's easily done. I lived in Wales for a year and while serving a bloke with a pint in my brother's pub, he told me I was a bonny lass. I was suitably embarrassed and before I'd finished blushing I noticed my brother at the end of the bar giggling to himself. They were both in on the joke. Where I come from bonny means pretty, I later found out that in wales bonny means fat. But not before I told one of the locals her beautiful daughter was very bonny. 😳 It's a good job we were all friends.

Felix

Just to be clear for the future:

Everyone's free to say whatever they want here, as long as it's done in a respectful and/or constructive manner.

What I won't tolerate is shitting on another artist's work because it doesn't fit your taste. That's not the type of discussion I want to have here

TheLandscapePainter

Felix There is no shitting going on here Felix, I can assure you. If you are referring to what I said about the winning picture on the TV programme looking like it was in the ugly stage, allow me to explain. The "ugly" stage as I understand it is often referred to by painters while creating their own work during it's early stages, in other words, in its unfinished state. It's the filling in part after sketching but before the detail goes on. The winning piece looked the least finished of the three entries so I was surprised it won. I'm not sure I could have worded it differently. I always think about wording before I comment, never disrespectful. I can't account for occasions when words are misunderstood or misinterpreted any more than anyone else can.
On the forum when I click reply to a particular member, which I did on this occasion, I already know that member understands what I am saying without having to give a lengthy explanation. On the main site, I have often offered help, advice and encouragement in a kindly manner to newbies despite still being a novice myself. In turn I have learned from others. Sadly, I now feel deflated, I don't have the energy to monitor my words more than I already do, leaving me fearful of commenting on anything in case it's taken the wrong way. Pictures without words sort of defeats the purpose of the site. 🤐