My Time On Sky Arts: Landscape Artist Of The Year 2026
A selection of photos from the day
Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year – Heat 1, Derwentwater
The challenge took place in the beautiful National Trust grounds of Crow Park near Keswick, Cumbria. The view was breathtaking, looking towards Derwent Isle in the middle of Derwent Water, you can see the setting on Google Maps as well as in the photographs at the end of the page. The view was highly reminiscent of the Swedish painter Arnold Böcklin’s work ‘Isle of the Dead’ (but in high summer). As the day developed, the heat and light became increasingly intense making the whole scene look like we were sat near one of the Italian Lakes not the much more familiar Lake District one.
The Day
It began with an incredibly early start, a meet and greet with the crew and fellow painters. We walked from the café to the pods where we set up.
As you can see in the photos above, the weather was glorious and only improved as the day went on.
Setting up in the pods was a surreal experience, comparing what you see on the show to actually sitting in a pod heightened all kinds of unrealities. I had a gentle chat with Stephen Mangan early in the day, which helped settle me a little.
It was my birthday the day before the show and Tai Shan Schierenberg gave me a congratulatory Happy Birthday. Then through the day he came to chat with me to see how I was doing, I enjoyed our chats and at times we got very giggly.
Eva Langret who was new to the show this year was lovely. We were able to talk about art and theory and got quite deep at points.
Kathleen Soriano was firm but fair, goading me, yet I get where she was coming from. This put a fire under me and had me shift gears.
The landscape and light changed dramatically between morning and afternoon. Each shift of the light threw me off balance, and I kept reworking areas that were already fine. Instead of trusting my marks, I second-guessed myself.
A Timelapse Video Of My Painting
Click here to see the page for my finished painting ‘Derwernt Water’, 2025
Click here to see ‘Now’, 2024, my competition entry
Broadcast Details
Wednesdays at 8pm on Sky Arts, Freeview channel 36, and Now TV.
Episode Schedule
Heat 1 – Derwentwater – Wed 14 Jan
Heat 2 – St James’ Park – Wed 21 Jan
Heat 3 – Dover Ferry Port – Wed 28 Jan
Heat 4 – Skiddaw Mountain – Wed 4 Feb
Heat 5 – HMS Wellington – Wed 11 Feb
Heat 6 – Dover Castle – Wed 18 Feb
Semi-final – Wed 25 Feb
Final – Wed 4 Mar
Winner’s Film – Wed 4 Mar & 18 Mar
Best Of – Wed 11 Mar
Hosted by :
Stephen Mangan @realstephenmangan
Judged by
Eva Langret @evalangret
Tai Shan Schierenberg @taishanschierenberg
and Kathleen Soriano @kathleen.soriano
The 8 contestants for heat #3 :
Kevin Day @kevdayart
Judy Flanagan @judyflanaganart
David Garratt @davidgarratt_artist
Callum Howat-Tracy @chowattracy
Wan Lin Qin @la_princesse_des_beauxarts (Instagram profile now deleted)
Heat #3 Finalists :
Rosie Good @rosiegood_art
Andy Cropper @andycropperart
Heat winner - Kimberley Day @day.finearts
Congratulations Kim 👏👏👏
Production team :
A huge thank you to Farrah, Nic, and the entire team at Storyvault Films @storyvaultfilm for their care, communication and help, making sense of what was a long, yet incredibly memorable and fun day.
Thinking of applying? Click below (it’s a lovely crew and production team and the experience is really worth having) :
https://skyartsartistoftheyear.tv/landscape-artist-of-the-year/
