(bright music) - Hello and welcome to the shores of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest and deepest sea loch.

For centuries only accessible by boat, it's a wild haven for dolphins, sea otters, and today, eight lesser-spotted landscape artists.

- To show off their skills, they've traveled thousands of miles, hailing from as far as Dartmoor in Devon, County Cork in Ireland, and even the Adriatic coast of Italy.

- Yes, they're not in the Mediterranean anymore.

Welcome to Sky Arts "Landscape Artist of the Year."

(uplifting music) - [Joan Voiceover] From Kent's sandy beaches, to the lochs and castles of the Scottish Highlands.

- [Frank Voiceover] We've traveled across Britain, searching for stunning scenery for the artists to paint.

- It's obviously challenging conditions today.

I quite like painting gray, but this is gonna be really pushing it to the extreme, I think.

(uplifting music) - I got one of the lads to get some seaweed.

Do you like that?

(uplifting music) - [Joan Voiceover] From hundreds of paintings submitted, only eight competitors have been chosen for each heat.

And today we have five professional artists, Peter Nadini, Clark Nicol, Sarah Long, Michael Weller, and John Skelcher.

- It's like a therapy in a way, painting.

If you're stressed, just try it.

Destress in the landscape.

- [Frank Voiceover] and joining them are a trio of amateur artists.

Maria Rose, Brian Ramsey, and Andrea Cryer.

- I just wanna take in the view and then find some color amongst all the gray.

And then just go for it.

(uplifting music) - [Joan Voiceover] As usual, the artists will work under the watchful eyes of our judges.

Independent curator, Kathleen Soriano, art historian, Kate Bryan, and award-winning artist, Tai-Shan Schierenberg.

- There is a kind of engineering aspect to your drawing.

- I would prefer to say architectural.

Engineers are not, you know, renowned for their artistic bent.

- Oh!

Okay.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

- [Frank Voiceover] They're all competing for an extraordinary prize.

A 10,000-pound commission from the Imperial War Museum.

To mark the centenary of the First World War armistice, they'll create an artwork inspired by the landscape of a forgotten battlefield.

- [Joan Voiceover] As well as the chosen eight, we've invited 50 more artists to compete as wildcards.

Just one of them will go through to the next stage of the competition.

- It looks as if this is your normal style.

Rainy.

- It's not far from it.

I love the mood.

I did do a rain dance last night.

- You did this?

- Yeah.

- [Frank Voiceover] So which of today's artists will win a place in the semifinal?

- That apron is a work of art in itself.

And it's got all the colors that we see in the loch today.

- I know.

- You could actually just enter that.

- That's a great idea.

(bright music) (bright music) (rain pattering) - [Frank Voiceover] Protected from the worst of the weather by their pods, our artists have brought an array of familiar tools to tackle the challenge ahead.

- I've got three different grades of bubble wrap, load of palette knives, rubber brushes.

And this, which is my favorite paint rag, which is my daughter's t-shirt when she was about eight.

20 years ago.

Yeah.

- So this is the thing that costs me the extra on the plane.

If I'd been organized, I'd have weighed it, obviously.

- [Joan Voiceover] All of the artists were chosen on the basis of a digital image.

And the judges now get to see the real thing for the first time.

- Welcome to the wall.

And if we can make ourselves heard above the rain, I'd like to know what you think of these pictures.

This is bad weather.

- [Kate] Yeah.

The paint brush marks are so light and rough and sketchy, but it gives it a really great sense of distance all the way back to that horizon line.

- [Tai-Shan] And it's obviously somebody who does this a lot, goes out into the landscape and paints weather.

- [Kathleen] I think it's a wonderful combination of ink drawing, watercolor, and sewing.

You know, mashing all those things together in a very sort of painterly fashion.

- All those loose threads that we normally pick off our clothes.

Gives you a sense of this sort of cityscape being lived in like an old jacket.

(gentle music) (rain pattering) - [Tai-Shan] You really get a sense of light and daytime and a place and landscape without anything being shown.

- [Kate] And I think we like it when people give us things which are this undone.

- I think it's an interesting approach to landscape where, obviously, the artist has gone into the landscape, found bits of leaves and stuff.

I'm quite intrigued what they're going to do today, because I think you need a certain dryness of foliage to be able to do this.

- We get a lot of submissions of boats and we have to be careful with them because sometimes they can seem a little bit like a cliche scene.

- [Kathleen] They've very cleverly used the ropes tying the boats to the harbor to give you that sense of swinging across the work.

For me, it feels like that's more than just observation.

That's someone who actually knew that they had to introduce their sense of rhythm.

(bright music) (rain pattering) - [Tai-Shan] It's just a well-observed bit of realism.

- Yeah.

I think it really transports you there.

You suddenly feel very warmed.

What I like about it is that there's an inconsistency of the way that they've put the paint down, which shows that not only do they enjoy painting, but they understand that they need to break up this surface.

'Cause it's a lot of landscape in a relatively small scene.

(bright music) (rain pattering) - [Tai-Shan] It looks totally abstract painting to me.

It's only as I approach from further away that all these marks have made sense.

And you suddenly realize it is a waterfall.

- There's possibly some collage elements.

It looks like it's been mistreated and sort of, you know, pushed and pulled around in order to get this effect.

But it gives you the right kind of colors and the right kind of texture to understand that you're outside.

(gentle music) (rain pattering) - That green moss on the side, I can almost feel my hand running above the hard wall and then the soft moss above it.

And the way in which it chimes with the double yellow line and then the side of that building in the background bounces your eye around really elegantly.

- It's got all that feel of a crisp, bright winter day.

Can feel the weather.

You're going to have to feel the weather today, guys.

(birds chirping) (rain pattering) (gentle music) - Came down yesterday.

You could see the hills, the trees, all the lines in the hills.

I'm thinking, yep, great.

I can handle that.

Come down this morning, there's nothing.

So I'm gonna have to be inventive.

(gentle music) (rain pattering) - It's really impressive.

It lends itself to a kind of abstract way of looking at the picture, which I like.

It reminds me of King Arthur being rode away to Avalon just as he's about to die.

(uplifting music) - Artists, the moment has arrived.

Your challenge is about to begin.

- You have four hours to complete your landscape.

And your time starts now.

(bright music) - [Frank Voiceover] As the artists get started, their challenge is to find a compelling composition from a landscape which may or may not emerge from a shroud of low cloud and mist.

Here in Inveraray at the head of Loch Fyne in Argyll, our artist's view is across the expanse of Scotland's deepest loch.

With only a splash of red from an old Clyde puffer to break the overwhelming gray of the scene.

- [Kate] We brought them to Scotland.

Their weather is not gonna be their friend.

It's gonna do what it wants.

It's gonna change all day long.

- You just think, how are they gonna deal with all these white tones?

And of course, once the white lifts, we might potentially start to see reflections in the water, which then become more interesting and that stillness.

- They're all gonna have to make some pretty good, quick compromises, be adaptable.

Adaptability today.

(bright music) - Well, it is just what it is.

You know, you get weather like this.

It's one of those days and you've gotta show it how it is.

It's not a problem.

(gentle music) - I live in the Midlands, but I go out and I teach in Italy.

It's about the light and the mood.

And we've certainly got a lot of light and mood here.

So hopefully I can transfer those sort of thoughts into this stunning Scottish loch.

(gentle music) - [Joan Voiceover] John Skelcher from Warwickshire studied classical painting in Paris and Florence.

Every summer, he teaches landscape painting at an art school in the Marche region of Italy, which is where he painted his submission of a traditional Italian farmhouse.

- John, I'm looking out there and the landscape's pretty minimal.

Is there something you can work with?

- Well, it's gonna be the boat.

That's gonna be my focal point.

Because that's adding the color, thank God it came.

But I'm not sure if I'm gonna leave the boat there or bring it out to the right to balance.

Because you've got a dark mass on the left and the boat's a dark mass.

- [Tai-Shan] You're responding to the landscape and the light there, but you're thinking of how to make a dynamic painting.

- Well, yeah.

I'm thinking about various types of composition and hope I can create an interest that'll draw someone in to buy it.

But I've gotta like it myself first.

(gentle music) - Starting to smell like an old dog.

(gentle music) - [Frank] How you doing?

- [Peter] All right.

- Can I say, first of all, that apron is a work of art in itself.

and it's got all the colors that we see in the loch today.

- I know.

- You could actually just enter that.

- That's a great idea.

(gentle music) - [Frank Voiceover] Peter Nadini studied at Glasgow School of Art.

Having taught art for 20 years, he now concentrates on his own painting.

Focusing on the contrast between dark and light, he often includes a figure, as with this submission, looking towards Glasgow University's Gothic tower.

(bright music) - [Frank] It's difficult to tell with this background, what are you gonna paint today?

- I took a photograph of someone walking across, just in front of me here, with an umbrella.

So I just thought that was appropriate for the type of day.

- So is this the figure here?

- [Peter] This is the figure here.

- [Frank] That's Tai.

- [Peter] That who it is?

- That's gonna go down well.

Buttering up Tai there by having him.

- No, I didn't.

To be honest, it wasn't until after it that I realized it was Tai.

But I just thought I saw a figure and I thought, yeah, that's what I like painting.

- [Frank] Are we gonna see the boat?

- [Peter] No.

- The boat's gonna go?

- It's gonna sink.

- The boat's gonna sink.

(bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] Our eight competitors at Loch Fyne today are joined by 50 wildcard artists, determined to do justice to the view, despite all the great British weather can throw at them.

- We've had three weeks of sunshine.

(woman laughs) - Because it's raining.

I've got a bin bag from the hotel.

I've got bubble wrap and we're gonna pop down and get an umbrella shortly.

(bright music) (rain pattering) - Never painted with water pouring down my canvas and my paint.

With oil, you can paint anywhere.

Fingers crossed.

So, we'll see.

(bright music) - I went down to the loch to gather some water.

Because after weeks of preparation, I forgot to pack my own water source.

So conveniently, we're actually located right by a loch.

(gentle music) (rain pattering) - [Joan Voiceover] The artist who most impresses the judges will then compete with the wildcard winners from the rest of the heats for a place in the semi-final.

- [Kathleen] You've got a fantastic sense of the mood that you've captured.

- Yeah.

I love painting outdoors.

But normally quick 20 minute sketches.

- [Kathleen] Are you an artist full time?

- [Artist] Oh, I wish.

This is just weekends.

- But no wonder you gotta be fast.

- Absolutely.

- Make best use of the time.

- Yeah.

- I don't normally go out on a day like this.

Normally just wait till it's summertime.

(bright music) - [Kate] We've given you, you know, a pretty literal scene.

You're right up close to this loch.

- Yeah.

- What's your approach gonna be?

- I think I'm gonna focus on the stones on the seaweed.

- [Kate] Yeah, you strikes me that you like the details.

- [Sarah] Yeah.

I like looking out at the lines and things.

- [Frank Voiceover] Recently graduated art student, Sarah Long, comes from rural Cork.

She uses anything from acrylics to charcoal to create either city scapes or wild landscapes.

Like her submission, which was inspired by hedgerows near her home.

- Now, when you worked for your submission, you obviously brought pieces of nature into your studio.

- [Sarah] Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm debating whether or not to do that.

- You might be able to get down there and bring some... Do you want me to bring you some seaweed?

- [Sarah] Yeah.

(gentle music) - I'm normally an urban sketcher, so I draw lots of buildings.

So when I'm in a landscape and it's just landscape, I try and see the architecture in the landscape.

(gentle music) - [Frank Voiceover] Brian Ramsey from County Durham works as a design manager for a construction firm.

He rekindled his love of drawing when he started sketching a classic car he'd bought.

His submission of boats moored at Staithes in North Yorkshire was completed in several hours with fine liners and water-soluble ink.

- Brian, you've almost finished.

- I wish.

- You've got the horizon line, the boats, the pier.

I can't see much more.

And I believe you're in the construction business.

- Yes.

- So there is a kind of engineering drawing aspect to your drawing.

- I prefer to say architectural.

Engineers are not, you know, renowned for their artistic bent.

- Oh, okay.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

It is very atmospheric.

Is there gonna be more of that watercolor?

- I don't think so, but the boat's gotta get some color in it.

- All right.

Okay.

I was gonna wonder- - Yeah.

The boat'll get some color in.

- [Tai-Shan] Well look, it's a very good start.

I'm excited to see how it goes on.

(bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] The artists are one hour into their four-hour challenge.

And at last, there's a break in the weather.

- The light has changed a lot.

There's much more information to work with now, stuff that we can use.

So this is good.

It's exciting now.

(bright music) - I'm just trying to get the background the way I want it before I put in the figure.

So I'm trying to build up the light in the painting.

It's a process of layers, one layer on top of other.

(awe-inspiring music) - This morning, there was literally nothing to see and draw and paint.

But now we've got stuff, you know, we can work with.

So I'm feeling really comfortable now.

Much more relaxing than the day job, let's put it that way.

(awe-inspiring music) (bright music) (bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] Here at Loch Fyne in Argyll, our eight artists are just over one hour into their four-hour challenge.

(bright music) - [Frank] The rain's stopped.

- [Maria] Yes.

It's a blessing.

- What is it about this that you're enjoying?

- The light is changing very quickly.

So I don't know if I'd say I'm enjoying that necessarily, but it's interesting.

It's a challenge.

- [Frank Voiceover] Maria Rose has a degree in fine art and regularly paints en plein air with a group of artists in Devon where she lives.

Her submission was painted during a severe cold spell when the temperature outside was minus five.

- So what's the goal?

Is it to become a professional artist?

- Yeah, definitely.

That's the dream.

- [Frank] So this competition's quite a big deal in that respect, I'd- - Yeah, it is.

No pressure.

- No.

(bright music) - I've gone for a panoramic view 'cause I pretty much draw to scale.

So what I see is what I draw.

My wife would say I was massively over confident, but I'm trying to reign it today.

(bright music) - You wanted seaweed.

I got one of the lads to get some seaweed for you.

- Brilliant.

- I think it's ladder rack, is it?

- [Sarah] I think so.

- [Joan] How will you use it?

- I would cover out with like acrylic paint and then use it to print with it for texture.

- Oh right.

- Yeah.

(bright music) - Most painters that I know are very tidy painters.

I am not.

Paint gets everywhere.

Every time I speak to somebody when I'm outside painting they say, do you know you've got paint on your face?

Every time.

That's how it is when I paint.

(bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] An award-winning landscape painter, Michael Weller also teaches art.

His submission of the view from St Catherine's Hill in Winchester was a process of trial and error, with some parts scrubbed out with newspaper and the sky scraped back.

- I prefer slightly unfinished paintings, slightly underpowered paintings.

It's not capturing a moment so much as capturing a lot of moments.

A sense of a place, not reality.

More like a dream of it.

(bright music) - Here we are in the west of Scotland.

Couple of hours ago, the mist was in.

Couldn't see anything.

- It was the rain and the mist.

- The rain and the mist.

And now look at this.

Beautiful.

- It is just fantastic, isn't it?

Suddenly we're getting textures.

And the loch is like a mirror in places.

And then you've got the wind catching it and it causes ripples.

And the light effect is very subtle.

And I've seen blues and purples.

And suddenly I'm seeing tartan.

You see suddenly where the purples and the greens of tartan come from.

- Right.

- It is in the landscape.

There's something here.

So it's very beautiful, but it's on a very narrow band range.

The boat, the vital spot.

That is the one accent that works as a counterpoint.

So I think it's there to be won.

- And does this very big view, although a lot of it is gray, does that present compositional issues?

- If you're not careful where you put your horizon line, you could end up with a lot of empty space which has no dynamics to it.

And suddenly you could get sort of lost.

So that might be a problem.

- I'm glad it's a flat loch 'cause Joan and I are going water skiing on it later.

- [Tai-Shan] I can't wait to see that.

- Yeah.

We're doing a human pyramid with Kathleen on the top.

(men laughing) (bright music) So Clark, this is not your first time on this show, is that right?

- No.

That's correct.

Yeah.

2016.

- [Frank] So you feel you're a different artist to who you were a couple of years ago?

- Yeah.

I had a big sort of battle with cancer in 2016.

And that made me think differently about the work that I do and maybe take more risks, I think, you know?

It's like do it now.

Don't put it off any longer.

- Bit of an epiphany?

- Yeah.

You could say that.

(bright music) - [Frank Voiceover] Clark Nicol studied painting in Dundee and teaches art at a school in Devon.

In the two years since he took part in "Landscape Artist of the Year" and was diagnosed with cancer, his painting has become far more abstract.

With his submission of a waterfall in Perthshire, he used framing and texture to depict the many moods of the water.

- So this quite difficult period in your life has sort of cracked you open as an artist in some way, has it?

- It has.

I mean the idea of playing around with the surface with lines and shapes and things on it was something that I've been obsessed with since the 70s.

But I've only finally started to refine that in recent years, which is great.

(gentle music) - [Joan Voiceover] Another artist has also broken away from conventional techniques to find her artistic voice.

- Andrea, what of you?

How are you going to tackle it?

- Well, it is stunning.

And I'm tackling it in a freestyle, freehand way.

- Wow.

Feeling your way?

- Yeah.

The sewing machine is just a tool.

It's a drawing tool and that's all.

So it's like using a pencil or a pen.

(bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] After a career as a solicitor, Andrea Cryer studied for a degree in fine art and textiles in 2003.

Her submission of a bookshop in Bath was made using fabric, thread, dyes, and bleach.

And took 40 hours to complete.

- [Joan] So you gave up being a solicitor, which is a nice, steady income.

Do you have a nice, steady income now?

- No, I'm not a professional.

I do it because I enjoy doing it and I have other commitments.

I've just become a grandma.

So that's really nice.

And she's only a week old.

- Wow.

- So I struggled to get here, really.

- Yeah.

It's amazing that you're here.

Well done.

(gentle music) - [Frank Voiceover] Further down the loch side, our 50 wildcard artists, no longer battling the elements, can start to spread out and enjoy the challenge.

- How much gear have you got?

Got sushi.

Strawberries.

- Just the essentials.

- What's in there?

- Prosecco.

- Champagne.

- Champagne?

- Champagne.

- Any art happening?

- [Artist] Barely.

(bright music) - The Vital Spark there, the boat, is a beautiful color.

And you've used it, but you've changed it into something more romantic.

- Well, the rain maybe helped this morning with that.

- The wee drips have gone all down, but it's kind of worked a wee bit, I think.

- I thought that was a artistic effect.

- No, it was just the rain.

(gentle music) - The light has lifted, there's more stuff to paint.

There's a few artists I've spotted who've done some rather beautiful painting.

(gentle music) - Would you like any?

- Yeah.

Sure.

I thought you'd never ask.

Jesus.

- Why do you think I came over?

- God, the interview finished 10 minutes ago.

I've just been waiting for you to offer me some champagne.

(birds chirping) (gentle music) - [Joan Voiceover] Our eight artists are now reaching the halfway point of the challenge, with two hours left to complete their landscapes.

- [Joan] Does Tai know it's him?

- He did glance by.

And he says, oh, you've got a figure in there.

And I said, well, it was you.

But I mean, that was just (indistinct) - [Joan] People never recognize themselves, I think.

- [Peter] No, definitely.

(bright music) - I'm doing a second boat just to balance the composition.

That could backfire with the judges 'cause they'll say there's only one boat.

But even if it fails in there eye, for me, it's important that I feel the painting's what I want, you know?

(bright music) - At the moment, it's all looking quite the same.

I need to get in a point of focus in the painting.

Starting to panic about time a little bit.

(awe-inspiring music) - The light changing so dramatically so quickly, I'm having to work quite quickly to keep up with it.

And for some reason, my paint's drying a lot quicker than it normally does.

So it's a bit of a battle.

(awe-inspiring music) (bright music) (bright music) - [Frank Voiceover] In Scotland, beside the glassy expanse of Loch Fyne, the artists are midway through their four-hour challenge.

- I'm just trying to capture a little bit of the sky.

You never know what the color will be until you do it.

So these are all painted with dispersed dyes and then that's transferred onto the fabric.

So a lot depends on how hot the iron is.

If it's too hot, I get a very dense color or I burn the fabric.

(gentle music) - We're halfway through the day.

Brian seems like a very affable, in-control kind of guy.

And he seems very much in control of what he's doing on the page.

- I like the fact that he's framed the entire view in front of him.

And all we've got is this thin little zip of a line with a tiny bit of color.

It takes maturity as an artist to be brave enough to do that.

- How about two-boats John?

- There's not much life in there.

And I think possibly he feels that.

The way he's added another boat to add some kind of interest into it.

So I'm worried about him, really.

- You think it could be dull?

- Yeah.

- [Frank] Clark.

- [Tai-Shan] It's not as abstract, his painting, as his submission.

- I think he is quite an intuitive artist and wants to feel his way through it.

And I think, now that he's got a good painting, good bone structure, I think he'll probably start to undo it a bit this afternoon.

- Maria, she's sort of galloping through and she looks like she's gonna finish in the next 10 minutes.

- [Tai-Shan] She's at ease painting en plein air, you know, from life.

But I think she has set her horizon quite high.

- [Kate] It's not quite right, the composition.

- I think we're gonna have trouble today 'cause I don't agree with you two.

I actually really like the way the horizon is and the composition.

- We're gonna be having a fight at Loch Fyne tonight, try and find our winner.

- Brilliant.

(suspenseful music) - So I've been putting in the accent colors.

It's really difficult to decide what to give color and what not to give color.

I've got to make sure that I don't over paint it.

(bright music) - [Joan] So have you much more to do on this?

- I like to leave it in a slightly messy state.

I don't want to tidy up the edges or the corners particularly, 'cause the feels a bit dishonest somehow.

- [Joan] You don't want tidiness, no.

(bright music) - I'd say this is a bit more literal than your submission.

Will it stay as descriptive?

Are you gonna go a bit more abstract or not?

- I do tend to start with a fairly figurative painting and then try to find the shapes within it.

And that's the stage I'm at now.

- [Kate] You don't know this painting until you've finish painting it.

- No, that's right.

It's a gamble, but sometimes it's worth it.

(gentle music) - [Joan Voiceover] Today's view is a world away from the scene almost 80 years ago when, during World War II, Loch Fyne played a crucial role in preparing the armed forces for the largest assault landing ever undertaken.

- They had to get D-Day right because there was no second chances.

Here, they perfected the techniques, getting guns, men, tanks ashore and ultimately onto the shores of Normandy.

And it led the way to the invasion of Europe.

- [Joan Voiceover] From 1940 to 1945, 15,000 servicemen and women at a time were stationed in Inveraray.

One of them was Ruth Barnwell, who, at 17, had just joined the Wrens.

- That's me just outside the hut.

I was an officer's steward and I looked after his room, his clothes, his food.

I did everything for him.

He was lovely.

He was a big fat man, but he was gorgeous.

- [Joan Voiceover] As the training intensified, one summer morning in 1944, Ruth noticed an eerie silence in the camp and across the water.

- We say, this is funny today.

So and so's not in.

And then, of course, all the ships had gone outta the loch too.

We didn't know where they went.

We didn't know until after it was broadcast that there'd been a raid.

They called it D-Day.

(gentle music) (birds chirping) - [Joan Voiceover] The training the combined forces received on the shores of Loch Fyne, culminating in the Normandy landings, made a fundamental contribution to the Allied victory in Europe.

(bright music) - So what are these marks that I see here?

- [Andrea] Well, they're there to add texture based on the base of the iron.

- Oh, I see.

- They're actual marks.

- It's an actual iron mark.

- Yeah.

I think it just adds to it.

- So, do you get obsessive now when you go into the shop sort of looking at the different faces that the irons have all got, trying to pick a different one.

- [Andrea] It's quite important.

- [Kathleen] I can see it's important.

I feel like I'm looking at topographical maps when I look at your work, sometimes.

It's almost as if you are charting territories.

Beautiful.

(bright music) (birds shrieking) - [Frank Voiceover] Our wildcards have been working on their paintings of the loch for almost four hours.

And the judges must now select one to be considered for a place in the semifinal.

- I love the wildcards even more when it's raining.

They're so enterprising.

They just get on with it.

- And it seems they actually enjoy the battle they're having with the elements.

Those umbrellas and stuff going on.

- [Kate] The guy that did his picture really very quickly this morning, it was all about the mist.

It sort of captures that loch.

- [Tai-Shan] There's a guy over there with a blue poncho.

He's painted the boat out in the harbor and it's got the kind of stodgy paint application that feels kind of- - I like that.

- He knows what he's doing.

- Yeah, I quite like that.

- It's interesting.

- I think it's the kind of scene you could over paint.

There's a young woman over here with the Scotland poncho on.

And I think that what she had this morning was more interesting than what she's had at the end of the day.

'Cause she's resolved everything.

I think it's still interesting.

It's funny, you can fall in love with a painting half dressed.

So who's the winner?

- [Kathleen] Well, I think we all like the man, the guy.

He's got the earrings, hasn't he?

- Well, let's go with the guy.

- I think.

Yeah.

- Okay, cool.

(bright music) - [Kate] Hello.

How you doing?

- Hi.

- You're our wildcard winner.

- No way!

- Yeah.

- Thank you very much.

- Yeah, we love it.

It's great.

- Wow.

- Well done.

Great day painting.

Fantastic boat.

- It's just been such a difficult day's painting.

So I'm genuinely gobsmacked to be today's wildcard winner.

Absolutely astonished, actually.

(gentle music) - [Frank Voiceover] Jonathan Mitchell from Perthshire will take his place in a pool of winning wildcard artists.

And when the heats are over, one of them will be chosen to take part in the semifinal.

(bright music) - I get the feeling you're sort of happy, but you're unhappy.

- I'm never happy with my painting.

- Really?

- No.

These hills are begging for just a little bit more work.

- And you can see over there, the purple is starting to emerge in the distance.

And this new mountain, which we can now see.

You're not done yet, Maria.

- [Maria] Not quite.

- Okay.

All right.

I'll see more later later.

(bright music) - [Joan Voiceover] Our eight artists are entering the final stages of the challenge.

- [Peter] The sky at the moment is not the way I want it.

But I'm gonna work into the sky.

Just now I'm trying to concentrate on the figure 'cause there's not a lotta time left.

- I've lost perspective, to a certain extent.

I probably need to step back and look at my painting.

Whether or not it's any good, it'll probably occur to me in about six months' time to a year.

(bright music) - I'm a little bit nervous that there's too much white space.

Maybe it's under painted, in some people's opinions, but I've decided let the drawing speak for itself.

And the color is what it is.

(bright music) - When you're putting the last brushstrokes in and under this sort of pressure, you could slip.

And if it goes wrong, at this point, a little slip could make damage to a painting like this.

So that would be a problem.

(bright music) (bright music) (bright music) - [Frank Voiceover] We're on the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll and our artists are nearing the end of their four-hour challenge.

- [Brian] The most challenging thing for me has been deciding what to put in and what to leave out.

Do I put the name of the boat on though?

- Vital statistics, whatever it's called.

(bright suspenseful music) - Just wanna put this little boy in.

If I can get that in just before the end, they'll be happy.

(bright suspenseful music) - I'm feeling the pressure.

I hope that I have enough time enough left just to finish the one or two details.

I'll just keep working to the end anyway.

(bright suspenseful music) - I'm trying to resist the urge to be doing stuff that doesn't need to be done and ruining it.

(bright suspenseful music) - Artists, you have five minutes left.

Five minutes.

- All right.

(frantic music) - I'm just adding a little spray of bleach to add a bit more texture.

(frantic music) - All done.

- You have to really work hard with boats to make it not look twee.

And that's why I put two in.

Cheated.

- Artists, your time is up.

- Please put down your brushes and stand away from your easels.

(people clapping) (bright music) - Really pleased with it.

And if I don't get through to the semi, I would quite like to take it home and hang it on the wall.

(bright music) (people clapping) - Well done.

- Well done.

Well done.

- [Joan Voiceover] Our eight artists can do no more.

It's time to find out what the judges think.

- I think Clark got real sense of atmosphere today.

And I love the mistiness over the mountains.

- [Kate] Yeah.

I think he chose a really good composition.

I was surprised to see it be so literal after we saw how abstract his submission was.

But I think it works.

The squares, they're quite joyful little things in what is quite a sort of bleak loch.

So actually it kind of gives it a nice balance of mood.

(bright music) - [Kathleen] Now that I see this in relation to Peter's submission, I realize that he's a storyteller.

You know, he creates these incredible moods.

And I love the sort of sense of wetness that you get.

- Maybe I'm feeling a bit sort of ambivalent because I'm in it.

But I saw a lot of this today.

And he's very good at atmosphere and I would've liked more.

And it's become less about the loch and the rain and the weather.

And it's become about me and my umbrella.

(gentle music) - [Kathleen] Maria treated the water really well and she didn't make the boat, the Vital Spark, too cheesy.

I mean, it's real, it's a working boat.

And I think the reflection's dealt with really beautifully.

- [Kate] I think there are problems with the foreground, but I like the boat.

I like the mountains.

- [Tai-Shan] Yeah.

I think the composition could have been a bit better thought out, but the actual elements of painterliness and capturing a place are all there.

- [Kate] I'm really pleased that Brian gave us just this amount.

I think it's just right.

I think leaving the water is an excellent choice.

Fabulous sky.

- This doesn't convince me that clouds are coming down, but I'm nitpicking.

As a whole, it works very beautifully and that sort of letter box composition is really effective.

(gentle music) It's quite interesting that John had to rely on using the boat twice.

I suppose, as the day started, the boat did come in and then it was moored.

And so maybe it is more about the whole day.

- What I think is brilliant is that glassiness of the water that he's got only in certain points.

And I also love that purpley-blue haze in the distance.

(gentle music) - Sarah's piece today is quite different to her submission.

The submission was composite.

It was quirky.

It was interesting.

You can see aspects of that here, but it feels very strange to then sort of literally put the hills in the background.

You don't need them.

- No, but nice that she's given us a sense of the pod.

I'm assuming that's what that line down the left-hand corner is.

So she's trying to give us a lot of story about the context of her day.

(gentle music) - [Kate] I think what I really love about the way that Michael paints is that it's really grubby and it looks throwaway, but it's really hard won.

He sort of spends all day long battling to win this.

- I find it a wonderful sort of evocative record of him struggling with the landscape in front of him today.

- [Kate] It's like a little footprint from today in the landscape.

(gentle music) I really admire Andrea.

I mean, what in a thing to accomplish in a day.

Kind of sort of mesmerized by what she's been able to come up with.

- It's also got this incredible sort of almost transparency to it.

Or like as if it's illuminated from behind in some way.

- [Kate] What she's basically given us is something that's like a sort of evening starlit view of the loch.

It's not really representational of the day scene we had today.

- [Frank Voiceover] Only one artist can be selected for the semifinal.

And the judges begin by narrowing their choice down to a short list of three.

- I do like the one that has got a lot of story in, but you think it's a bit kitschy?

- That's a bit kitsch for me.

What about the one next to it?

- [Kathleen] I'm happy to go with that one.

- Those two are quite similar.

If we go for this one, this very painterly one, and the first one.

- Okay.

Great.

That's it.

Done.

(bright music) (birds chirping) - Artists, thank you so much for joining us in this beautiful location.

It's been an absolute pleasure watching you paint.

- Indeed, it has.

But it now falls to me to reveal the names of the three that the judges have shortlisted for this particular heat.

And the first artist they selected is Maria Rose.

(people clapping) (bright music) - The second artist is Brian Ramsey.

(people clapping) (bright music) - And the third artist to be shortlisted is Clark Nicol.

(people clapping) (bright music) - Commiserations to the artist who didn't make the shortlist, but a genuine thanks for your sterling contribution.

Thank you.

(people clapping) (bright music) - Well, I'm naturally a little bit disappointed.

I certainly won't miss the midges.

But everything else was such a good experience that I'll keep these thoughts with me for the rest of my life.

It's great.

- [Frank Voiceover] Taking into account both the submission and today's painting, the judges must now make a difficult decision.

- Then there were three.

So Clark, what did he do that impressed you?

- [Kate] I think what you get when you take the two together is someone who can turn the volume up or turn it down.

He doesn't have to deliver one kind of painting.

I think I'm excited by that.

- I did moan a bit about the fact that he wasn't using any of this texture.

But as I'm looking at the painting today, he's got this sort of gridding and the water is incredibly believable, although it's got these weird squares in it.

So a great understanding of how to abstract his language and bring it back to what it's all about.

(bright music) - [Joan] Now, what about Maria?

- She delivers these very cool scenes.

She's not gonna over paint them.

She doesn't over deliver.

And I think as a consequence, you get two quite subtle works when you stand here.

- [Kathleen] She's good at the quick and dirty.

And I think she struggled because she always had too much time.

And then she started questioning herself and her decisions.

But in the end, I think the composition is really clever.

I love the introduction of the tarmac in the bottom left-hand corner.

- [Frank] At the end, we have Brian who's, it's quite unusual for you to choose such an illustrative style.

- [Kate] Yeah.

What's interesting is actually one of the stars of the show is the blank paper.

He really knows how to leave that, how to let it do its work.

It does better work today than it does in his submission.

- And I really like his use, again, of those spidery lines that, in his submission, were more about the ropes holding the boats.

That he's used it consistently across the whole piece.

And I just think it gives it a really great sense of completeness.

- [Tai-Shan] He's really got that horizontal spread and the sense of a space going on for miles behind.

I to think he's done it with line is kind of crazy.

- Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to retire and please consider your verdict.

(suspenseful music) Clark, Maria, and Brian, congratulations to all of you on making it this far.

But only one of you can go through to the semifinal.

- And the judges have made their choice.

The artist they have selected (suspenseful music) is Brian Ramsey.

(people clapping) (bright music) - I'm absolutely, I'm just lost for words.

Stunned.

I don't believe it.

I really don't.

Wow.

(people clapping) (bright music) - He gave us such a big scene, such a big sky, such a big expanse of water.

And he did it with so little.

- Graphic artists haven't quite delivered in the past.

And Brian has that extra something that sort of makes you think in a different way.

It makes you see in a different way.

(people clapping) (bright music) I think he's got more in him.

I'm sure he's got more in him, but I wanna see it.

(people clapping) (bright music) - This is a massive confidence boost.

It just means that I can hold myself up against other artists and professional artists.

And, just really, you know, I can't wait for the next step.

Bring it on.

(bright music) (bright music) (bright music)