Portrait Artist of the Year

Season 9, Episode 5

Highlights from my time on one of my favourite TV shows.

The challenge of each heat is to plan and execute a portrait of a surprise celebrity sitter in just 4 hours, to be in with the chance of progressing to the final and winning a £10,000 commission for a prestigious establishment. The 2022 prize was to paint Sir Lenny Henry for The National Portrait Gallery.

The Judges

“I love Rosie’s composition. She’s done so well with that sideways glance. And there’s a kind of freshness in the way that she paints - it’s just messy enough, it’s interesting.”

“I feel like we had a very happy marriage between Big Zuu and Rosie. He was fun, and he was energetic, and Rosie was a genius with this glance that she got. It’s a great, fun little painting.”