The Open Call | Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2025

At the very beginning of 2025, I saw the call out for Sky Portrait Artist of the Year and I am excited to share that I am one of 72 artists selected to take part in this year's competition - my heat is scheduled to air on the 22nd October 2025 at 8pm. I've always found it interesting to hear about everyone's experience on the show, so I thought I'd document mine, along with my thoughts, decisions and feelings along the way.

As a figurative artist, I've followed the show for many years; it's hard not to get sucked in on social media, observing how each artist tackles the challenge of making their portraits under extreme pressure and time constraints. As seen through the majority of participants and winners, the competition favours painters, which offers a fast way to produce a rendered portrait in the allotted time frame. That said, a few artists, like the Curtis Holder and Gareth Reid, have managed to shine through, using drawing as their main medium.

On the other hand, I specialise in printmaking, in particular painted monotypes. For those unaware of this process, it consists of two stages. The first is where I "paint" etching ink onto an aluminium plate using an array of brushes, rollers, scrim and additional mark-making tools. When I'm happy with the image, I proceed to the printing stage, where I place the plate on an etching press bed, lay dampened paper on top and run the whole thing through the press. The pressure from the steel rollers transfers the ink onto paper, producing and finalising the monotype. Whilst I have seen a small number of printmakers in the heats of PAOTY, the representation is rare. It is a sector renowned for not only being process heavy, but one which requires many hours and specialised printing presses and equipment, which is generally not accessible or practical for the competition. I do all my printing at Thames-Side Print Studio and I don't own a personal press to bring along to the Battersea Arts Centre. With this in mind, I've had to reflect and alter my process for the competition - something I will elaborate in my heats.

I All But Surrender to Myself I, 2022. Entry to PAOTY 2024.

Monoprinting is actually a small niche within the niche that is traditional printmaking. Unlike screenprinting, etching, engraving etc. where you can create multiple identical copies (otherwise known as an edition), my process only allows me to produce one print - hence "mono". Often coined as an experimental medium for its unpredictable nature and inherent restrictions including time, I think it's the perfect love child of painting and print, and it has wholeheartedly become my chosen medium for emotional and visual expression.

Those who know me can vouch that I'm quite the competitive person and I love a challenge. For many years, I've wanted to apply to PAOTY for the opportunity to push myself, show my skills and advocate monoprinting. I first applied in 2024, after being contacted by someone at PAOTY. Although, I did not make it through the selection process to the heats that year, I tried again this year... and with success!

Unlike the majority of participants on PAOTY, one benefit of my chosen medium is that I am used to working under a time constraint. I normally paint my plates within an 8-hour time frame. The longer I take, the higher the risk of the inks drying on my plate and failing to print onto the paper. I want to say that this restriction - whilst a hinderance to most - is important to me and integral to my visual language as it allows me to feel free in my mark making. I work intuitively and with spontaneity, and combined with the unpredictability of the printing process, I feel like I can capture emotion in the most authentic way possible. Of course, not every monotype will succeed in this - as an artist I can choose to accept or reject the outcome. Painting for a continuous 8-hour period is also (as I'm sure you can imagine) exhausting. I find it all exhilarating, especially when I get that gut feeling that I've produced a 'successful' print. However, I have found over the years that I also need to be in a good place - both physically and mentally - to foster the conditions where I can produce something I am happy with. With that said, I felt comfortable with the idea of painting a portrait in a 4+ hour period on the competition - it is a time frame I am accustomed to... and something that I had hoped to have primed me to do well.

In the Days That Followed', 2024. Entry to PAOTY 2025.

Following on from this brief introduction, my next post will discuss my successful self portrait entry. You can watch Sky Portrait Artist of the Year on Sky Arts, Now TV and channel 36. The series is being aired every Wednesday at 8pm, starting on the 1st October!

To stay up to date with my experience of the competition, along with any other news, subscribe to my newsletter here.