In Pictures: Swindon artist takes part in TV portrait contest
- Published
An artist from Wiltshire was a runner-up in the Portrait Artist of the Year competition which recently aired on Sky Arts 1. The programme, presented by Joan Bakewell and Frank Skinner, saw a nationwide search to find the most talented portrait artist in the UK and Ireland. The prize was a £10,000 commission to paint author Hilary Mantel. Nick Smith, 40, from Swindon, was selected for the Cardiff regional final which took place in the summer. The above painting is a self-portrait.
Nick, whose preferred style of painting is realist, said he has always loved portraiture and was "truly surprised" when he was selected for the contest. Describing himself as "reserved", Nick said his initial reaction was "a mixture of shock, excitement and absolute terror", but "knew in terms of getting my work seen by a wider audience, it was too good an opportunity to miss".
Nick works with oils on canvas and works from a mixture of sittings and photographic references. He has built up quite a portfolio over the years from a wide variety of commissions. He said portraits take between one to three months depending on the scale of the subject and amount of detail.
He said: "I have developed a style of painting which is perhaps a little different to many other oil painters. I tend to use the paint quite thinly and build the painting up in layers, starting out thin and loose, but tightening, refining and adding detail with each layer. With the high level of realism I show, I try not to put on the paint too thickly; any excess texture could interfere with the fine detail."
Nick said despite not winning, taking part in the competition was a "really good experience" and a "real eye opener". As part of the process, all the contestants were tasked with painting a celebrity sitter under the watchful eye of the judges. He said: "The group of celebrities were all very friendly; in fact everyone involved in the day was great." He said it was "quite a pressure" painting under those circumstances as he had to adapt his painting style for the short time frame of the contest.
He said the contest took place over a very long 12-hour day and all the artists were shattered but it was "very enlightening" to see how these type of programmes are made. Nick said: "Despite being ridiculously nervous at first, I really enjoyed it by the end of the day."