Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Week Season 3

After watching two seasons of Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Week, I was thrilled to see that it would be returning for a 3rd round of live painting sessions every Sunday. I’m under no illusion that I’ll ever get a clear 4 hour run during the broadcast, but I’m happy to give it a go all the same.

Sunday’s sitter was Nicola Coughlan from Netflix and Shonda Rhyme’s hit show Bridgerton (I still haven’t watched it yet 🤫).

I have quite a few primed canvas papers and panels already prepped and ready to use at various sizes so I can pick the best option for what I need or how I’m feeling. This time I opted for an A3 canvas paper which was already primed a blue shade. Canvas papers can often feel very dry and too absorbant, making it feel as though the paintbrush is dragging/pulling across the canvas. To avoid this I put down a brownish pink wash made from paint, walnut alkyd medium and a little Gamsol. This made for a nicer neutral ground and if I had gotten to the painting stage, would have made the paint glide over the surface easier. Checking the footage, I’ve spent about an hour on the painting so far. The underpainting is now dry so I will start a fresh with the colour lay-in next.