The Artist - UK (2020-05)

http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMay 2020 23

TA

There was less interaction with the
audience because they seemed to be
kept much further back. I spent the first
two hours making drawings in paint and
I looked at them for a long time when
lunchtime came, thinking about how I’d
crop them. Then while I was at lunch
I made a disastrous decision. Instead
of making the figure fill the canvas,
as I had before, I would paint Elaine
Paige ‘sight-size’, getting the big space
behind her into the painting. I think this
was because the judges kept talking
about how important the narrative of
the set up was. I thought they were
telling me to pay more attention to it.
They weren’t.
I know this because only two of us did
this, and neither got through to the next
stage. When the reveal came, and she’d
finished telling us how surprised she

was and how different all the paintings

were, Elaine chose to take home the

painting made by the young woman

who’d photographed her from where I

was placed, and then the long process

of judging began.

It was a fascinating experience and,

apart from the difficulty in avoiding

expressing my feelings, an entirely

beneficial one. The judges and

presenters and all the people working

on the show were all extraordinarily

positive and upbeat, respectful and

only too willing to help out, the

audience were always kind and

supportive. I am still not sure why I

made such a catastrophic error, but I

think it was to do with being tired and

losing confidence.

Interestingly, though, I had no idea

that I was going the wrong way at the

Charles Williams NEAC, RWS, Cert.RAS is a

painter, writer and lecturer

p Elaine Paige, study, gouache and ink,
22½ 3 15¾in (57 3 40cm)

p Elaine Paige study, gouache and ink,
303 22½in (76 3 57)

p Elaine Paige, oil, 39½ 3 29½in (100 3 75cm)

time; I had no conception of any other

way of approaching the problem than

the one I took. I focused, in panic, on

that one thing, and I knew I had to

get it done quickly. But then, that’s

the challenge and I should have been

able to respond better to it than I did.

Maybe next year. Angela says she’d

come with us again.

Charles appeared in the

first heat of Sky Portrait

Artist of the Year 2020,

broadcast on January

21, and the semi-final,

broadcast on March 17.

The final is to be shown

on March 24.