Mariella Frostrup and The Reverend Richard Coles to host BBC One’s Big Painting Challenge

Ten passionate amateur artists undertake an intensive, six-week, artistic boot-camp, in a bid to perfect their skills and be crowned the overall champion. 

Inspiring mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson will guide the ten new contenders - all with diverse artistic backgrounds - through different painting challenges in five separate disciplines.

Each episode will ask them to rise to the challenge of producing two pieces of work in a different discipline, from portraiture to landscape to still life and movement; the painters visit different locations to inspire their masterpieces including the National Portrait Gallery, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, and Queen’s House in Greenwich. They will need to brush up on their sketching and perfect their portraiture as their artistic skills are put to the ultimate test of skill, creativity and paintwork.

At the end of each episode, the contestants’ work will be exhibited to invited members of the local public, before judges Dr David Dibosa, Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd OBE critique the paintings and decide which contestant will be eliminated.

Replicating the Atelier system which bore such artists as Leonardo da Vinci – the two mentors, Diana and Pascal, will run their own studios, by their own rules, with each choosing five contestants to guide and encourage through the challenges.

Presenters Mariella and Richard will follow the individual approaches of each of the ten amateur artists, as they take on these challenges in a bid to hone their strengths and eliminate their weaknesses, going on an artistic and personal journey to become the winner of The Big Painting Challenge 2017.

Mariella Frostrup says “The Big Painting Challenge is a wonderful showcase for those many gifted artists who aspire to making a career of their painting, often receiving little or no recognition for their efforts along the way. It's a programme that demands confidence, talent and hard work from the contestants and I was delighted to join forces with The Reverend Richard Coles and watch this group of charismatic painters as they strove to fulfil their potential over the weeks.

"Being the daughter of an amateur artist myself I'm all too aware of the frustration and commitment required to keep going. It was fascinating to witness these ten amateur artists work their brushes into a frenzy and see their work develop impressively.”

The Reverend Richard Coles said “I am delighted to be presenting The Big Painting Challenge with Mariella, partly because I love watching talented people grow and develop, in the intense focus of TV cameras, as we put in front of them baby elephants, ballerinas, national treasures and historic monuments and partly in the hope it will encourage people at home to get painting."

The Big Painting Challenge (6x60) will air on BBC One in 2017.

KD/SH8

Meet the Mentors…

Pascal Anson
Artist, designer Pascal Anson – who previously painted eight BA planes for the London 2012 games - thrives on creativity. His philosophy is to think outside the box and he has lots of quirky exercises in store for his contestants. An author and visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art amongst other institutions, Pascal’s work is regularly exhibited worldwide – including exhibitions at MoMA New York, the V&A and Design Museum in London as well as Athens, Sydney and Milan.

Pascal says: “The process might be uncomfortable, but the results are worth it.”

Diana Ali
Full of ideas and energy, straight talking Diana Ali draws on traditional principles in her teaching and is a lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Warwick and the Open College of the Arts, amongst others. With an MA in Contemporary Fine Art Curating and Practice, Diana specialises in teaching watercolour and oil at degree level and also conducts portrait workshops. Diana’s work is inspired by her Bangladeshi heritage and, having begun with traditional mediums, is now a multimedia artist. She has both curated and exhibited around the world.

Diana says: “It’s really important for an artist to be experimental and make their work exciting”

Meet the Judges…

Dr. David Dibosa
Dr. David Dibosa is a member of the Tate Britain Council and MA course leader in Curating and Collections at the Chelsea College of Arts, part of the University of the Arts London (UAL). He was awarded his PhD in Art History from Goldsmiths College and lectures in Curating and Museology at UAL - a subject in which he is also a published author.

Lachlan Goudie
Award winning Scottish figurative painter Lachlan studied Fine Art at the Camberwell College of Arts but claims his training started as a child when he painted alongside his father Alexander Goudie, one of Scotland’s finest figurative painters. Lachlan has established a considerable reputation, and has won numerous painting prizes. His work is exhibited with the Royal Portrait Society and is regularly shown in London, New York and Edinburgh.

Daphne Todd, OBE
BP Portrait Award winner and the first female President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Daphne Todd is an established English Artist. With five of her paintings hanging in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, Daphne has won numerous prestigious art prizes and received an OBE in 2002 for services to the arts.

The series is produced by Rebecca Hevingham, Emma Peach and Lyndon Tovey are the Producer/Directors, the Director is Emma Reynolds and the Executive Producer is Claire Nosworthy, all for BBC Studios. Meriel Beale is the Series Editor. The Executive Producer is Claire Nosworthy and the Commissioning Editor is Clare Paterson for BBC Arts.

Alan Tsang

Currently working as an Account Manager, Alan Tsang from Sheffield rediscovered his love of painting three years ago. He expresses his world view through his art and using his favourite medium, oils, Alan takes inspiration from all manner of sources – from fashion to music, other paintings, Chinese Communist ballet and political history. Enthusiastic about the challenges this competition offers, Alan is determined that with tuition from a mentor, he will find his own distinctive voice through his art.

Angela Watson

Following a life-threatening accident – Lincolnshire-born Angela took up art as an alternative to jigsaw puzzles during her recovery. Having since undertaken lessons and workshops on painting with watercolour, pastel and acrylic, Angela continues to experiment and develop her style and – a former farmer - enjoys painting animal pictures from home. Angela feels her strengths lie in her tones. Devoted to honing her skills - Angela is eager for guidance from a Big Painting Challenge Mentor.

Camilla Frederick

Camilla took A-Level drawing lessons in Florence in 1974 but her passion for art wasn't truly reignited until a painting holiday she took with friends in Turkey, just three years ago. Since then, Camilla has undertaken two months of training at night-school near her Somerset home and now self-teaches using YouTube videos. Her niche is painting portraits of homeless people on the streets of Bristol as well as of refugees behind border fencing. Whilst her subject matter is dark, Camilla describes her style as classical and is confident with her use light and shade. She hopes The Big Painting Challenge will improve her understanding of colour and perspective even further.

David White

Self-taught artist David, from Swindon, rediscovered the paintbrush in 2012, after a 25 year hiatus after studying art at A-Level. David has since surprised himself with how much his skills have progressed over just a few years and is keen to test just how much he could improve his technique. Painted using Acrylics, David’s works are usually 1m by 1m and can take him up to 70 hours to paint – however he looks forward to improving his speed, as well as exploring other mediums, under The Big Painting Challenge mentors. David has exhibited at the Wiltshire Guild of Artists and he notes impressionism, surrealism and hyper-realism as amongst his favourite styles.

Jennifer Morrow

Hailing from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Jennifer studied art at the University of Ulster and is now a teacher. Taking inspiration from everything from feminism to abstract ideas such as ‘absence’, Jennifer’s favourite mediums are oils and inks, but she works in mixed-media and is interested in the relationship between the viewer and the art – particularly how colours influence thoughts. In this competition, Jennifer relishes the idea of timed challenges and looks forward to seeing how the mentors might influence her style.

Jimmy Mackellar

Retired optometrist Jimmy lives in Skelmorlie, Scotland, and regularly attends life-drawing classes at Glasgow School of Art. He is influenced by French impressionism and the Glasgow Boys, and favours portraiture over landscape. He once painted Eleanor McEvoy playing her hit song Only A Woman’s Heart on her guitar and she ended up using it on her album cover; he has never sold any of his art and ends up giving it all away. He looks forward to being critiqued by judges on The Big Painting Challenge, and would like to move people with his work like he is moved when he sees brilliant pieces.

Lesley Rowe

Lesley qualified for a scholarship to Art College but was told by her parent to “get a proper job.” Fifty years later, retired nurse Lesley now paints as a hobby and sells her work to holiday makers through a local pop-up gallery near to where she lives in Cumbria. Eager to learn, Lesley wants to be on The Big Painting Challenge as she would love to develop a recognisable style, and gets inspiration from observing people in everyday situations, from sketches, and in developing the shapes from photographs of odd or beautiful scenes.

Maud Wellington

For Business Analyst Maud, art is a way for her to explore her creative side; she has been painting since school where she was always “scribbling all over the place.” Maud hopes that The Big Painting Challenge will be a way for her to improve in using different techniques and styles of painting, and would like to go all the way through the competition. Based in West London, she also sings in her local Gospel Choir and plays the saxophone, gaining artistic inspiration from everyday life in and around London, her friends, travelling and reading.

Ruaridh Lever-Hogg

Recently graduated art student Ruaridh, from Lochaber, gets his inspiration from Cezanne and the Surrealist movement and likes to use strong and bold colours to impact his audience. Diagnosed as deaf at the age of two, he believes that his lack of hearing has intensified his visual perception, and as he returns to study a Masters in Fine Art Humanities at Dundee he hopes that the experience of The Big Painting Challenge will be an opportunity to channel his style. Art is a way for him to express himself and his unique sense of humour, and he is eager to continue to learn.

Suman Kaur

Art has always been something Suman has wanted to do, and having recently just quit her full time job she is preparing to take the plunge into the art world full time with an access to higher education course at Leeds College of Art. Her previous career as an Orthotist working with amputees have inspired her to not to give up on her dreams of becoming a full time artist, and she hopes that The Big Painting Challenge will allow her to prove to herself and make her family proud. She loves using unorthodox mediums, including shoe polish, coffee and charcoal within her work, and takes inspiration from pre-Raphaelite works.