I loved being on TV show even though I didn’t win, says artist

AN artist who put his skill to the test on a TV show says it was a “great experience” even though he didn’t win.

James Crowther, 49, from Peppard, was one of nine people who took part in the third episode of the latest series of Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year.

The artists are given four hours to create a portrait of a celebrity sitter in their own style and one of them is chosen to go through to the next round.

Mr Crowther was tasked with painting American actor and comedian Rob Delaney.

The episode was filmed in London in April and he had to keep it a secret until it had been broadcast late last month.

Mr Crowther, who lives in Blounts Court Road with his partner, Hels, and children Evie, 11, and Frida, four, agreed to apply to appear on the show after being asked by the production company.

He said: “I had been asked to apply a few times before when they sent a note to my gallery. This time they contacted me directly and I thought, ‘Well, I will go for it’.

“You enter a self-portrait digitally and they respond to you. They said my painting had been accepted and I had an interview on the phone just to make sure I was available more than anything.

“We filmed on April 21, which I remember because it’s my mum’s birthday. It was a really intense day. You get to Battersea Arts Centre for 7am when they mic you up and you have four hours to paint your portrait. You’re aware you are on a television show.

“Rob Delaney was fantastic, really easy going and nice. He was a lovely guy and we had such a witty day with him.

“They had invited local residents to the show so there were 100 people or so behind me watching, which was quite intense. But it was also lovely to paint in front of people. I used to teach painting in Brighton many years ago and did lots of demos and it was a bit like that.

“It was a long day and has made me have more respect for the people who do shows like The Great British Bake Off.

“They’re making a TV show, so they want to film and interview you and it’s a bit of a battle. You cannot leave until 6pm. You’re meant to have four hours but the afternoon seems to be filled up with talking to various judges and you can’t really paint.

However, I would definitely go back on it again. It was such an incredible experience.

“Probably the worst part was driving home quite excited but in horrendous traffic.”

Mr Crowther said that the judges whittling down nine artists to just one winner felt “quite brutal” because of the subjectivity of art but he has no hard feelings.

“Of course, there’s a slight disappointment I didn’t get through but it either happens or it doesn’t,” he said.

“The feedback was good. To have Tai Shan Schierenberg, who is one of the best living portrait artists, come round and have a conversation with you was like being back in art college.

“All the judges were wonderful. It felt like a family. They have been doing it for 10 years so it probably is like one.”

He had to keep his appearance a secret from other people until the episode was aired.

Mr Crowther joked: “I don’t think my daughters were very good at that!”

He said he was anxious about watching himself on television so he didn’t see the programme when it was broadcast.

“I couldn’t face it and was a bit anxious about it,” he said. “I only watched it when everyone told me I had come across well.

“I have to say that one of the reasons I had been a bit snooty about the show before was that I had not perhaps rated the quality of the artists involved. But on the day the quality was superb. I was impressed by everyone. The judges were vocal about the quality too.

“The winner was a young artist called Lorena Levi and I thought her painting was fabulous.

“Since the show I have had a couple of commissions and have been set up with work and had some sales on my Instagram account.”

Mr Crowther has painted all of his life. He moved to Peppard after studying fine art in Brighton and spending time living in London, where he exhibited at Ingo Fincke Gallery in Battersea.

He splits his time between painting and looking after his two children — Evie attends Langtree School in Woodcote and Frida is at Peppard Primary School.

Mr Crowther said: “I regularly paint when I can either side of the school run. The two things don’t really mix that well.

“I don’t paint with the children around me. I need that divide of either parenting or painting.

“I am a contemporary painter and not a traditional painter in any way, although I use traditional techniques and oil paints.

“I don’t know if I would call myself professional. It’s a difficult profession in a sense and everyone tried to talk me out of it but I have always wanted to become a painter and I live a wonderful life here in Peppard, which is gorgeous.”