Introducing Nelda Sale, the Series Editor for Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Year, who has been on set with the incredible Storyvault team since series 3. Read up on what happens in the lead up to the series launch and during filming. Nelda brings her insightful and experienced perspective to the whole process and to my experience as a featured artist on Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Year 2025.
Kathleen Soriano, Stephen Mangan, Tai Shan Schierenberg, Joan Bakewell, Kate Bryan, and Nelda Sale on set at Battersea Arts Centre
How long have you been working on Sky Art’s PAOTY?
I've worked on PAOTY since series 3 and we are soon to start series 13 so I've been at Storyvault Films, the makers of the show, for over 10 years. I originally started by working on the first series of Landscape Artist of the Year as a Producer Director (PD) and over the years I've worked on both PAOTY and LAOTY. I became the Series Editor of PAOTY on series 9 and have been at the helm ever since. I'd worked on other competition shows e.g. Sewing Bee, Great British Menu, Junior Bake Off, Big Allotment Challenge etc so I brought that strong producing experience to the production.
Reece Clarke by Courtney Bae, the heat 8 work in progress
Are you an art lover yourself?
While I have always liked art, I don't have any background in art (I actually have a science degree) but producing shows like this is all about having interest in people and process and I love watching artists work. After 10 years, I still think it's like magic when you see a beautiful piece of artwork appear from a blank canvas. I'm literally in awe of artistic talent and I have an innate curiosity to find out about everyone's process and that is essentially what the show is about - watching art in action.
What makes the show so special?
One thing that sets PAOTY apart from other competition shows is that we do not cast for character - artists get through to the heats based on merit. This is quite unusual for a television competition show which is often about casting for big personalities or dramatic backstories. I think this adds integrity to PAOTY as a competition however, it does present it's own hurdles. Many artists are rather shy and introverted or certainly used to working in solitude in their studio so to find themselves on a huge set (Battersea Arts Centre's Grand Hall) can be very intimidating. Therefore one of the challenges the PDs are faced with is to produce artists who are not comfortable on camera and can be monosyllabic in their answers (other shows go through a casting process where participants are often screen tested to iron out these things).
Are there some really intense and challenging parts to the job?
It can get intense when you see some brilliant artists are not living up to their potential due to the pressure of filming. The tricky thing is that while it's wonderful that PAOTY has become recognised in its own right as an art competition, it is still a television programme. Sometimes people forget this so they get annoyed about PDs / the judges or Stephen Mangan asking them questions and camera operators asking them to move out of the way in order to capture cutaways of their artwork which we need for the edit. While we absolutely appreciate that this can interrupt the creative flow, if we don't film it, we don't have a show!
The self portraits on the wall during heat 8
Walk me through the process of selecting artists?
On average we have about 1,400 artists apply each year. The competition for the following year opens for applications on the day the first episode of the current series airs and we have a shout out at the end of each episode to go to our website which lets people know how to apply. My team of Producers and Assistant Producers start a couple of months before the close of applications to reach out to more artists where there’s mass messaging via artistic organisations, doing talks at art schools or flyers via Cass Art. The team focus on quality, not necessarily quantity so a lot of outreach is done by directly contacting individual artists through socials, website or email. To be contacted by a member of the team means that they think this artist's work is excellent and they have a chance of being picked by the judges however it does not guarantee that they will be chosen by the judges. This is a common misperception where artists who have been directly contacted to apply but then don't get though to the heats complain that they thought they had been chosen. The fact is that we have absolutely no influence on the judges! However, to apply at least puts you in the running to be chosen.
How does the submission judging process then work?
Artists apply with a self-portrait and 2 other pieces of work and the judges are shown the submissions on screen. The judges individually go through each of the 1,400 applications and choose about 150 artists each. There is often a bit of overlap but where we're left with about 450 artists and we have a day dedicated to choosing the heat artists which we call 'The Whittle'. Pre-covid this was done in person with everyone including the judges in one room however these days, production is all in one room at our headquarters in Hammersmith and the judges zoom in. We go through every artist, showing the B and C submissions as well as the self-portraits (which is why it's important to send through artwork that best showcases your talents especially if doing self-portraits isn't your strongest work). The judges discuss each artist and it's really interesting listening to them discuss the merits and flaws of the artwork (my knowledge of art has definitely grown over the years) and by the end of the day they have chosen 72 artists to go through to the heats. They of course choose a few more as back up in case of dropouts plus we need to have 4 reserve artists ready to stand in last minute if there is an issue with an artist on the day.
What’s the filming like on a heat day?
Eight heats are filmed in two weeks so they are long days for everyone including the production and crew. While we have to film back to back heats, everyone is aware that it is a big day for each new wave of heat artists so I'm proud to say that the team put effort into putting any weariness away and they make sure every artist feels special.
Setting up stations in the morning right before the H&S briefing
Artists arrive around 7am and are greeted by a team member. They're taken to set and they can unpack their kit at their station. They receive a Health & Safety briefing, have a radio mic fitted onto them by a member of the sound department and then are filmed setting up their stations with a PD asking them questions. While the judges discuss the submissions on the gallery wall, the artists are taken to their dedicated artist's green room where they have breakfast and are briefed about the day ahead. We also ask every artist to pronounce their name which we record to help make sure we get it correct. When this is done they return to the studio where the sitters are introduced one by one. Once that's done, some final adjustments are made with the time lapse cameras and lighting on the sitters and their objects and then Stephen does an announcement to start the competition.
The ‘cheese’ with Astronaut Tim Peake and Principal Ballerina Reece Clarke
The next phase is what we refer to as ‘first marks’ where the cameras stand back and film the early stages of the portrait making process whether that's preliminary sketches, taking photos, under painting etc. The PDs then jump in and start asking questions as this is the meaty stuff, understanding what decisions artists make at this early stage, watching the blank canvas start to get covered etc. Stephen and the judges also start asking questions. We aim for them to try to meet every artist (and they very much want to) but the logistics of trying to get 4 of them to speak to all 9 artists means that sometimes not every judge gets to talk to every artist. However, they are always walking around watching the work progress and they update each other on what the artists are up to.
Reece Clarke and Nelda Sale on set during heat 8
The way it works for the celebrity sitters is that they get a 10-15 minute comfort break after the first hour, then at the end of the second hour of the challenge, everyone breaks for an hour for lunch. After lunch, Stephen and the judges discuss the work so far then there's another comfort break for the sitters after the third hour and then it's the end of the competition after the fourth hour. During these breaks and in the morning, each artist is taken outside of the hall to be filmed with their self portrait in a stylised way that we call the ‘hero shots’. It can be annoying getting pulled away to do these but they're important as they are used at the top of the programme in the montage that introduces the heat artists plus they're used again when introducing each artist during the body of the show. A little tangent, any artists who have been on the show will hear crew refer to 'cheeses' - I can reveal that that is the term that we use to refer to the three sections where each celebrity sitter sits and three artists are based for the day. The nickname is because they're like wedges of a wheel of cheese.
A common issue is that once Stephen calls time on the challenge, many artists think that the filming and questioning is over. However, there are the three sequences where the sitters choose their favourite portraits and then the artists go outside for a break which is ever so briefly filmed. The artists are sometimes interviewed for their thoughts on the competition but mostly they have to wait for the judges to go round all nine portraits and make their judgements. This can be a time when artists start to flag so they are given a drinks and refreshments. They are then asked back inside to line up in front of their self portraits on the gallery wall in time for Stephen to announce the short list of three artists that the judges have decided upon.
Obviously this can be a disappointing moment for six artists who don't have a chance of getting through to the semi-final and I'm sure a few would prefer to pack up and leave but unfortunately that is not an option. They (along with the three shortlisted artists) are taken back outside for another round of post competition interviews while the judges stay in the Grand Hall to film something that we fondly refer to as the ‘banana chat’. This is where Stephen and the judges compare the three shortlisted artists' self-portrait with their portrait of the celebrity sitter. At the end of this the judges have an off camera consultation where they discuss (sometimes at length) who they want to put through to the semi-final.
The shortlist judging in progress with Stephen Mangan
In the meantime the shortlisted artists are lined up next to their portraits and we film those classic competition shots where they have to look towards the camera like they're waiting for the announcement. The reason we do them now is because the cameras need to reposition in order to be ready for the official announcement. Behind the scenes, this can be quite intense for me as I'm finding out from the judges who they want to chose (it can occasionally get interesting when they disagree!) I then have to write a quick spiel as to why they like that artist which I have to quickly but clearly write on a cue card for Stephen. I then triple check that I have the correct artist so as to avoid an embarrassing gaff. If it is a tricky name, I have to play Stephen the recorded voice note that the assistant producers got from each artist at the start of the day. This can get a bit awkward if my phone volume is accidentally too high - luckily no one has overheard so far.
At the end of the day filming heat 8 with Nelda’s cue card in hand
Finally it's the announcement of the winner and yes, we do get the audience to applause for a very long time to help us in the edit. Last to be filmed are the vox pops with the winning artist, the two runner up artists and one of the judges explains why they have chosen that heat's winner. We need audience to stay around for this to be in the back of interview shots but everyone is usually very tired by now so our floor managers desperately try to keep people on set! All the artists then pack up their stuff with the help of our excellent art department, their artwork is wrapped and then everyone is able to leave. Luckily there's a bar at the front of Battersea Arts Centre so you often see artists and crew having a well deserved drink at the end of the shoot.
Tell us about a little about my episode, heat 8.
During the final heat this year we had a fantastic sitter, Reece Clarke, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet who chose to stand for the four hour challenge. This was an editorial gift but then once the challenge started, word got amongst the production crew and judges that an artist had taken matters into her own hands and had asked Reece to pose for her on the floor! This in itself got a buzz going and then when everyone went over to see her work, we were all amazed by her abstract figurative style and that artist was of course you, Courtney. It was so refreshing to watch something different and risky but accomplished that seemed to achieve that illusive thing that the judges are always talking about - capturing the essence of a sitter. I had a word with my team who were producing in your “cheese” and I was told that you were a dream contributor, providing excellent, energy rich soundbites which always makes our job in the edit easy! Obviously it was lovely to see that the judges agreed with us lay people and they then chose you to go through to the semi-final.
What do you think the audience loves the most about the show that has kept them coming back?
I think a lot of our success is that we're possibly the most uncompetitive competition show around as it's more about celebrating art and there is no horrible contrived competitiveness - there's a lot of love and mutual admiration and a sense of camaraderie amongst the artists. Watching the various processes of creating a portrait and seeing the collaboration between artist and sitter is also enjoyable and it's nice to see celebrities interacting with their artists - some get very protective of their 'team of artists'. Unlike many competition shows which are just for amateurs, we are also open to professional artists so the standard is really high and we've had BP portrait award shortlisted artists and many hugely successful and highly talented artists compete. That said, when introducing artists during the show, we don't go into a list of their awards and accomplishments so there's an even playing field from veteran professionals to undiscovered hugely talented amateurs. One of the main motivations of Stuart Prebble, who came up with the idea for the show, was to democratise art and break down some of the elitism that has been associated with it in the past. Stuart sadly passed away during the summer which is why episode 1 of the current series (12th) was dedicated to him. PAOTY was very special and important to Stuart and he is deeply missed by all of us at Storyvault but his legacy lives on.
I also think one of the ingredients for our success is that we also have multi-generational appeal. Art is so subjective and by watching all the different work on display, it opens a dialogue amongst family members that might not usually happen. Someone told me recently that while watching PAOTY with their family, they saw a side of their granny that they hadn't really seen because she was a big fan of the more abstract artwork whereas they had presumed that she'd be more into traditional pieces.
Also, every year we aim to make tweaks to avoid the show becoming stale. For example a couple of series ago we decided to lose the long pre-titles so that we could fit in more art content in the body of the show. When I became the Series Editor, I introduced the idea of the sitters bringing an object along which has two purposes; it helps inform the portraits as the artists get more insight into their sitter plus it allows us to get more content from the amazing celebrity sitters that come onto the show. This is obviously another big reason for our appeal, the incredible variety of sitters that our brilliant Executive Producer, Samantha Richards secures for us.
At my station positioned in the centre of my “cheese”
I know the sitter is chosen to work well with the artists in the first heat, how else do you try to bring out the best of the artists on the show?
We take into consideration how artists like to work e.g. if they prefer left or right, forward on or to the side so we try to position them in a way that works to their strengths. We don't always get it right but we do try our best. We also have a great art department who try to assist artists throughout the day whether that's providing any spare paint if someone has forgotten theirs and making sure water is replenished etc. We also have PDs, assistant producers and a dedicated artist runner who all work hard to look after the artists. If someone has a complicated process, the producers try hard to understand it by liaising with the artists prior to filming in order to make sure that we can do what ever we can to ensure the artist has the best chance of carrying out their process.
Is there anything you wish you could tell the artists on the show but know you can't? Who the sitter is, that sort of thing?
Don't panic at the beginning! - while I appreciate that many artists are desperate to get things on paper / canvas as soon as they can, this is also when we need to do most filming. We actually condense the last 2 hours down in the edit so artists often have more time to get on with things with no interruptions towards the second half of the day. What I think is a shame is that many people play it safe with just head and shoulders, not tackling the outfit which the sitter has taken time to chose to wear and often ignoring the object that the sitter has brought in and yet we've had many artists finish much earlier than the 4 hours as they rushed through.
Another thing is that on set, I sometimes hear the judges say something about a piece of artwork e.g. where they hope the artist leaves the face alone as they're losing likeness or they hope the artist keeps the background loose, but I have to bite my tongue as it's a competition and I can't give anyone an advantage.
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