The Big Painting Challenge

Mariella Frostrup and Reverend Richard Coles have been polishing up on their Pollocks and reviewing their Rembrandts as they return for The Big Painting Challenge. Ten amateur painters, all with bags of enthusiasm and lashings of potential, arrive in Glasgow for the start of a six-week artistic boot camp. They will be working with professional mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson, who are there to tutor and test them in equal measure. The first genre the artists face is still life, and the task sees them painting objects they have each brought from home. Can they transfer a 3D object convincingly on to a 2D canvas? This is followed by a masterclass, a specially designed teaching moment to help both artists and anyone at home trying to improve their painting skills on volume and tone. The next challenge is a supersized still life. At a distillery, the artists must reproduce the large-scale and very shiny stills and fermenters used in the production of whisky and gin. Once completed, their works are displayed to the public, who give their favourite artist a pass to the next round. Judges Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd then deliver their verdicts on the amateurs' artistic endeavours and decide which of them will be sent home.

Mariella Frostrup and Reverend Richard Coles travel to the Cotswolds for the second episode of the amateur painting competition. Nine painters continue in the artistic boot camp, which this week sees them working with their professional mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson to conquer paint-handling techniques to depict nature in all its glory. The first task sees the artists try to capture the form and character of dogs Herbert and Nutmeg. Once the task is complete, the mentors continue their tutelage with masterclasses that have the artists painting with bark, moss, leaves and even underpants before moving on to the final challenge. They need to capture the majesty of the Acer Glade. For some this means painting outside for the very first time. Will they be able to cope with the changing light conditions? Once completed, the canvases are viewed by members of the public, who give their favourite painter a pass straight through to the following week. The others must await the verdict the judges, Daphne Todd and award-winning landscape artist Fraser Scarfe, to see who is sent home.

Eight artists are still in the competition, and this week they must conquer portraiture. To celebrate the RAF centenary the artistic travelling circus has moved to RAF Hendon. The first task our painters are confronted with are the youthful faces of two RAF cadets. Thankfully their mentors, Diana Ali and Pascal Anson, are on hand to help them with the all-important sense of proportion. If they get that wrong they will have no chance of creating a likeness. This week's masterclasses are full of helpful tips on capturing expression and new ways of mark making and blocking to improve their compositions. With the arrival of judges Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd comes the second challenge. This time our budding Picassos have to deal with the other end of the age spectrum. They must capture the wisdom and spirit of our two sitters, both of whom are veterans of the RAF, and who have over 180 years between them. The artists' efforts are put in front of ex-RAF personnel and members of the public, who choose their favourite to send through to next week. The rest are at the mercy of our judges, who will be dispatching someone from the competition. Overseeing proceedings, providing words of encouragement and a shoulder to cry on, as always, are Mariella Frostrup and Reverend Richard Coles.

The magnificent seven amateur artists are confronted with the tail end of a hurricane as they set up their easels on the bonnie but windy banks of Loch Lomond. Their challenge is to paint water and the many colours it reflects. With the wind howling, in the first task they must try to mix the perfect colours to capture a boat and its stormy reflections in the turbulent water. Mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson, as always, are on hand with hints and tips, which some of the artists choose to ignore at their peril. The masterclasses this week are all about mixing colours. Armed with just the primary paints, our mentors have two techniques to help the artists see and mix colour more accurately. For the main challenge, the painters move to a full, panoramic view of the loch, which is useful as that is exactly what the judges want to see on canvas. Can they capture the ever-changing colours of the sky, land and water, which at times disappear from view all together? No one said it would be easy. At a viewing, the results are seen by members of the public, who decide on their favourite artist to be catapulted to the semi-final. The rest must await the verdict of the judges, Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd OBE. Hosted by Mariella Frostrup and Rev Richard Coles, the search for the winner of the Big Painting Challenge 2018 starts to heat up.

Mariella Frostrup and Reverend Richard Coles present the semi-final. Housed in Glasgow's world-famous Kelvin Hall, the six remaining artists face the toughest theme of all - movement. In the first task, they must try to capture the action of an endurance runner and world record-breaking cyclist. As always, Diana Ali and Pascal Anson are on hand with some tricks of the trade to help the artists capture the human figure in motion. This is followed up with two masterclasses designed to find solutions to the problem of capturing a moving object in paint. The final challenge takes place in the gymnasium. The two groups have to depict the dynamic movement of a floor gymnast or the graceful elegance of an athlete on the beam. The pressure builds as there are only four places in the final, so winning the public vote is even more important, as the formidable judges, Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd OBE, send two painters home. Who will fall at the final hurdle?

It is the final, and the four remaining artists travel to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, to battle it out for the title. The first task requires them to take a good, hard look at themselves as they take on self-portraits. As always, Diana Ali and Pascal Anson are on hand with moral support and tips, advice and useful critiques to continue to improve the painters' work. They want their artists' paintings to really take on personality and character, not just to create a likeness. To bolster the finalists, a little added support is provided with the surprise arrival of family members to help critique their portraits. Following the task the painters are given individual masterclasses to help them work on areas the mentors think could make a difference in the final challenge. They involve painting with decorator rollers, eating and then painting cake, painting blindfolded and painting with dance movements. Each of these makes the artists think about new ways of connecting with their canvas. The final day dawns and the artists face the ultimate challenge. For the first time they are allowed to choose any subject they want. They have three hours to use everything they have been taught over the last six weeks to create a painting that will decide the winner of the Big Painting Challenge 2018.