​EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: WINNER OF SKY ARTS PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR SERIES 11

The results are in and the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Series 11 has been crowned! The deserving artist won a £10,000 commission to paint Broadcaster Lorraine Kelly for The National Galleries of Scotland Portrait Gallery. Their work was carefully selected and critiqued by a panel of expert judges - award-winning artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, independent curator Kathleen Soriano, and art historian Kate Bryan.

Working with Winsor & Newton, Cass Art has supported the show since the first series in 2013. We caught up with the winner of Series 11 to find out more about their experience on the show and discuss their work…

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW!

AND THE WINNER IS…. BROGAN BERTIE!

Hi Brogan, firstly congratulations on winning Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Series 11! How do you feel?

Thank you so much! I feel absolutely overjoyed. Part of my journey over the last couple of years has been giving myself permission to paint, to invest in my artistic practice without perfectionism, without being a finished product. I’m still someone very much in progress, so this experience has been a gorgeous validation that it was worth putting myself out there, that it‘s always worth backing yourself.

Brogan with his works at the final

You mentioned you studied illustration, where did you study and what has your creative journey been like so far?

I studied at London College of Communication in Elephant and Castle, London. I did illustration and animation. Animation specifically feels like a medium that comes with a lot of rules, a “right” way to do something. I love to pick that scab and find something human and flawed underneath - which is why I found myself drawn to experimental and hand drawn stuff. The root for me is always people. I did projects for Salusbury World who work with refugee and migrant families and about Sylvia Rivera, trans activist. I took a break after lockdown and moved to Margate where I trained in leather working. Over the last couple of years I’ve found the room to take painting seriously.

Brogan with his submission self-portrait

Before moving to Margate you worked at Cass Art for a while! What did you gain from your time with us?

I did! I think I was 19/20. Because I worked there I got confident with materials. It helped demystify a lot of processes - like oil painting - that I was intimidated by. It was great to work with other artists and people doing all kinds of creative things. I still follow along with old colleagues’ art journeys, like Halima Akhtar who does incredibly textured abstract work that makes me feel very connected to nature, and Tilly Barker, who is a gorgeous illustrator.

Brogan’s Heat-Winning portrait of Singer Layton Williams

You’ve only been painting in oils for a year and have only concentrated on portraiture for 6 months. What drew you to portraiture and to oils as a medium?

I think I’ve been doing portraiture one way or another my whole life. Always fascinated by people, especially as a shy, anxious kid. It’s the best way I’ve found to satiate my love for people and all of our strange, rich specificities. And oil is the perfect medium for it. I’m only sad I didn’t find it earlier. But, maybe I wasn’t ready for it! Oil is immediate, it‘s patient, it has a depth to it. Authority. Love. Malleability. Freud articulated it, saying something along the lines of “paint is the person, paint should work as flesh does.” Buttery and rough, smooth and harsh. Oil is that.

I could go on and on.

I’m in love.

Brogan painting in the Semi-Final

In the Semi-Final we saw you paint Actress Joely Richardson. She brought along a large painting of her grandmother which was incorporated into the scene. How did you decide upon the composition for your painting?

You don’t have much time to think on the day. In one way, it just clicked and I loved the idea. On reflection, the presence of Joely’s grandmother felt significant, it felt heavy. My Nanny was a widow with 9 kids in Dublin in the 60s - I feel the weight of her in my life every day. The composition felt true to that sense of respect, of presence. Joely’s emotion about her ancestry resonated with me and I wanted to capture that. This history lives through us. It looms.

The finished Semi-Final portrait of Joely Richardson

Whilst a visual likeness is important to you, it’s clear it’s secondary to a more visceral likeness, a likeness of personality and character. On the programme, we see some of your sitters become emotional when they see your depiction of them, you manage to capture the ‘real’ person, and they feel truly seen. How do you achieve this?

It’s more emotional than technical. I think you share something with your sitter when you make a piece of art together. I’m not trying to create a carbon copy of them on the canvas - I’m trying to translate a moment we’ve shared together into something tangible. An attempt that is very human - trying to hold something that slips away so easily. It’s very human to miss a technical likeness and capture something that feels a little off and a little real. And I’m interested in that human thing.

Brogan’s double portrait of Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne

The painting of Joely saw you selected to compete in the final with your fellow contestants Paul Lee and Jennifer Anderson, painting a double portrait of Actors Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne in just 5 hours! We see you use an incredible economy of brush marks, each one intentional and full of energy. Can you talk us through your process?

You see an incredible economy of brush marks because there wasn’t a lot of time haha! It’s not my favourite portrait I’ve ever done, but it’s a credit to Lorraine and Andy that I still look at it so fondly - it was an incredible day and they were amazing, generous sitters.

My process is a composition sketch in charcoal, Liquin and burnt sienna/mixing white sketch on the wooden panel, then blocking in with colours to carve out the portrait, and slowly getting more detailed.

I like to keep it open and loose for as long as possible. Sometimes it feels like swimming. Sometimes it feels like fighting.

Commission portrait of Stef by Brogan

As part of the final, artists are asked to create another commission and given longer to do so. You painted your partner Stef, in an honest and confronting pose, with a dynamic composition which impressed the judges – helping you to gain the win! How does your painting change when given longer to make a work and how many sittings do you usually have?

I usually do my portraits in one sitting. It was gorgeous to have more time! I think the intimacy deepens. I had never had the chance to do a four day portrait before - this really forced me to sit with the process and be more ambitious with what I wanted from the portrait. It was an absolute joy and Stef was a dream to spend four days chatting with and staring at.

The final sitting at Lorraine Kelly's home

Your winning commission was to paint none other than Lorraine Kelly! You visited Lorraine 3 times to make preparatory pieces for your final commission. Firstly, seeing her in action in the TV Centre studio, then spending time with her at her home. You seemed to have a great rapport. Is it important to you to connect with a sitter and how does being in their environment help you?

It’s really important to connect with a sitter. I was so lucky Lorraine is so lovely and funny. The end result feels like a warm portrait, filled with strength, level-headedness, humour. I don’t think I can get that without a connection and without having seen her in her own environments.

You always work from life, but given your limited time with Lorraine, alongside your painted and drawn reference sketches, you had to work from photographs, what did you learn from that experience?

I learned that while working from a photograph you’re still spending time with someone, in a way. I also learned that there’s a magic that happens when you’re there in person together. It feels less energising to work from a photograph, but more devotional. There‘s something to be said for both.

Brogan's final £10,000 commission of Lorraine Kelly revealed at National Galleries of Scotland

How does it feel to have your work displayed in The National Galleries of Scotland Portrait Gallery?

So special! My dad and all my family on that side are from Dundee. It means a lot that it’s so close to them. And Imogen Gibbon and the whole team at The National Galleries of Scotland Portrait Gallery are so incredible - an honour to have met and worked with them too, including Darren Duddy, great artist, who did an amazing job with the framing. A real joy.

Do you have any tips or advice for any artists thinking of applying for future series of Portrait Artist of the Year?

I would say go for it. Even if you’re not ready. Especially if you’re not ready. Practice. Stand by your own vision. Invest in what makes your portraits weird, exciting, and singular.

And finally, what’s next for you?

I’m squirrelling away. Watch this space.

Thanks Brogan! See more of Brogan’s work at broganbertie.com or @broganbertie on Instagram.

ARE YOU THE NEXT WINNER?

If you think you’ve got what it takes to become the next Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, the deadline for entries for Series 12 is midday Friday 7th February 2025. Find out more and apply at skyartsartistoftheyear.tv/portrait. Good luck!

Feeling inspired? Check out Sky Arts Artist of the Year Masterclass, a new series featuring tutorials from a host of talented artists who have taken part in Portrait Artist of the Year or Landscape Artist of the Year. In this 40-episode series, they demonstrate easy-to learn techniques for budding artists at home. Find out more at skyartsartistoftheyear.tv.

Image credits: Photography © Sky Arts, paintings © Storyvault.