Sir Ian McKellen sits for the finalists of Sky Arts Portrait Artist Of The Year 2014

Award-winning actor Sir Ian McKellen will sit for the finalists of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of The Year 2014, filmed in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The esteemed actor will be the subject of three portraits painted by the finalists and each artist will have four hours to complete their painting. Their finished portrait, along with their others from the series, will be judged by award-winning artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, independent curator and art historian Kathleen Soriano and Kate Bryan, Head of Contemporary at the Fine Art Society. The winner will be award the prize of a £10,000 major commission for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery by series presenters Joan Bakewell and Frank Skinner.

Viewers will be able to watch the finalists paint Sir Ian and discover which artist is awarded Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2014 when the series starts broadcast on Tuesday 4th November. 

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2014 has been filmed over the summer across the UK and Ireland. Six regional heats have taken place in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff where shortlisted artists were challenged to produce a portrait of one of three famous sitters. At the end of each round the judges selected an artist to go through to the semi-final.

Famous sitters painted in the regional rounds included; Sol Campbell, Maisie Williams, John Humphries, Julian Fellowes, Roni Ancona, Helena Kennedy QC, Daniela Nardini, Gary Kemp, Ashley Jensen, Jilly Cooper, Melvyn Bragg, Daniel Roche, Neil Hannon, Sharon Corr, Colm Meaney, Non Evans, Greg Davies and Ade Apetan.

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year will start on Sky Arts on Tuesday 4th November  

For more information or to request interviews please contact:

Dominic Collett   dominic.collett@bskyb.com    020 7032 4892

Photography available from StillsDepartment@bskyb.com

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