What is Landscape Artist of the Year?
Landscape Artist of the Year sees up-and-coming artists show off their talents as showcase their unique creative vision using some of the most stunning and historic locations in the UK.
Armed with their easels, canvases and art tools, our carefully selected entrants compete across six heats as they head to landmarks across the country, tasked with interpreting the scenes with their own artistic flair.
Adding to the stakes, the artists will be joined by up to 50 ‘wildcard’ artists, who join the competitors in a bid to land the one and only wildcard place in the semi-finals.
Once completed, the artists will turn their easels to reveal their work, before our panel of esteemed judges critique and select who makes it through to the semi-finals.
The winner will receive a £10,000 commission to produce an artwork that will go on public display at a National Institution, which changes every year, as well as £500 of art supplies from Cass Art.
For series 12, in a new twist to the format, every episode will take place in a location championed by a celebrity with a personal connection to it.
Challenging the contestants to capture not just the landscape but the emotion and memory it holds, the artists will hear each celebrity’s story, before revealing their approach with an initial sketch that sets out their composition, materials and creative instinct.
Meanwhile, up to 100 wildcard artists gather at every location, and while they’re not competing, will show off their work and share their reasons for entering.
At the end of each episode, the celebrity champion chooses the artwork that speaks to them most, taking home a painting that captures their connection to the landscape. Then comes the judges’ toughest decision: one artist must leave the competition.
Each episode will see a contestant eliminated until the grand finale, where the three remaining artists battle it out for the title of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year and the £10,000 commission.
Landscape Artist of the Year forms part of a bold line-up of Sky Originals and Exclusives coming to Sky and NOW screens in 2026 and beyond. From gripping dramas and films to big entertainment and compelling documentaries, Sky continues to champion distinctive storytelling alongside world-class talent - delivering the must-watch moments set to define the year ahead.
How long has Landscape Artist of the Year run for?
Landscape Artist of the Year first launched in 2015 and has been running annually since then.
Its sister show, Portrait Artist of the Year, first launched in 2013, and also airs every year.
You can find out more information on Portrait Artist of the Year here.
Who hosts Landscape Artist of the Year?
Landscape Artist of the Year is currently hosted by Stephen Mangan. In March 2026, it was announced that Fearne Cotton will be joining him as a co-host from series 12.
Stephen Mangan is an actor and TV presenter best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Nathan Stern in BBC’s The Split, and the voice of the eponymous machine in kids art show, The Makery. He has been leading both Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year series since 2018.
Fearne Cotton is one of the UK’s most long-standing British TV presenters and broadcasters. Her previous credits include hosting Top of the Pops and Celebrity Juice. She also narrated Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model, and led The Fearne Cotton Show on BBC’s Radio One from 2009 to 2015.
Since 2018, she has been hosting her award-winning podcast, Happy Place, which has since expanded into a wellbeing brand including a book club, an annual festival and a marketplace that champions small businesses that are female-led, minority-owned, and/or based in the UK.
As she joined the show, Cotton said: “I am thrilled to be joining Landscape Artist of the Year as part of the presenting team at Sky Arts. Art is such an important, emotive and expressive medium for me and I know that the audience is just going to be absolutely blown away by the level of enthusiasm and passion that we see from the artists taking part in the show. I can’t wait to be part of that journey and to help them tell their stories.”
Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director of Unscripted at Sky, said: “We are so chuffed to have fellow art enthusiast Fearne Cotton on our presenting team for Landscape Artist of the Year alongside Stephen Mangan and our judges. As an accomplished painter herself, we know she will bring passion and expertise to this most wonderful of arty events.”
Mangan was previously joined by broadcaster, playwright and author Baroness Joan Bakewell as his co-host. Her final series was in 2023, when she became one of the surprise guests the artists were tasked with painting.
Frank Skinner was the original host of the competition, hosting series one to three.
Who are the judges of Landscape Artist of the Year 2026?
Landscape Artist of the Year is judged by JuTai Shan Schierenberg and new addition to the panel, Eva Langret.
JuTai Shan Schierenberg is a British portrait artist, TV presenter, and founder of the Painting department at Art Academy London. Several of his works are currently held in the National Portrait Gallery, including his portraits of Lord Carrington, Lord Sainsbury and Seamus Heaney.
Eva Langret has been Artistic Director of Frieze London since 2019 and is Vice Chair of Camden Art Centre. She previously worked at Tiwani Contemporary in London, where she focused on artists from Africa and its diaspora and has curated widely across institutions and independent spaces.
Can I apply for Landscape Artist of the Year 2027?
Yes! If you want to put your skills to the test, you can already apply to be in next year’s series of Landscape Artist of The Year.
You must submit a piece of landscape art created within the last five years in order to apply, with the finalists being selected on merit by an expert panel of judges.
The deadline to apply is Friday 8th May 2026.
More information on how to apply can be found here.
Filming the heats of Landscape Artist of the Year is planned to take place around the UK in the Spring/Summer.
How to watch Landscape Artist of the Year
Landscape Artist of the Year is available to watch exclusively on Sky Arts.
You can also catch up with previous series and episodes on Sky Go and NOW.