Portrait Artist of the Year. Lenny Henry.

Dreadful, looks nothing like him. Rather like most of the other PAOTY finalists!

I liked it, although I also liked the work of the girl they brought back for the semi final but her work might have been a bit too subdued for the NPG.

Jimfort

Dreadful, looks nothing like him. Rather like most of the other PAOTY finalists!

That was my first impression. I thought the body was good but I don’t think, if I saw it and didn’t know it was Lenny Henry I would have known it was him. Whereas, if I remember being bowled over by last years winning portrait.. I’ve been really surprised by some of the ones the judges have chosen throughout this series.

Missed this do you have the picture

I obviously know nothing about "art" because a portrait to me means a likeness must be clear.There have been a lot of competitors who haven't got any likeness to their sitter.
I haven't watched for a couple of years and the last really good winner was a guy from NI who painted Graham Norton and it was beautiful .
I await a pile on to tell me that the Norton portrait was too "photographic" as I was told by a friend .I would be disappointed if I spent a shed load of cash on a portrait that looked nothing like my loved one

Paintings can sometimes capture something of the essence of a person that a photographic likeness cannot. Visiting the national portrait competition finalists is very interesting. So many styles and all worth a look. Of course in that competition the people painted are not usually famous or well known.

MayBee70

Jimfort

Dreadful, looks nothing like him. Rather like most of the other PAOTY finalists!

That was my first impression. I thought the body was good but I don’t think, if I saw it and didn’t know it was Lenny Henry I would have known it was him. Whereas, if I remember being bowled over by last years winning portrait.. I’ve been really surprised by some of the ones the judges have chosen throughout this series.

I agree, the body was very much like Lenny, but it didn't capture his face very well - not recognisable as him.

Very disappointed with the portrait of Sir Len. Such a shame. Artist and sitter seemed to have created a good connection too. I loved this artists other submissions so it's hard to understand why this went so wrong. Perhaps her mother should have told her that it looked nothing like him.

Thought it was awful what were the judges thinking of.? She was only concerned with the shape and positioning of his body. His face could have been anyone. As for showing his diversity and personality which is what the Portrait Gallery thought they were getting for their £10,000! Where was that? The real shame was that there were real artists competing They talked about her sensitivity of line - fair enough the body was done well enough with a minimum of line but his face was unrecognisable. I thought it was unbelievable that she was chosen throughout the competition but hoped she would pull something out of the bag. The fact that she didn’t was unbelievable. I had to have a drink of brandy to get over it. Iwould add that it wasn’t the fault of the poor artist who was given the job to do but the judges who should be judged and who came up wanting.

paddyann54

I obviously know nothing about "art" because a portrait to me means a likeness must be clear.There have been a lot of competitors who haven't got any likeness to their sitter.
I haven't watched for a couple of years and the last really good winner was a guy from NI who painted Graham Norton and it was beautiful .
I await a pile on to tell me that the Norton portrait was too "photographic" as I was told by a friend .I would be disappointed if I spent a shed load of cash on a portrait that looked nothing like my loved one

I’ve only glimpsed at the Graham Norton one when it’s sometimes fleetingly shown in the programme but thought what I saw was wonderful. I’m sure I’m not someone that thinks a portrait must be photographic because I love Lucian Freud’s work. But so many times in this series the judges have chosen a painting that doesn’t have a good likeness and have said it isn’t necessary . I wanted to see the kindness and the humour in Lenny’s face: a twinkle of the eye. And it wasn’t there.

I'm watching it this afternoon. I've liked the previous portraits by this artist but certainly don't agree with the judges all the time. I think they are always looking for something new/different so likeness isn't always there. Shame really because I do like to be able to recognise the sitter even if it's not a great likeness.

I've just caught up to the episode and I have to say I agree. It's not an unpleasant painting but I would never in a million years guess it was Sir Lenny. It's how I felt about her other paintings too. Interesting but without a likeness. I'm another who doesn't need portraits to be photographic but I saw no essence of Lenny at all.

I had Morag picked as the winner in the final. Not because she could get a likeness, she couldn't, but she was a bit other worldly and the judges were showing that they liked her work.
She is good at capturing body language and if she had managed to paint Lenny's facial expression then it would have been a splendid portrait, imo.

I listened carefully to what was said about the painting, in particular that his sister said she thought Morag had captured her brother as she sees him. I wonder if we are too used to seeing a more animated Lenny, the public face of an entertainer rather than the man he is behind the facade? She's an interesting artist though and I wish I had just a little of her talent. I love this competition, much prefer it to Landscape artist of the year.

I was amazed that Morag got into the final. All her paintings looked quite sketchy and unfinished and the composition of her portrait of her boyfriend was so weird - his head jammed into the top left hand corner of the canvas and the bottom half left empty.

I think that her way of painting without drawing does work for depicting bodies, stance and posture but I agree with all those who did not see a likeness in the face.

Morag has an engaging personality which works well on tv and I think she did strike up a genuine rapport with Lenny Henry but the poor likeness seems to have been overlooked in a groupthink endorsement of the judges opinion.

It seems to me that the judges have seen so many good portraits that they are looking for novelty, originality and quirkiness rather than artistic prowess and skill.

I came to the same view watching the same judges on "Landscape Artist of the Year". Perhaps if the judges are feeling so jaded, it might be time to recast them

I think she has an amazing talent but not for capturing a likeness.

I agree that the “portrait” looked nothing like Sir Lenny. Take a look at the portrait of him by Martyn Burdon. Now that is art and a wonderful likeness.

Really disappointed with the likeness. Morag got his body but without knowing who it was I wouldn't have known. I don't think the judges would have chosen this submission if it was a painting done earlier in the competition.

Interesting ... I felt the same. All her paintings seemed much the same. Lenny's face was not good .... body was fine. So surprised she won.

Didn't feel it captured the essence of Lenny at all, despite all her tedious waffle beforehand. As for the adulation at the great unveiling, all seemed a bit like the Emperor's New Clothes to me ...

I think there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm by the judges when the portrait was revealed. I think she was chosen because her use of colour and composition was thought to have good potential for the final and she also had an interesting back story with her Albanian connection which the judges always like. However, given Lennie Henry's serious and quite melancholy nature I think the portrait style of the young finalist Nina Rominska in the previous episode would have been a much more suitable finalist.

I've just watched the unveiling of the portrait and thought it didn't look anything like Lenny - the face was just wrong and, like someone else has commented, I would not gave known that it was supposed to be Lenny Henry.

You can buy a signed numbered print from the National Portrait Gallery for £400! I thought the actual face just didn't look like him although it was an interesting picture.

A great painting but not of Lenny Henry.