Portrait Artist of the Year - Series 11

Now into its 11th Season, Portrait Artist Of The Year shows no sign of losing any of its appeal. Quite the reverse in fact, as the first episode of the new series posted overnight viewing figures of 443,000 - a record for Sky Arts - rising to 900,000+ over the next few days; proving that there's a hungry audience, not just for the Arts in general, but for real, live, on-screen artistic endeavour.

Portrait Artist Of The Year clearly fills a deep-seated viewing need but it’s also evidence of the symbiotic and productive nature of the relationship between Storyvault Films and Sky Post Production. Having previously celebrated Portrait Artist Of The Decade, featuring winners from the past ten years slugging it out on the canvas for the eponymous title, this year we thought we’d celebrate two of the artists from behind the scenes who help to make the programme the masterpiece of television that it is. 

They may be at opposite ends of the Production and Post Production spectrum, but Director of Photography (DOP), Jeremy Hewson, and Colourist, Ben Whitney, with their palettes of light, shade and colour are more responsible than anyone for the look and feel of the show. We brought them together on Sky's campus and turned the limelight up to 11! (All behind the scenes photos courtesy of Ben Whitney).