Portrait Artist of the Year

Nine artists compete to create portraits of celebrity sitters including artist Ken Done, chef Maggie Beer and Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins. Using diverse techniques, they showcase creativity and skill in just four hours.

Nine artists have 4 hours to create portraits of Drag Queen Courtney Act, Actor Mark Coles Smith and film critic Margaret Pomeranz, each with a personal item. The judges select a top 3, and 1 advances to the semi-final.

Heat 3 features an array of unique talent, including the youngest and oldest artists in the competition. Celebrity sitters are Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis, comedian Celia Pacquola and actor Talijah Blackman-Corowa.

This heat features nine artists from across the country. The sitters are comedian Rhys Nicholson, chef Adam Liaw, and radio/TV host Myf Warhurst.

In this heat, nine artists have four hours to create a portrait of a celebrity sitter: Paralympian Madison de Rozario OAM, TV and radio host Amanda Keller, and actor/comedian Matt Okine.

In the final heat, nine artists from across Australia have just four hours to create portraits of Muster Dogs season 1 winner Frank Finger and his dog Annie, actor Chloe Hayden and comedian Alex Lee.

The pressure is on as the winners of our heats are joined by a wildcard chosen by our judges. Seven talented artists return for the semi-final, each given 4 hours to capture the likeness and spirit of Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki.

In the Grand Final, three outstanding artists; Jenny Croom, Dean Rankine and Jenna Pickering each have four hours to paint a portrait of adored comedy icon Denise Scott, each drawing on their unique approach to artmaking.