Eastbourne man stars in TV competition filmed at Herstmonceux Castle

Ben Dawson tried his hand at painting the local landmark in a bid to impress judges of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year.

He was a wildcard artist thrown in as part of a heat to capture the medieval castle and win an opportunity to reach the semi-final.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present the show, which is a hunt for the nation’s best landscape artist.

Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Art, said, “Landscape artist of the year has made watching paint dry a must-see experience.

“If the show inspires more people to take up a brush and a pot of paints then we’ve all done our jobs.”

Each week, eight artists use paints, pencils, brushes and biros to showcase their artistic flair in only four hours to impress the judges.

The winning artist will go through to the semi-final and get one step closer to the prize – a £10,000 commission to create a landscape artwork of Venice for the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Ben is among the 50 extra artists battling out in heats. While the grand finale will involve a challenging night paint of Battersea Power Station in London.

Viewers can see Ben in the second episode of the show, which will air on Sky Arts at 8pm on Tuesday, October 22.