Landscape Artist of the Year Canada

I'm a huge fan of the Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year in Britain, so I was surprised at how bored I felt at the Canadian version. Canada, I'm sure, has amazing scenery and cityscapes, but the locations chosen for this series were so incredibly boring! I didn't think much of the artists' work overall, but I cannot believe the overall winner. To me that was the worst painting of the whole series.

To start with the positives I was a bit surprised at how many of the landscapes I liked in each episode. Next would be Sook-Yin Lee who I thought did a good job as the host and could have gotten even stronger if the series had continued.

The biggest issue for me would be the locations, Canada is a huge country but the four locations are all within a few hours of Toronto by car. But even this limitation didn't have to be the problem as there are all manner of locations that would have been more meaningful and interesting than the ones that were chosen. The Midland docks was the only exceptional location in episode 3.

The judges started off a bit stiff but I have to believe if the series had continued they would have grown into their roles and they certainly seemed knowledgeable.

I would have liked to see more than 6 artists per episode and it certainly looked like there were fewer wildcard artists that the 50 from the original series. The format of just 3 qualifying rounds and a final seemed to short to me but perhaps if the series had continued this might have been adjusted.

Some might find this boring because there isn't car chases or guns shooting, But a real artist can appreciate the incredible variety of talent and resulting art in the program. Both the Canadian and British versions are enjoyable to watch as the creativity rolls out. Some of the judges' decisions are questionable, but the best part is the resulting works.

My biggest take away from this is the regret that there isn't a gallery where you can view all the works created, as the wild cards are as talented as the primary artists chosen to compete.

I doubt the producers read these comments but here's hoping someone will showcase the incredible range of art so we can enjoy it.