Lurgan native shows his art skills on Sky TV

A Lurgan man - now living in Scotland - is taking part in an art competition set to be broadcast on Sky next month.
Jonathan Stockley was selected to take part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018.Jonathan Stockley was selected to take part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018.
Jonathan Stockley was selected to take part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018.

Jonathan Stockley who lives just outside Glasgow, will appear in he latest series of the Sky Arts show ‘Portrait Artist of the Year 2018’.

The show is presented by Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell, with Jonathan’s episode set to air on February 13 (subject to rescheduling)

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A model maker by trade, he enjoys creating art and drawing in his spare time as a hobby and decided on a whim to enter into the prestigious competition.

Speaking to the Lurgan Mail, Jonathan said: “On a whim I applied last year, I have never done anything like that before as it’s only basically a hobby. I just thought I would chance my luck. I didn’t think I’d get selected but I did.”

“I will be in episode five which will be broadcast on the 13th of February. I am supposed to keep quiet about how I did.

“I work as a model maker, so I have always been an artistic person but the art took a back seat when bringing up kids and all the rest of it.

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“It’s only in the past two years I started drawing again and realised I was a wee bit better than I remembered.”

He said: “You submit a self portrait in your medium of choice, I had done a self portrait maybe about a year before. I submitted that, I think it was the day before the deadline, I thought I might as well.”

Jonathan said that the competition was a very challenging but worthwhile experience, adding: “You go down for your heat down to London, it was good.

“It was a very different experience than I thought it was going to be.

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“It is a bit frustrating from a drawing point of view because you are stopping and starting all the time. Your flow is interrupted, you obviously have a celebrity sitter there.

“I was way out of my comfort zone from anything I have done before.

“It is a huge confidence boost just to be selected, they have over 1,500 entrants and to be selected amongst those people is a great boost.”

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