A LLANIDLOES artist has made it to the half-way stage of an art competition on national television.

Callum Stephen has survived three weeks of BBC One’s The Big Painting Challenge in which amateur artists undertake a six-week, artistic boot camp in a bid to perfect their skills and be crowned champion.

At 23, bricklayer Callum, who specialises in photorealism, is the youngest artist in the competition.

Having taken up painting just three years ago, he is also the newest to the art world.

And his inclusion in the BBC show came at a good time for the self-taught artist.

“The BBC rang me immediately after my work was denied in a local gallery as my drawing wasn’t up to scratch according to the gallery owner.

“As I walked out I had a phone call from the BBC saying that they had checked my work out on Instagram and asked if could come down to Cardiff for an audition,” he added.

“I had gone down purely for a day out to get to try to meet other artists and a day later I had a phone call saying I made it through to the last 10 from thousands. I felt shocked as I’m just a bricklayer, but with huge ambitions and dreams to show the world my art!”

The Big Painting Challenge is on Sundays at 6pm.

To see more of Callum’s work, visit his social media pages at facebook.com/CallumJameison/ or instagram.com/callum_stephen_

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