Peasholm Park

Today on Watercolour Challenge, Fern steps into an oriental paradise in tucked away in a corner of North Yorkshire. Peasholm Park in Scarborough was designed over 100 years ago by civil engineer Harry Smith, turning an area of scrubland into a magical oriental landscape. The lake, with its waterfall, pagoda and dragon boats, have been admired ever since. It's a busy and eclectic scene full of movement and colour that poses a very particular challenge to the four amateur painters. 

Today's judge is internationally acclaimed local painter Ady Wright. Not only is Ady deciding today's winner, but he also offers some pearls of wisdom to help the artists bring the park to life. He gives us a top sketching tip using, of all things, a cleansing wipe! While the artists paint their hearts out, we hear tales of fashionable promenades in the park, and discover a unique naval warfare re-enactment that hasn't changed since the 1950s. 

We also learn of another of Yorkshire's brushes with the Orient in the form of Confucian scholar and artist Chiang Yee, whose 1940s book The Silent Traveller in the Yorkshire Dales — featuring countryside paintings with a Chinese twist — became a best seller. It's a unique setting: can the artists do it justice?