In week one, our judges get the measure of our seven finalists, finding out who they are, testing how well they can paint, and discovering their strengths and weaknesses. The finalists face three challenges, each one against the clock. In the very first challenge of the series, the seven finalists have been asked to bring objects that tell the story of who they are and where they come from. The judges want them to paint a still-life of the objects, on any size canvas, using any material, in just ninety minutes. From West-Cork black pudding to Wexford lobsters to locally-made crafts from around Ireland, our painters need not only to express who they are and where they come from, but impress the judges with their composition and painting skills. Who will wow and who will wobble in the series’ inaugural challenge? In challenge two, the competition heats up. Using just three colours and the same sized canvas, our amateur painters must take on a classic painting test: to paint a piece of folded, draped cloth. It sounds easy – but it’s a time-honoured apprenticeship milestone which tests how well the artist understands colour and can convey light and shade. So who wins the limelight and who ends up in the shade in this classic test of skill? And finally, in this week’s Exhibition Challenge, our painters are taken to the spectacular Powerscourt waterfall where, following in the footsteps of some of Ireland’s greatest landscape painters, they must capture the waters tumbling over the iconic Wicklow mountains into the valley. But will the weather turn this into a test of endurance.