A Sutton artist who was chosen from hundreds of candidates will compete against eight others in the latest series of a Sky television competition.

Dorian Rolan Radu is set to feature on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year (PAOY), presented by Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell, when it returns next month.

He will be in the first heat of this year’s series as the show sees 24 celebrity sitters over the course of nearly two months.

These comprise of famous faces from the worlds of film, music, sport and television – with the first episode featuring Matthew Goode, Geraldine James and Andi Oliver.

The winner from this heat will then join seven other heat winners and be tasked with painting British jazz legend Courtney Pine CBE in the semi-finals.

Those who qualify then get to paint Love Actually actress and singer Laura Linney at the National Portrait Gallery in the final.

In addition, those three finalists will get their own “special commissions” to be judged alongside their final work – featuring musicians Claire Rutter, Dame Cleo Lane and Jazzie B.

Returning judges for this year’s POAY are artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, independent curator Kathleen Soriano and art historian Kate Bryan.

It’s the overall winner of this year’s series who will get to paint a portrait of Sir Tom Jones, which will hang in the permanent collection at the National Museum Cardiff.

Every celebrity sitter will also get to keep one of their finished portraits, irrespective of whether the artist who painted it goes through to the next stage.

Stephen Mangan said: “Joan and I have seen some incredible artists come through the ranks and it has been fascinating to see their portraits of our celebrity sitters come to life.

“Painting done well is a kind of magic, painting done by me is a crime – so it was both a privilege and a relief to watch artists with genuine talent work their magic.”

All eight heats were filmed in the courtyard of The Wallace Collection in west London’s Manchester Square.

Sky Arts' latest POATY series will return at 8pm on Tuesday, February 12, on Sky Arts as well as On Demand/NOW TV.