I have been working to commission, of one sort or another, for as long as I can remember, so at the beginning of this year decided I needed to spend an extended period of time experimenting and exploring the direction of my personal work. As part of this phase I joined the 10 week Drawing Development programme at the Royal Drawing School, comprising of four full days and one evening a week of tutored classes, plus tutorials, mentoring sessions and a three hour long group crit in the final week. My self curated week, including drop-classes, comprised of ‘Local Landscape’, ‘Drawing a Story’, ‘Drawing at the British Museum’, ‘Drawing at the National Gallery and ‘Life Drawing’. Each class was run by more than one tutor, and the wide variety of differing opinions and suggestions were immensely beneficial to me, if not confusing and frustrating at times! It was a brilliant and intense term of frenzied activity where I felt free to play and produce a ton of drawings without the pressure to complete a ‘finished’ piece. I also loved being part of the school and working along side such a dynamic group of artists. My approach has definitely altered since undertaking the course, I am more confident in my direction. I’m certainly excited by what comes next. I would absolutely recommend this term to anyone feeling a bit stuck in a rut and looking to further their own drawing.
A small sample of the drawings I made on the Drawing Development programme.