Bristol Drawing School

Autumn Workshops 2011

2011-08-24T12:21:00.003+01:00

Our workshop programme has now been published and is ready to book.

We have a wide range of inspiring and fascinating workshops this term starting with Botanical Drawing with award winning artist Julia Trickey.

If you have ever been tempted to try life drawing but haven't had the confidence to try one of our drop in classes, then our Introduction to Life Drawing classes will be perfect for you.

For the more experienced then we have a number of less formal life drawing sessions throughout the term, details here.

Other highlights include opportunities to experiment and explore different techniques with our Drawing into Print and Drawing with Mixed Media and Techniques workshops. As well as Watercolour with Jake Winkle.

We are also pleased to welcome back artist Paul Wright with his Portrait in Oils class which was immensely popular last time so don't delay booking.

Another popular and inspiring course is Alan McGowan's Anatomy Drawing a must for anyone interested in drawing the figure.

To book any of these workshops call us on
0117 906 7601 or you can book online at www.drawingschool.org.uk

Bristol Drawing School moves to the RWA!

2011-08-02T09:07:00.001+01:00

We are very pleased to announce that from August 2011 the Bristol Drawing School will be based at The Royal West of England Academy www.rwa.org.uk.

This exciting development means we can now offer an expanded programme of courses and workshops making full use of the beautiful surroundings that the RWA can provide.

We hope to see you here at the Royal West of England Academy very soon!

BrisFest 2010 - Photos

2010-10-03T09:34:00.002+01:00

Image courtesy of colinrayner.org.uk

Had a lovely time at the weekend at BrisFest, workshop was very successful with so many people willing to have a go, maybe we have unleashed the next Picasso, you never know!

Check out Facebook for lots more photographs:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5947264514&v=wall

Thanks to Valerie and her team of willing volunteers for setting it all up, already looking forward to next year.

BrisFest 24th - 26th September 2010

2010-09-21T19:55:00.001+01:00

We're running a free to all drop in life drawing session at the Brisfest again this year, last year was great fun and a chance for anyone who has always fancied a go at life drawing to just pick up a piece of charcoal and go!

Modelling again with be Michaela and Carol Peace will be the tutor so come and see us on Sunday between 1pm and 2:45pm.

While you're at it check out the rest of the festival there is a great and varied line up over the whole weekend.

http://www.brisfest.co.uk/

Not sure what we are talking about? Have a look at these pics from last year:

http://bristoldrawingschool.blogspot.com/2010/01/life-drawing-at-bristol-festival.html

New Drawing School Website

2010-08-24T19:34:00.006+01:00

Our brand new website is now live, packed with features that you'll find useful.

You can now book all your courses and workshops online as well as see previous courses that you have booked in the past, print out invoices and get immediate confirmations of your booking.

We've also updated a lot of the information as well so you can have a good look through and see what we've been up to and what we'll be doing in the future.

24/7/365 open for bookings now - Enjoy!

Summer Workshops

2010-07-29T17:45:00.000+01:00

By popular demand we are putting on a couple of workshops in August so you're drawing and painting skills needn't get rusty during the summer break.

For all you painters out there, or just those who would like longer poses we are running an untutored life painting and drawing workshop over two days, 24th and 25th August, full details here.

We are also pleased to offer a special treat for the more adventurous... on Saturday 21st August James Alexander is running a one off all day session of his 'Larger than Life' class, and we have booked popular model Michaela and her snake, full details here.

Art in Action - Pictures

2010-07-29T08:07:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely time at Art in Action this year, the weather kept mostly dry and the turnout was great 25,000+!

Thanks to Damien and Mark and all the Art in Action staff for looking after us.

The masterclasses proved very popular with good crowds jostling to see our artists in action

Ruth Wallace in action

Ros Ford on her stand

Helen Frost

Carol Peace and Ros Ford

You can see more photos on our Flickr account here

Art In Action

2010-07-10T14:12:00.000+01:00

We are off to Art in Action this week, this is a huge arts festival just outside oxford where we have been invited to show in the Drawing Tent.

About Art in Action:
Founded in 1977, Art in Action is a festival of fine art and master craftsmanship, where artists take the visitor on a creative journey by demonstrating what they do, often from concept to completion. Staged in the grounds of Waterperry House, Oxfordshire, artists set up their studios each July in one of many spacious marquees. They work in front of visitors, giving them the rare opportunity to observe the creative process at first hand.
More information here: http://www.artinaction.org.uk

Art in Action Press Release
In 2010 the Drawing section is focussing on the role of the art school in nurturing the next generation of artists. We feel that education is crucial; and that Art in Action can help to support and showcase schools that share our vision of artists - artists who combine deep thoughtfulness about the role and content of art in contemporary society with a level of masterful craftsmanship that evokes beauty in every cultivated form. Bristol Drawing School has been selected, and represented in the Drawing tent are three of its senior tutors plus one student who was awarded a place in recognition of excellence.

Bristol Drawing School is a not for profit private arts venue and education facility that aims to encourage and nurture the art of drawing, not only as an art form in its own right, but as an essential part of the creative process. We offer drawing courses and workshops throughout the year as well as curating a regular series of exhibitions and artist talks. We see our role as being able to provide a variety courses suited to professional artists as well as beginners, without the need to gain formal qualifications and with the flexibility for them to study them as often as they like. We provide a nurturing atmosphere where artists, students and tutors mix together providing support and encouragement, and as a school we promote their work as much as possible, for example in a recent exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy. We are currently expanding our curriculum to include complementary skills such as painting and printmaking but with these as in the drawing courses the emphasis is on the learning and practice of the skills needed to excel in these arts.

Life Drawing Masterclass:

Every day at 11.00am and 4.00pm the Bristol Drawing School artists will gather round a life model for 1 hour, in a recreation of the age-old rarefied environment of the life-room. Members of the public can watch as four life drawings rapidly unfold before their eyes, revealing both the magic of the drawing process and the fascinating difference between one artist and another as they each represent the same subject in entirely individual ways.

Festival runs from Thursday 15 July to Sunday 18 of July 2010 - See you there!

Autumn Programme is here!

2010-06-25T14:26:00.000+01:00

Our Autumn term programme is now confirmed and ready for booking.

Most of our courses and workshops sold out last autumn so book now to avoid disappointment!

There is something for everyone this autumn, with some new faces and some old favourites, from etching and portraiture to botanical drawing and 3d wire workshops.

We are pleased to have a brand new ten week all day Drawing, Paint and Colour course run by Esmé Clutterbuck on Thursdays.

We are also excited to have artist Duncan Cameron for a solo show as well as a fascinating touch drawing exhibition by DRAW and a lecture on the human form by David Cobley.

Full details of our varied programme can be found on our website here: http://www.drawingschool.org.uk

Watercolour Workshop

2010-06-19T08:47:00.001+01:00

Despite being a drawing school we are beginning to experiment in offering workshops in other related disciplines, and have even started experimenting in colour...

This friday we tried out a watercolour workshop with talented artist and teacher, Jake Winkle, he proved very popular booking up quickly, we'll definitely be doing some more with him in the Autumn.

Some comments:
"Attentive tutor and good range of techniques. Well paced"
"Lots of it and very attentive"
"Very instructive and useful to learn techniques and also to learn how and what to practice"
"Very good. Did not belittle students. Positive praise, very friendly and approachable"
"Stimulating"
"Kept it moving – good balance of demonstration and exercises. Built up in a great way"

Botanical Drawing

2010-05-15T08:37:00.002+01:00

This weekend we ran a Botanical drawing workshop with award winning botanical artist Julia Trickey.

It was a very intense two days of concentration leaving many exhausted but happy with the results.

"Plenty of variety and opportunities to learn different techniques. Great to have the materials, pens and pencils provided."
"Very enjoyable"
"Really would like to have longer, this felt like a taster!"
"Lovely place thank you"
"A really good 2 days – and a very pleasant environment"

There will be more workshops from Julia Trickey in the Autumn term.

Autumn Exhibition #2

2010-05-10T16:55:00.004+01:00

Please note that this exhibition has been postponed and will not now take place on the dates below.

Busy sorting out the Autumn programme at the moment and we have finalised our exhibitoon for the half term period and it's a good one.

The DRAW group will be displaying their beautiful touch drawings, these are multi-media drawings created solely through the sense of touch.

Alongside a workshop for adults on one of the weekends, we will be inviting visually impaired groups to come down and experience the technique as part of our Big Draw offering for 2010.

Exhibiton runs from 22nd to 31st October 2010
Open daily 11am - 6pm, Admission: Free
Preview with artists, 21st October 6 - 9pm
DRAW is a small independent group of artists with a passion for drawing and the drawing process. Our individual practices fuel the varied approaches to drawing that is utilized as a critical/educative tool.

For more information visit www.todraw.org

Autumn Exhibition #1

2010-05-10T16:48:00.001+01:00

We are really happy to have secured Duncan Cameron for a solo show this coming September.

An opportunity to explore the world of this artist and collector, his drawings and his cabinets of curiosity, each encapsulating a particular time, place and journey.

Anyone who was lucky to catch his show last year at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution knows that they are in for a treat!

Some images below of Duncan's 'Exmoor Collection', completed July 2009 doing 16 miles in one day across Exmoor, dawn to dusk, carrying case.

Green Party Fundraiser

2010-04-10T16:11:00.001+01:00

Our very own director and co-founder Graham Woodruff is the Green Party councillor candidate for Bishopston in the upcoming elections on May 6th.

As part of the fundraising for the campaign we are having an exhibition some of the best art that Bristol has to offer including works by Carol Peace, Beth Carter, Anna Gillespie, Ian Chamberlain, Valerie Bowes, Ros Ford and Kate Raggett. Not only that you'll have chance to win works by these artist at our auction.

Date: April 15th 2010, 6 - 9pm
Location: Green Party HQ, 17 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT, (off park street).

Come along there will be plenty of food and drink as well as some surprise entertainment!

Full details here: http://greenparty.drawingschool.org.uk/

Autumn 09 - Anna Gillespie, Inkjet Print, Edition of 50. 2007

Etching From Life Workshop

2010-03-30T09:16:00.006+01:00

After his inspirational talk on Thursday night, Jason Hicklin ran a two day etching from life workshop where students drew from a life model direct onto a plate and creating a series of etchings.

We originally ran this course back in Autumn 2008 as a one day workshop and it again proved popular, with two day format giving students a bit more time to practise the techniques.

Some comments:
"Clear, great teaching"
"Lovely that Jason showed tips and advice"
"Helpful tutor gives lots of info, different approaches to printing"
"Loved every minute"
"Enjoyed the workshop and learned a lot – encouraged to continue printing!"
"Thank you very much for your hard work and organising – much appreciated"
"I have found both times I have attended a course I have been very inspired by the teachers and enjoyed the space"

Artist Talk - Jason Hicklin

2010-03-27T15:42:00.001Z

We had a lovely evening last night with the artist and Royal Engraver Jason Hicklin.

In July 2009 Jason and the artist Daphne Warburg Astor took a journey to Tory Island eight miles off the coast of North Donegal. Each day they set off from their tents to walk the island with their sketchbooks. Jason’s response to has been a series of ten etchings and he talked us through these and his experience of the island.

As always Jason was very honest and passionate about his subject which was inspiring to everyone present and we would like to thank him for coming and for his continued support of the Bristol Drawing School.

He'll be back with us in the Autumn for another of his popular Etching from Life workshops.

Kitchen Cinema

2010-03-18T16:08:00.000Z

Possibly the smallest cinema in Bristol, with built in tea and coffee making facilities...

(Some admirable improvisation from Paul Wright in his Portrait in Oils workshop)

Portrait in Oils

2010-03-15T15:53:00.002Z

The artist Paul Wright ran our first Portrait in Oils workshops over the last couple of weekends as part of our loosely themed portraiture spring term.

We only had him bookd for one weekend but this has proved do popular that we put on another weekend! Don't worry if you missed out as he is coming back with a still life course in the summer and another portraiture one in December.

Some comments:
"Very approachable and friendly – inspiring – talented"
"Would like more of it!"
"Very friendly. Thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt that I learnt a lot. Paul was an excellent very patient tutor, very approachable."
"Loved it – I’ll be back!"

Models in the pictures our two of our regulars, Vernon and Michaela (without her snake this time!)

Sumi Workshop

2010-02-28T09:07:00.001Z

A fascinating couple of days exploring the Four Treasures of traditional East Asian arts, namely sumi (the Japanese for ink), brush, paper and ink stone. Artist Christine Flint Sato spends most of her time in Japan so we were lucky to get her on a brief visit to the UK.

Drawing Circus

2010-02-22T12:20:00.006Z

Some images from our recent Circus Workshop featuring some fantastic performances of, amongst other things, Corde Lisse, Trapeze, juggling, burlesque, snake dancing and acrobatics.

Bookbinding Workshops

2010-01-18T09:36:00.001Z

This weekend we ran two bookbinding workshops with Bristol based printmaker and book artist Tortie Rye, on Saturday it was non-adhesive and then adhesive hard back book binding on the Sunday.

As always Tortie had some beautiful books and printed items to show us and we all managed to produce something vaguely like them by the end of the day!

Bristol Drawing School at Art in Action

2010-01-14T14:14:00.001Z

We are excited to be asked to help Damian Fennell curate the Drawimg tent at Art in Action this year, the event runs from from Thursday 15 July to Sunday 18 of July 2010.

If you haven't been before, you're in for a treat, there are literally hundreds of artists demonstrating their expertise in Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Printmaking, Ceramics, Calligraphy, Illustration, Glass, Metalwork, Jewellery, Nature in Art,Textiles and Woodworkwith many practical classes to get hands on with.

More information here: http://www.artinaction.org.uk

We will be taking four artists from the school who will be showing work and demonstrating. They'll also be running masterclasses at points throughout the weekend.

They are:

Ros Ford who will be demonstrating using sketch books and other visual materials to create larger scale drawings using mixed media.

Carol Peace, a sculptor who could not work without drawing, and who has appeared three times in the last five years in the Sculpture tent at Art in Action. The process of drawing for her is about learning, gathering information and an intuitive response to life.

Ruth Wallace who makes large-scale drawings in charcoal and mixed media which explore memories and traces of the past. She will be demonstrating some of the techniques she uses.

Figure artist Helen Frost seeks sublime gestures; where the intense emotional experience of gesture transcends the personal, becoming universal. She creates drawings that connect to our shared humanity through the language of the body, capturing a fleeting glimpse of energy and presence.

Hope to see you there!

Autumn 09 Courses

2009-12-02T17:11:00.014Z

The autumn courses have been very popular and students have produced some exciting work, some examples below;

Colour and Pastel - Valerie Bowes

Life Drawing with Movement - Sara Easby

Experimental Drawing with Esme Clutterbuck

Landscape Drawing and Printing with Ros Ford

From Movement to Moment with Michaela and Manson

2009-12-01T16:31:00.004Z

We were lucky to have a new life model today, Manson, a female Boa Constrictor, she took to the role very well, took up wonderful poses and held them beautifully.

Big Draw Workshop with Art + Power

2009-10-30T14:33:00.000Z

We set out to use the Learning Revolution funding to run a drawing workshop at the school for the local adult learning group, art + power, who without funding have been unable to run activities for their members for many months.

art + power supports participants who are disabled, Deaf and/or people who face social exclusion to achieve their creative potential by facilitating support from a wide range of groups and individuals.

For the workshop, which was led by the landscape artist Kate Raggett, we explored different ways and materials used to make drawings. Using inspiration from nature and seasonal subjects we experimented with different methods of mark-making, initially working small scale and then really big!

Participants benefited from the opportunity to explore their creativity, they enjoyed making the work and made the most of the instruction from Kate. They also benefited from being able to meet each other were able to chat during the breaks and there was a notable increase in social confidence from all of them by the end of the day.

Big Draw Resource Day

2009-10-30T14:24:00.011Z

Bristol Drawing School and DRAW group provided a free day of information sharing, drawing resources and a guide through how to develop and run a Big Draw Event in your community or place of work. The theme of the day was ‘What is the Big Draw Campaign all about?’ with practical tips, ideas and useful resources as well as an opportunity to explore the drawing potential pertinent to your community situation.

Big Draw with the Fine Artistes at Cribbs Causeway

2009-10-30T14:08:00.012Z

Our second Big Draw 2009 event and another successful day. The Fine Artistes were on hand again to entertain and inspire.

Wire Sculpture Workshop

2009-10-05T18:22:00.000+01:00

Sara Easby's wire workshop was very successful, below are some pictures of the work produced.

Big Draw with the Fine Artistes at The Mall, Broadmead

2009-10-04T13:42:00.011+01:00

Our Big Draw event with the Fine Artistes was a great success with people of all ages taking part. We will be running another event at Cribbs Causeway on Friday 30th October so please do join us again!

Life Drawing at the Bristol Festival

2009-09-17T18:31:00.001+01:00

Our free life drawing workshops at the Bristol Festival proved very popular with many passers by stopping in to have a go.

Bristol Drawing School @ Bristol Festival 2009

2009-09-15T17:27:00.005+01:00

Come and see us at the Bristol Festival this weekend, we'll be in the workshops tent life drawing with Valerie Bowes, full workshops event list is:

Saturday
All Day - Deamon and Doppleganger
11:00 Drumming Workshop
12:30 Rag Dolly Anne, felt making
14:00 Bristol Drawing school
15:30 Yoga Workshop
17:00 Ugly Sisters Theatre Workshop

Sunday
All day - Hula Hoop workshop (Thirzie)
11:00 Tai Chi
12:00 Bristol Capoeira
14:00 Jewellery Making Workshop
15:30 Bristol Drawing School
17:00 East Side Roots- Permeculture talk

If you've always wanted to try life drawing - now's your chance!

Full details of Bristol's community festival here:

http://www.thebristolfestival.org/

Bronze Casting Workshop

2009-09-06T14:49:00.000+01:00

Some images from our incredible successful bronze casting workshop, our first 3D offering. The first 3 days were held at the Drawing School and the last 2 at Castle Fine Arts Foundry. Participants learnt the entire process of bronze casting.

Big Draw Bristol 2009

2009-08-31T20:12:00.004+01:00

We've created a website to list all the Big Draw events in the Bristol area this coming October.

It’s just gone live and we are encouraging people to register and post their own events, we will be expanding it soon with a forum, more info and maps.

We enjoy putting on events for the Big Draw here at the Bristol Drawing School, and we thought that last year there was a number of good events in the Bristol area but no real co-ordination between them, so we thought it would be good to have a local resource for people to get know what each other and doing and perhaps swap ideas and experience.

Having this resource should also help with local publicity as we can present all the events more as part of a wider festival, city wide as well as national, and hopefully get more people involved and drawing!

Hope you like it, any feedback or comments welcomed

Giles Penny - Comments

2009-08-31T20:03:00.001+01:00

Some comments from the show

‘I like the young king’ SG

‘I like this artist’ LM

‘Fantastic work. So simple yet so moving and memorable. Thank you’ S and P V

‘Very thought provoking. If we had some spare £ we’d go for ‘What’s for Pudding’. Thank you for the memory.’ K and A

‘Love the style’ L and E

‘Totally delightful’ A E

‘’Joyful, wonderful, thought provoking.’ A W

‘Funny, yet quite profound – a touch of Henry Moore in some of the figures’ J G

‘Really like the negative shapes in the sculptures – making sculpture what it should be – a relationship between the positive and the negative’ J H

‘Fantastic – great sense of humour!’ A C

‘All of the above! Simple, moving, wonderfully laid out. Enjoyed the experience of seeing it all here. Loved the interplay of the sculptures and shapes in the paintings’ G C

Giles Penny - Private View

2009-07-06T11:36:00.005+01:00

Thursday 16th July 2009, 6 to 9pm
We are having the private view for our Giles Penny exhibition next Thursday night.

All students, tutors and artists are invited to make this an end of term party as well and a thank you for everyone's hard work this year.

Drink wine, eat nibbles, meet other students and tutors, and see some fantastic sculpture, painting and drawings – a perfect summer’s evening!

Autumn Term 2009

2009-05-27T17:23:00.002+01:00

Photograph by Terence Smith, model Michaela

Our autumn term programme has been confirmed and is now ready for booking!

Next term sees the return of Sara Easby's course, Life Drawing with Movement, more experimental drawing with Esmé Clutterbuck, and Ruth Wallace continues her exploration of drawing materials and techniques.

All of the above courses can now be booked for the whole year for a discount price, full details of how the courses progress are on our website.

In addition Valerie Bowes invites us to enjoy discovering your own unique sense of colour and play with a new set of possibilities with her oil pastel course, and we continue to offer our evening beginner and drop in courses.

Our workshop programme for the term has been expanded to now include something for every weekend, with a wide range of subjects from bronze casting, anatomy, life drawing and bookbinding. Full details on our website.

Anatomy Drawing Workshop

2009-04-24T17:12:00.000+01:00

This April saw the first of our Anatomy workshops by Alan McGowan. Drawing from a life model, this 3 day event enabled students to get to grips with this tough and challenging subject.

Using drawings, a skeleton and a life model Alan generously gave us the benefit of his expert knowledge and years of experience in this field.

This is a workshop not to be missed, a must for anyone who wants to draw from life. The next one will be in November, go to our website for more details.

Kate Raggett - Artist Talk

2009-03-12T14:37:00.000Z

We are keen to invite artists to come and talk about their work, and with Kate Raggett we felt it was especially important as her recent work has been landscape based and largely ephemeral.

Kate gave us a fascinating and personal insight into her work and there was also on a display a collection of photographs documenting the installations she has done.

Many thanks to Kate for all her hard work and effort.

Experimental Drawing - Esmé Clutterbuck

2009-03-04T17:39:00.003Z

Some images from our wednesday morning classs with Esmé Clutterbuck:

This is a structured course is for anyone who is interested in drawing and its relationship to other areas of creativity. The course presents drawing as an activity which is both challenging and fun and suits people with widely varying ability and experience.

Drawing Room II with the RWA - Comments

2009-02-26T14:30:00.000Z

Comments from the show:

"An excellent exhibition, full of light and variety"

"This is one of the most exciting exhibitions I have been to"

" A brilliant exhibition! Great to see"

"Fantastic range of artist work. Truly stimulating"

"Do it again we love it"

Drawing Course - Ruth Wallace

2009-02-23T17:35:00.002Z

Some images from Ruth's monday morning drawing class:

In this course, designed for beginner to intermediate students, the emphasis is on enjoyment and developing confidence. Students are encouraged to explore a variety of materials and different approaches to drawing and build up their own mark-making 'vocabulary' at their own speed.

Tool Drawing Workshop

2009-01-31T19:48:00.004Z

Great fun was had today with our Tool Drawing workshop run by the DRAW group. Watch out for more workshops with them later in the year!

Drawing Room II with the RWA - Pictures

2009-01-19T14:23:00.001Z

More pictures from the Drawing Room II exhibition at the RWA

Drawing Room II with the RWA

2009-01-18T14:04:00.002Z

"The much admired 2006 show, Drawing Room, rides again with a wide and varied selection of new drawings by RWA Academicians alongside recent UWE honours graduates, artists from the Bristol Drawing School, and favourites from the RWA collection"

Bristol Drawing School has been kindly asked to curate the Methuen Gallery for this show and we will be showing a range of artists who have exhibited with us in the past, and some from the future.

Bristol Drawing School is a not for profit private arts venue and education facility that aims to encourage and nurture the art of drawing, not only as an art form in its own right, but as an essential part of the creative process. It offers drawing courses and workshops throughout the year as well as curating a regular series of exhibitions and artist talks.

For more information go to www.drawingschool.org.uk

“The artists selected for this room are all connected with the Bristol Drawing School either as tutors, students or artists that have exhibited there. This wide range of work, from the expansive landscapes to the intimate and personal, and from the intricate and layered to the bold and expressive all illustrate the variety of different approaches to making marks on paper.”
- Graham Woodruff, Director, Bristol Drawing School

“Drawing is my blackbird song. I sing and that's all. Each drawing is a scrap of a song. It's taken years of practice just to get that far - which, compared to what a blackbird can sing, isn't far at all. Each new song is an unfolding of what, until then, has not been sung. I don't know where it's going, other than to the next song. And that's enough: just one more song, and one more song after that, and so on, until I can no longer sing my blackbird songs. But that's all right - for another blackbird will come along with new songs and the wheel will turn.”
- Extract from comments about his work Distance by Robert Clarke

Information on Participating Artists

Jason Hicklin
Jason's large drawings specialise in the wild weather from the coastline of the British Isles and Ireland where rain, landscape and sea collide, merging these forces into a heady mix of tones where rocks are huddled against the relentless assault of the elements and the earth and sky dissolve.
Graduating from St.Martin’s in 1988 and then from The Central School of Art in 1993, Jason was elected a member of The Royal Society of Painters and Printmakers in 1993 and now holds the position of Royal Engraver. Jason is currently a lecturer of Printmaking at City and Guilds Art School in London and has his own studio in Shropshire.

Carol Peace
Inspired by the opening of the Bristol Drawing School, sculptor Carol has undergone a period of intense study into drawing. You will be able to see many of the artist's working sketches, which are fascinating; the quick seemingly effortless marks that can only come through study and an intense concentration within the life room. She describes it as "just a desperate attempt to describe this fantastic thing in front of me."

Fran Richardson
Concerned with the relationship between corporeal and psychological space, Fran’s drawings are a visual enquiry into our perceptual experience of the domestic interior. Central to the work is the role memory plays in eliciting the complex emotional responses that can cause our experience of the spaces we inhabit to become fluid and unstable, undermining reality to evoke a strange sensation of perceptual confusion.

Ruth Wallace
Ruth makes large-scale drawings in charcoal, graphite and mixed media. Her recent work, which centres on portrayals of women’s clothing, explores the dichotomy between absence and presence and the homely and the disturbing in relation to the domestic interior. It also addresses issues connected with memory and female identity and is informed by the distinctive visual style of film noir.

Kate Raggett
Kate has a studio in Spike Island in Bristol. She travels extensively to different countries and makes drawings in and of the lands that she visits. The drawings map the experience of being in the landscape, its rhythms, energy and patterns.

Fiona Robinson
Fiona's drawings, are part of an evolving body of work investigating the nature of journeys and memory. They are a mapping of the experience of moving from one place to another, from one period of time to another, as well as a meditation on the process of making art. A multilayered record of an experience rather than a linear sequence describing one event, the building up of increasingly insistent webs of lines creates a spatial depth that suggests both distance travelled and time elapsing. In tandem with these investigations these works deliberately question the nature of the drawn mark, challenging the notion that paint and canvas should be labelled as painting.

Ian Chamberlain
Ian's drawings are part of a series investigating form and structure. The Purpose of these drawings is to give a sense and a feel for the object, looking at how you see rather than what you see. The drawings were sketched on site and then added to from memory.The drawings are built up and edited over time showing that they are a visibly altered image constantly being scrutinized and re-worked giving the drawing an existence of its own rather than a perfectly re-produced image.

Valerie Bowes
In times when art is conceptual, virtual, digital, when artists strive to shock, to force their audience to react somehow to the dullness of everyday life, and when the public in turn seeks in contemporary art the entertainment and thrill of the amusement park, Valerie Bowes dares to swim against the tide. She uses the brush. She paints the figurative; and she paints the emotional. Her work is powerful because it communicates directly with the soul.

Drawing Interiors Exhibition

2008-12-21T12:20:00.000Z

Many thanks to Ruth and Fran for such a fabulous exhibition.

Some comments from visitors:

Gobsmacking effort - how on earth is it adhered? KH

Great exhibition; atmospheric and very intriguing efforts GV

Fabulous! Very inspiring! EB

Drawing is one of the things that I forget to do, even though it is as simple as picking up a pencil and piece of paper. Thank you for reminding me just hpw beautiful, essential and inspirational it is. YB

Very interesting art, glad it's so close and available. Keep going! SI

Incredible drawing you both have very impressive control of this medium. Very intriguing and pondrous images. M

Distance

2008-10-31T18:09:00.005Z

Some writing below from one of the artists from our Drawing Matters exhibition, Robert Clarke, I hope you might find interesting

For more of Robert's work have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluefunnel/

Distance
(23.09.08-14.10.08)
Equipment: Molskine Cahier Notebook {21 x 13 cms.} Pelikan fountain pen. Layout: Each page drawn recto and verso; many drawings extend across double pages.

"What is the distance a drawing covers but the space between two correspondences, one of which will exist just as well without you, but the other one will not. It is the mystifying existence of the former that drives the latter out of hiding to express itself in confessions of love or at the astonishment of consciousness. Whether or not it is art is besides the point. What counts is that it comes from us, is ours, mine and yours, shared between ourselves. When a blackbird comes to my garden, I do not demand that it account for itself and tell me what its songs mean; I know only that it sings beautiful blackbird songs and for that moment there is no distance and we are one. "

"Drawing is my blackbird song. I sing and that's all. Each drawing is a scrap of a song. It's taken years of practice just to get that far - which, compared to what a blackbird can sing, isn't far at all. Each new song is an unfolding of what, until then, has not been sung. I don't know where it's going, other than to the next song. And that's enough: just one more song, and one more song after that, and so on, until I can no longer sing my blackbird songs. But that's all right - for another blackbird will come along with new songs and the wheel will turn. "
Robert Clarke

Landscape Drawing Workshop

2008-10-13T18:37:00.001+01:00

To coincide with her work showing at the Bristol Contemporary Open Exhibition, Ros Ford ran a landscape drawing workshop here at the school. Students went outside and made drawings of the River Avon, with the focus on experimental techniques and using a variety of techniques. They then got together for a large collaborative piece at the end of the day.

Street Studio at The Mall Broadmead Bristol

2008-10-05T19:04:00.002+01:00

As part of the Big Draw celebrations we put on a free come and draw street studio in the Mall Broadmead (formerly Galleries). We had entertainment from Rose and Brian Popay from the very fine Fine Artistes encouraging passers by to sit down for a while and draw a still life, or take part in a large collaborative drawing of Bristol.

We had a huge response with people of all ages overcoming the initial reluctance to take the time out from their frantic shopping and draw us a picture, some stayed for only a couple of moments others for a number of hours!

We have even more images on Flickr

Etching From Life Workshop

2008-09-21T17:08:00.000+01:00

This weekend we ran two Etching From Life workshops with Jason Hicklin. One day courses where students drew from a life model directly onto a plate and created a series of etchings.

Jason Hicklin Exhibition : Comments

2008-09-06T13:03:00.004+01:00

A few of the great comments we have had about the show so far:

"Absolutely Stunning" - HB
"Fantastic Work" - LFJ
"Beautiful, expansive, spirited evocation of landscape" - AW
"Wonderful Show" - NH
"Inspiring images, I like the immediacy and speed of the way you work" - NC
"Very atmospheric!" - LC
"Beautiful, inspiring exhibition" - LW

Jason Hicklin Exhibition : Private View Talk

2008-09-05T16:57:00.007+01:00

Last night we were all treated to a fascinating talk by the contemporary landscape artist, Jason Hicklin.

To the fitting accompaniment of pouring rain, Jason gave us all a generous insight into the techniques he uses as well as telling us stories from the extreme landscapes he works with.

Drawing Interiors

2008-08-09T15:24:00.006+01:00

Our winter exhibition details have now been finalized and we are excited to have two artists Fran Richardson and Ruth Wallace exhibiting with us.

Both artists have different approaches to similar themes of absence in a domestic setting.

Fran’s drawings exploit the blackness of the charcoal to create a dark, shadowy, unhomely place where unusual furniture and objects emerge from an endless void. Areas of the paper are left exposed for dramatic contrast with the dazzling light acting as a barrier to the possibilities beyond the confines of the architecture.

Ruth makes large-scale drawings in charcoal, graphite and mixed media. Her recent work, which centres on portrayals of women’s clothing, explores the dichotomy between absence and presence and the homely and the disturbing in relation to the domestic interior. It also addresses issues connected with memory and female identity and is informed by the distinctive visual style of film noir.

We hope this exhibition will be quiet and thought provoking relief to the usual Christmas mayhem.

Untitled – Lamp 3, 2007, Charcoal on Fabriano 5, Fran Richardson

For further details about Fran's work visit www.franrichardson.com
For further details about Ruth click here

Exhibition: Richard Box

2008-07-09T19:45:00.002+01:00

We are pleased to announce that the artist Richard Box will be having a solo show at the Bristol Drawing School next spring, 16th Feb - 24th Feb 2009.

Richard specializes in the use of light using neon and glass and will also be showing how drawing and mark making influence and help him in his work.

For more information visit his website http://www.richardbox.com/

Shake Pole 30.09 -15.10.06

Autumn Term Timetable

2008-07-01T15:36:00.002+01:00

Our Autumn term timetable is now available for booking.

We have a new tutor this term, Ruth Wallace, who ran our successful Developing Texture workshop in June, who will be running a Drawing course on Monday mornings.

We also have a new course, The Process of Drawing, aimed at experienced students. This course is aimed at helping students develop their work further and will involve individual tuition as well as group discussion.

Valerie Bowes returns to Monday afternoons with her popular Life Drawing class, and as a result the untutored class moves to Wednesday afternoon, where there is an opportunity to then continue drawing into the evening with the Wednesday evening drop in class. Discounts available if you book both sessions!

For further details have a look at our website http://www.drawingschool.org.uk/courses.asp

To book any course ring 0845 680 1409

Developing Texture in Drawing Workshop

2008-06-23T14:27:00.000+01:00

This weekend we held our first two day adult drawing workshop. It was run by Ruth Wallace and was an opportunity for the students to explore a variety of drawing materials and techniques, full details here.

A good time was had by all and some interesting work was produced, below are some images from the weekend.

Ruth will be running a weekly drawing class this autumn term, have a look at our website for more information.

Jason Hicklin : Drawings, Paintings and Etchings

2008-06-20T15:08:00.006+01:00

Full details of Jason Hicklin's solo show at the Bristol Drawing School are now available. The show will run from the 5th - 21st September 2008 and we will be having a preview evening on the 4th September from 6pm to 9pm, all welcome.

This will be our first event after our August break and we are sure that it will be perfect introduction to our Autumn programme, you may remember Jason from our Drawing Matters show at Easter.

Jason has kindly agreed to give a talk about his work before the preview on the 4th September at 5pm, if you are interested then please do just come along to the school then, admission is free.

For full details about the show, click here

Inishfree Bay, Co Donegal

Inishsirrer, Co Donegal, Etching

Staffa, Etching

We will also be running a etching workshop on the 27th September with Jason, if you are interested in this then contact us on 0845 680 1409 or by email to info@drawingschool.org.uk

You can see more examples of Jason's work by visiting his website: www.jasonhicklin.com

Half Term Childrens Workshops

2008-05-19T13:59:00.003+01:00

This half term we are continuing our series of childrens workshops with artist Rose Popay

Charcoal drawing, canvas painting, mark making with music, dressing up in outfits, inventing characters and fantasy worlds, creating artworks to take home.

Fun and excitement for ages 5 to 8 and 8+, prices start from £12

Click here for more details

Some images from the last ones...

Drawing Matters: Comments

2008-03-31T09:27:00.004+01:00

"Looks fantastic!" - TW
"Fab show - fab idea - thank you and well done" - EM
"I've learned a lot of things and am looking forward to experimenting with drawing further using the inspiration from here" - DS
"Very inspiring - opened my eyes to more possibilities than I imagined - thanks" - ML
"A wonderful range of work - very inspiring!" - VL

Drawing Matters: Private View

2008-03-28T16:16:00.002Z

Some images from the Drawing Matters private view last night, many thanks to all who came.

Open Days

2008-03-25T13:12:00.000Z

Over the Easter weekend we had our first open days, this included an end of term exhibition of work which our students brought in. We had a lot of interest and even made the GWR list of top things to do that weekend.

The student exhibition was particularly well received, and everyone was impressed by the variety and standard of work on show.

Childrens Workshops

2008-03-22T16:04:00.005Z

Some images from our first series of childrens workshops run by Rose Popay.

We are running workshops on the 7th - 10th April which are now ready for booking. Rose will be doing some more and we have some new ones from Imogen Harvey-Lewis which we are sure you will enjoy. For more details click here

Charcoal drawing

Canvas painting - and a bit of dressing up..

Painting on bags to take home

Antarctic Journey Drawing Site

2008-01-27T16:59:00.000Z

We received the following email this week which may be of interest

On the 31st of January 2008, I will be heading to the Antarctic as part of the Australian Governments Antarctic arts fellowship. It is an 8 week roundtrip aboard the ship the Aurora Australis, visiting 3 of the Australian bases on one of the annual re-supply trips.

During the voyage I will be drawing like a madman between bouts of seasickness, and will be putting some of the work I make and interviews with people on the boat, up on a specially built website. Some schools in Victoria (Australia) will be following my journey, sending me questions and making artwork of their own back in the classroom.

The link to the site is : http://www.nicholashutcheson.com/antarctic/

Each week, new content will be uploaded, with the first actual week onboard ship, to be put online around about the 8th of Feb. Currently there are things about before the voyage (new drawings are going up all this week as I make them).

The site should be pretty easy to get about, but for the less savvy, below I have written out a quick guide to the site, where things are etc.

I will be sending out an email alert when a new week’s worth of content has been uploaded. It will only be for the duration of the trip (8 weeks). If you would like to receive the alert, then send an email to info@nicholashutcheson.com

Last year I asked the Drawing research network members for some thoughts on the project. I am very grateful for all the ideas that I received, it gave me a good base from which to start from.

Regards

Nicholas Hutcheson

William Kentridge

2008-01-27T16:46:00.000Z

Went to the London Art fair in London last weekend and among many things that were inspiring or desiring was this Sleeper by William Kentridge, embarrassingly I had not come across his work before. this is what the Tate website had to say about the etching and the artist

William Kentridge born 1955 Sleeper is an etching produced by the intaglio process in an edition of fifty. It was made at 107 Workshop, near Bath, and published by David Krut, London, during a visit Kentridge made to England. The recumbent naked male figure depicted is very similar to one which appears in a slightly earlier etching, titled Act IV scene 7, from Kentridge's portfolio of eight etchings called Ubu Tells the Truth 1996-7. It is also thematically related to drawings made for his film Ubu Tells the Truth in 1997 (Tate T07481), which was produced in 1997. Kentridge mainly makes short animated films created typically from several large drawings, on which he draws and erases the developments of his narrative. Frequently the films are shown accompanied by the drawings which have gone into their making, providing frozen moments in the history of the film. In his film Ubu Tells the Truth he mixed other media, such as footage from documentaries, photographic stills and moving puppets, with his drawings for the first time. Sleeper, likefurther series of etchings Kentridge went on to make in the late 1990s, crystallizes some of the major issues of his work.

One of Kentridge's fundamental themes is the desire to forget, or to remain oblivious to, difficult and unpleasant aspects of reality and history. More specifically, his films depict the struggle of the white South African psyche with its conscience over the exploitation and abuse of the African land and people, during the period in which the system of apartheid was first challenged and then dismantled. Characters in his films are locked into a state of denial in which preoccupation with personal relationships (such as love affairs) provides a means to ignore the increasingly loud and insistent calls for political change. Sleeping, in Kentridge's work, is a metaphor for a state of blissful ignorance, a return to the internal world of the imagination, which conveniently allows the external world to be forgotten. However, the sleeper must always wake up, at some point, andthis moment of awakening and recognition is continually approached in Kentridge's films. It is usually an experience of painful but fertile self-knowlege, in which various types of loss bring the films' Western protagonists to an increased connection to their African landscape and heritage and to their own humanity.

Further reading:
Dan Cameron, Carolyn Cristov-Barkagiev, J.M. Coetzee, William Kentridge, London 1999 Carolyn Cristov-Barkagiev, William Kentridge, exhibition catalogue, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels 1998

Elizabeth Manchester
March 2000

Jerwood Space Exhibition: Space to Draw

2008-01-27T16:24:00.000Z

Space to Draw is a curated exhibition of works from a mixture of emerging and established artists with a previous relationship with Jerwood: Antony Gormley, Neville Gabie, Peter Randall-Page, Michael Shaw, Heather Deedman, Alison Gill and Paul McDevitt. Most of these artists are known for their sculpture or site-specific work and drawing is an essential part of their practice.

Space to Draw is the first in a series of conversations across the Jerwood Visual Arts disciplines. The Jerwood Visual Arts series encompasses sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, applied arts, and moving image in a regular series of awards, prizes, and exhibitions. Jerwood Visual Arts is involved in the questioning of the shifting and undefined lines between these disciplines.

http://www.jerwoodspace.co.uk/

Our First Exhibition

2008-01-27T16:14:00.000Z

We have been busy arranging our first exhibition to take place at the drawing school over the Easter holidays. It is a group showing a diverse range of drawing and we hope it will be inspirational to our students and the general public alike.

The exhibition is entitled Drawing Matters and takes place from the 28th March - 20th April 2008. We are very pleased to announce the following artists will be showing:

Jason Hicklin http://www.jasonhicklin.com/
Kate Raggett http://kateraggett.com/
Fiona Robinson http://www.fionarobinson.info/
Valerie Bowes http://www.valeriebowes.co.uk/
Robert Clarke http://www.robertclarkedrawings.com/
Ian Chamberlain http://www.ichamberlain.co.uk/
Carol Peace http://www.carolpeace.com/

Keep checking our website http://www.drawingschool.org.uk/ for further information.

BANKSY FOR A FIVER!!!

2008-01-21T07:52:00.000Z

We were lucky enough to be involved in the Graffle event, http://www.graffle.co.uk/, this weekend, a charity raffle of graffiti artwork from the likes of Banksy, Nick Walker and David Shrigley.

By all accounts it was a huge success with all money going to the Bristol childrens hospital and Fairbridge West, and another event is rumoured for the summer.

For more information on the charities and to make donations go here:

www.aboveandbeyond.org.uk
www.fairbridge.org.uk

Drawing Breath & Jerwood Drawing Prize 2007

2008-01-16T20:28:00.000Z

The RWA are holding an exciting drawing exhibition from the end of this month, extract from their press release below:

Drawing Breath & Jerwood Drawing Prize 2007
27th January - 2nd March

To kick-start 2008, Bristol will be lucky enough to be host to two of the most magnificent exhibitions of contemporary drawing in the country. The Royal West of England Academy in Clifton will be showing the acclaimed Jerwood Drawing Prize alongside Drawing Breath, a collection of drawings by the award winners and eminent selectors of this annual drawing prize. Comprising of over 180 works these exhibitions present the breadth and depth of contemporary drawing from a wide range of internationally and nationally renowned artists currently working in the UK.

More details here

Monday Morning

2008-01-14T18:40:00.000Z

nice way to start the week

School Opens

2008-01-12T15:25:00.000Z

This past week saw us open our doors to the first students.

The first class was Valerie's on the monday morning and after spending a long weekend adding the final touches to the school, easels, blinds etc... it was a relief to finally see people turn up and enjoy themselves.

Due the success of the Tuesday evening class, we are thinking of adding another tutored evening class on Mondays, if you would be interested in this class let us know

Comments from the first week:

I think the class is great, and I was quite disappointed when we stopped at 12.30.
NC - Tues AM

Just back from attending this evenings drop in drawing class. Could I just tell you how much I enjoyed the event and what a super setup - I hope you go from strength to strength and I look forward to those Saturday all day events! Very well done - 10/10
KK - Wed Eve

Building the school #2

2008-01-09T19:58:00.000Z

Mr Gentle and the rest of the team, Ben, Andy and Cleo

Enlarging door

Building wall

Lots of painting

Late nights

An anxious wait for electricity

And finally...

Merit in Drawing Award

2007-12-19T07:12:00.000Z

We were proud to sponsor the Merit in Drawing Award for the 2007 Royal West of England Autumn Exhibition this year.

The drawing we chose was of a satellite dish by Ian Chamberlain. We chose the drawing because we liked both the tentative research lines and the confident marks that were evident; it seemed like there had been a real exploration of the form and then a forceful marking out of the important lines which created a kind of energy in the drawing. We loved the subject matter too.

Have a look at further examples of Ian's work here http://www.ichamberlain.co.uk/

Welcome

2007-12-11T13:42:00.000Z

Welcome to the blog for the Bristol Drawing School, we will be using this space to give you a background to the goings on at the school. We will list here forthcoming events and classes and any other items we feel may be of interest.

Don't forget to go to our main website for details of all our current events and classes.