Princes Drawing School Review

The Princes Drawing School:

 Short Course Review

My final piece, 'Blue Nude with Blank Canvas'

With weeks of elusive freedom from University to bathe in over Christmas, I joined the Prince’s Drawing School’s five-day oil painting course led by the artists Thomas Newbolt and Harriet Miller. Though I was initially sceptical of the location of the studio in the notoriously yummy-mummy populated Kensington, on arrival there was a sense of harmony within the group which created a chilled atmosphere.

On the first day I wandered through a maze of dilapidated garages into their charming little studio. The rain was relentless, but despite the lack of electricity, the gloomy natural light worked to my favour, because rather than agonizing over anatomically correct sketches, I relaxed into interpreting the lilac afterglow of twilight with a simplified tonal range.

Five professional models posed for us, ranging from a flame-haired Pre-Raphaelite vision to a muscular young carpenter. We practiced quick sketches of their complex contortions each morning and were pushed to draw with bold decisive lines and tones to evoke the light and space as well as the model’s presence.

Thomas’s golden advice was to observe how the model relates physically to their surroundings and support their weight in order to avoid them looking as if they’re floating. I did, however, struggle with his notion of achieving a sense of harmony by contemplating the greater context of the model rather than the individual body parts. This technique wasn’t as easy to replicate as the expressive brushstrokes and bold colour he showed us in Matisse’s Fauvist works. I admit that at times I felt Thomas’s theories were verging on too abstract for his audience, but as a compromise, I was grateful for his attempts to visually orientate us with exhibition catalogues.

Refreshingly, both artists rejected Google images and instead insisted that we make the most of being in London and venture out to galleries and libraries to source inspiration. As a member of Generation Y, I must say that it was refreshing painting all day in an environment free of screens and social networking, with only a paintbrush to communicate with.

On the final afternoon, I painted the back of a seated, female model in oil. The sombre cobalt blue atmosphere created by the studio’s natural light reminded me of Picasso’s Blue Period work so I selected a primarily blue colour palette. I employed a restricted tonal range to create depth and varying brushstroke lengths and thicknesses to give the canvas texture. I followed the lead of Harriet by avoiding painting in a contrived style and instead allowed my brushstrokes to be driven by raw emotion à la Dali. I would highly recommend this course to any students who seek a little serenity and would like to explore their passion for painting and drawing in the holidays.