
Rebecca Salter RA in her Keeper's House studio, 2017
Photo by Hollie Fernando
Rebecca Salter PRA
7 artworks | 6:50 minutes
Rebecca Salter was elected President of the Royal Academy in 2019. She studied traditional Japanese woodblock printing in Japan where she lived for six years, and has since written two books on the subject. Read more from the artist.

John Constable RA, Cloud Study, Hampstead, Tree at Right, 11 September 1821.
Part of the RA CollectionOil on paper laid on board, red ground. 241 mm x 299 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond.
John Constable RA
Cloud Study, Hampstead, Tree at Right , 11 September 1821
What's so wonderful about Constable's cloud studies is that they're very modest pieces, but they have this extraordinary power to capture time.
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1. Constable's cloud study

J.M.W. Turner RA, Ships at sea, ca. 1799-1802.
Part of the RA Collectionpen and ink on laid paper. 84 mm x 135 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
J.M.W. Turner RA
Ships at sea , ca. 1799-1802
One of the wonderful things about pen and ink sketches like Turner's is that you can actually see how the artist is thinking.
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2. Turner's sea sketch

Joseph Hecht, Chiswick, 1938?.
Part of the RA CollectionBurin engraving. 175 mm x 229 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond.
Joseph Hecht
Chiswick , 1938?
Hecht's print has been made with a form of engraving that's very direct – you scratch the plate directly with a sharpened instrument called a burin, so you get a very living, very real line.
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3. Hecht's engraving of Chiswick

Sir Frank Brangwyn RA, Portrait of A. H. Mackmurdo, 1 May 1945.
Part of the RA Collectionred chalk on cream laid paper. ca. 503 mm x ca. 650 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Sir Frank Brangwyn RA
Portrait of A. H. Mackmurdo , 1 May 1945
In this drawing by Brangwyn, it's almost as if you're a voyeur in this very intimate and very precious activity of reading.
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4. Brangwyn's drawing

Angelica Kauffman RA, Woman resting her head on a book, 1770.
Part of the RA CollectionEtching. 180 mm x 145 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Angelica Kauffman RA
I think there's inherent strength in Kauffman's arms and how she presents herself in this self-portrait. She has a look of tremendous determination.
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5. Kauffman's etching

Sir Hugh Casson PRA, Cover design for Japan Observed: A Sketchbook, c.1991.
Part of the RA CollectionPen and ink and watercolour drawing on hand made paper overlad with tracing paper with a print on wove paper, overlaid with another layer of tracing paper with pen and ink and pencil annotations.. 272 mm x 598 mm. © Estate of Sir Hugh Casson PRA. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Sir Hugh Casson PRA
I think Casson's sketch for a book cover gives you an idea of how architects look at space and think about space.
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6. Casson's sketch

Alfred Parsons RA, Japanese mountain landscape, by 1896.
Part of the RA Collectionpen and ink on wove paper. 179 mm x 192 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Alfred Parsons RA
Japanese mountain landscape , by 1896
In this Japan-inspired drawing, you can see Parsons' thought processes as he's exploring another culture's artistic practices.
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7. Parsons' pen and ink drawing
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Enjoyed this?
Read Rebecca Salter's thoughts on life and art
From artistic dogs to learning Japanese and proving your teachers wrong, the artist shares her tips and wisdom in our As I see it feature.
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