Beyond skin deep: anatomical drawing and painting
Six-week practical course
15 May 2019 6.30 - 9pm22 May 2019 6.30 - 9pm29 May 2019 6.30 - 9pm5 June 2019 6.30 - 9pm12 June 2019 6.30 - 9pm19 June 2019 6.30 - 9pm
The Life Room, Royal Academy Schools
£520. Includes all materials, light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of the final session.
The Anatomy Professor
Terms and conditions
With each of the six classes taught by a different artist and expert tutor, this practical course provides a remarkable way to develop your drawing skills as well as exploring representation of the human body.
Over six weeks, this practical course will give you the chance to examine every layer of human anatomy, from the skeletal system that forms the infrastructure of the body to the musculature that gives us movement and life. Inspired by the RA’s exhibition The Anatomy Professor and building on the Academy's long tradition of anatomical drawing as a foundation for the arts, each class is designed to explore the complexity of human biology as well as the fundamental practice of life drawing and painting. In a first for the RA, we are offering a practical course taught by a different tutor each week, to provide you with a range of perspectives.
An understanding of mechanisms and structures beneath the skin reveal the complex beauty of the human organism. Great artists past and present, from Leonardo da Vinci to Stephen Farthing RA, have explored representations of the body through in-depth knowledge of anatomy. This course enables you to deepen your knowledge of the body’s interior, which will in turn strengthen the skills needed for successful life drawing and portraiture.
Working with professional life models, the course allows you to explore the weighting of the body, its movements, gestures and facial anatomy which together lend feeling, emotion and life to an artwork. Working in a fully-equipped art studio, you will learn how artists' materials such as chalk, pastel and ink can be manipulated to mimic the appearance of the body, with techniques both traditional and innovative. Guided by artistic demonstrations from six experts, your pencil or paintbrush will sculpt the bones, tissues and textures of the human anatomy, a critical subject matter in art.
This course takes place in the RA Schools' historic Life Room, designed specifically for the Royal Academy to provide directional lighting to enhance delineation of the body’s musculature and aid life drawing, which has been practised in this room by generations of Royal Academy artists and Academicians.
This unique course is designed to complement the art theory course: Art & Anatomy: The Fabric of the Human Body. Sign up for both courses for the special price of £800 (discount offered at check-out).
About the course
Explore the fundamental practice of depicting the human body in a six-week practical course taught by a different leading artist each week.
Participants will draw the life model in both short and long poses with a selection of drawing tools. The course will cover all aspects of human anatomy.
Participants are advised to bring something to carry their work home in, as there are no storage facilities available.
This course is suitable for all levels.
This course is for you if:
• You have no prior experience of life drawing but have an interest in the theory, practice and history of art and/or drawing from life
• You have an interest in drawing or some prior knowledge and would like to improve on existing skills
• You would like a new perspective in your approach to life drawing
• You would like to work within a small group in the historic setting of the Royal Academy’s Life Room, with one-on-one teaching and expert guidance
Minimum age 18
The number of participants is strictly limited to enable detailed feedback from the course tutor.
£520
Wednesday 15 May – Wednesday 19 June 2019
6.30pm-9pm each session
• An introduction to the RA with particular reference to works in the collection
• The opportunity to work from both male and female professional life models throughout the course
• All specialist practical art materials
• Course learning materials and hand-outs
• Refreshments provided during each session
• A drinks reception at the end of the final session
• A certificate of participation upon course completion
Art and anatomy: the fabric of the human body
Join a group of artists, curators and medical specialists to explore the art of human anatomy through the ages in a theory course inspired by the Royal Academy’s long-standing relationship with the study of anatomy.
A unique course designed to complement this practical art course. Sign up for both courses for the special price of £800 (discount offered at check-out).
About the space
The Life Room
The Royal Academy’s historic Life Room sits at the heart of the RA Schools. Usually closed to the public, this unique and significant space was designed in the 1860s, when the galleries and art school first moved to Burlington Gardens.
The semi-circular seating arrangement, based on an ancient design, traces its British history back to Hogarth’s Academy in St Martin’s Lane, c.1730. Directional light is used to enhance the delineation of the model’s musculature and aid life drawing, which has been practised in this room by generations of Royal Academy artists and students.
Our courses and classes programme
Our programme of short courses and classes offers the opportunity to explore a range of subjects, led by expert tutors and practising artists.