Drawing from the masters II: colour in the Renaissance
Weekend-long practical course
24 March 2018 10.30am - 5.30pm25 March 2018 10.30am - 5.30pm
The Life Room, RA Schools, Piccadilly
£420 Includes all materials, lunch, and wine reception.
Friends of the RA book first
Charles I: King and Collector
Terms and conditions
Led by award-winning painter and figurative artist Andy Pankhurst, this practical course focuses on the relationship between colours, using the Renaissance masters Titian, Dürer and Holbein as inspiration.
When we draw from such great artists as the Renaissance masters, Titian, Dürer and Holbein, it is not merely a copy, but a point of entry into the mind, the thought processes, and the artistic approaches of some of the greatest artists of all time. In turn, you begin to learn about the visual language and concepts of picture-making itself, for example: the structure of compositional surface geometry, the imagined pictorial space and its articulation of three-dimensional form upon a two-dimensional surface, the orchestration of colour relationships – such tangible concepts we learn from the masters.
It was the same for those artists that we consider masters today. For instance, Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), the great Flemish artist, drew great influence from Italian Renaissance masters including Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio, Tintoretto – but most of all, from Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (c. 1487–1576), the foremost master of Venetian painting. Making copies from Titian became common practice for Rubens, although in doing so, his copies always retained their own idiosyncratic Rubenesque characteristics and adaptions.
Rubens copying from Titian, and in turn Van Dyck from Rubens, demonstrates in part the rich legacy and fertile history to draw from in copying after one’s predecessors. Thus, the evolution of the language of the visual arts, though not always linear, develops within a continuous cross-fertilisation of ideas.
This course endeavours to embrace and explore such artistic discourse and visual culture essential to creative ideals, while working under the guidance of painter and expert tutor Andy Pankhurst.
Please note that this is a drawing course, using wet and dry drawing materials including coloured chalks/pastels and watercolour. Oil or acrylic paint will not be used during this course.
About the course
This unique weekend-long practical course will explore the ideals and formal pictorial aspects of the language of colour adopted by such artists as Rubens and Van Dyck within their work after having worked themselves from the masters, notably Titian. Participants will take inspiration from these artists in the same way, working from a specially constructed still life which will include life models dressed in 17th century-inspired costume. Both dry and wet mediums, including coloured chalks and watercolours, will be used and discussed.
Day one will consist of portrait poses from one model, inspired and constructed specifically towards the orchestration and interaction of colour relationships observed within renaissance masters work. The aspects of such creative ideals and concepts will be explored while using the medium of coloured chalks and pastels.
Day two will explore narrative and allegorical poses and set up with two models, inspired and constructed specifically towards the orchestration and interaction of colour relationships observed within renaissance masters work. Again, drawing from such aspects, the choice of medium to aid further discovery will be the use of watercolours.
This course is suitable for all levels, preferably with some prior experience of drawing, painting or creative practice in general.
This course is for you if:
• You have some prior knowledge of drawing and/or painting and would like to extend your skills in the practice of working from both perception and direct observation
• You would like a new perspective in your approach to life drawing, specifically tableau and still life
• You would like the opportunity to develop your skills and ideas in a small group setting in the historical setting of the RA’s Life Room
• You have no prior experience of life drawing but an interest in the history, theory and practice of art more widely
Minimum age 18
The number of participants is strictly limited to enable detailed feedback from the course tutor.
Price: £420
Saturday 24 – Sunday 25 March 2018
10.30am – 5.30pm on both days
Includes:
• An introduction to the RA with particular reference to relevant works in the Collection
• The opportunity to work from life models in theatrical costume
• Unlimited access to the Charles I: King and Collector exhibition
• All practical materials
• Lunch and refreshments on both days
• A drinks reception at the end of the first day
• A certificate of participation upon course completion
About the tutor
Andy Pankhurst
Upon graduation from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1992, Andy Pankhurst had won first prize for the Windsor and Newton Young Artist’s Award, and was represented by leading gallery Anthony Mould Contemporary Ltd.
In the same year, he was awarded the Richard Ford Scholarship through the Royal Academy, with which he travelled to Spain to study the old masters within the Prado. He subsequently became a committee member of the award himself in 2003, nominated by Christopher Le Brun, P.R.A, and alongside former Keeper of the RA Schools, Maurice Cockrill RA (1936-2013). Through the Boise Travel Scholarship, he later lived in the Veneto area of Italy, studying primarily Giotto and the Venetian School.
As a figurative painter, Andy Pankhurst is known as an artist and teacher working from the life model. Andy has work represented in various public, corporate and private collections and museums in the UK and USA. Andy currently exhibits with Browse and Darby in London, with his most recent show of paintings and drawings in 2014. He is the co-author with Lucinda Hawksley of the book What Makes Great Art, published in 2012 by Apple Press.
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.