Understanding the human form
Five-week practical evening course
3 October 2018 6.15 - 9.15pm10 October 2018 6.15 - 9.15pm17 October 2018 6.15 - 9.15pm24 October 2018 6.15 - 9.15pm31 October 2018 6.15 - 9.15pm
The Life Room, RA Schools, Royal Academy of Arts
£420 Includes all materials, light refreshments and a drinks reception at the end of the final session.
Terms and conditions
With practising artists Adele Wagstaff and Andy Pankhurst, learn the essentials of drawing and explore anatomy and the human form in the Royal Academy’s historic Life Room, a purpose-built space for life drawing.
This course explores human anatomy in depth with the guidance of artists Adele Wagstaff and Andy Pankhurst. Working from a varied cast of life models and using a range of art materials, participants will have the opportunity to examine the human form through a variety of resting and action poses and to draw both individual and pairs of models.
The course will make use of expertly selected items from the Royal Academy’s Archives and Collection – a unique teaching tool which has informed artists and their practice since the Royal Academy’s foundation in 1768. As well as learning from carefully chosen archival material, participants will develop skills in observation, representation and reproduction.
This course will take place on consecutive Wednesday evenings.
Each session runs from 6.15pm to 9.15pm
Week one – Wednesday 3 October
The male form: Line, scale and proportion
Week two - Wednesday 10 October
The female form: Chiaroscuro – light and dark
Week three - Wednesday 17 October
Understanding the structure of the head
Week four - Wednesday 24 October
Foreshortening: The rhythm and form of the body
Week five - Wednesday 31 October
The interaction of two figures: Male and female
Please note - oil paint will not be used during this course.
About the course
During this five-week course, participants will focus on the entire human figure, working under different light conditions, using with different materials (in black and white as well as in colour), and drawing a variety of short and long poses.
Each session will be clearly defined by how structure and anatomy influence a particular series of poses with male and female models, both independently and by working together:
Each session will explore how structure and anatomy influence a particular series of poses, with male and female models working both independently and together:
Week one – The male form: Line, scale and proportion
Week two – The female form: Chiaroscuro, light and dark
Week three – Understanding the structure of the head
Week four – Foreshortening: The rhythm and form of the body
Week five – The interaction of two figures: Male and female
Please note - Oil paint will not be used during this course.
This course is suitable for all levels, but participants will ideally havesome prior experience of drawing, paintingor creative practice in general.
This course is for you if:
• 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 and anatomy.
• 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-led guidance.
• 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.
Minimum age 18
The number of participants is strictly limited to enable detailed feedback from the course tutor.
£420
Wednesday 3 October – Wednesday 31 October
6.15pm to 9.15pm for each session (five sessions in total)
• 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 at the beginning of each session
• A drinks reception at the end of the final session
• A certificate of participation upon course completion
About the tutor
Adele Wagstaff
Painter Adele Wagstaff trained at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Slade School of Fine Art where her teachers included Andrew Maclaren, Myles Murphy, Patrick Symons, Norman Norris and Euan Uglow. At the Slade, Adele focused her practice on working from nude models in sustained poses, and she continues to focus on the human figure, portraiture and still life.
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 from around 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.