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Short course

Contemporary Drawing Short Course

Contemporary Drawing Short Course | On campus
Explore contemporary drawing practices. Develop your unique drawing style.

Next start months
November 2025
February 2026
June 2026
Tutor(s)
Richard Ducker
Sarah Sparkes
Price
From £460.00

Course description

Course overview

Taking place over a single weekend, this course will take you on a journey to drawing's furthest and wilder shores, taking in the use of contemporary media and languages including action drawing, performance and site-specific interventions. This course will enable you to explore the act of drawing, questioning what is drawing and what are its origins.

You will explore how drawing relates to our bodies and their physical actions, the spaces they inhabit, our intentions and desires, and investigate the possibilities and limitations drawing has to express these desires.

Over the weekend you will be introduced to a new approach to drawing and make your own work in response to this, building up an exciting a diverse portfolio of drawings in a variety of media.

Who this course is for

This course is suitable for anyone interested in developing their contemporary drawing skills. Some pre-existing experience of drawing will be useful but is not essential; the key requirement is a preparedness to experiment, to question and discuss assumptions about what drawing is, and a willingness to experiment, take risks, and collaborate.

Key information

Topics covered

  • Drawing in relation to gesture, the body, collaboration and constraint
  • Drawing to track and record movement
  • Drawing to record memory
  • Drawing in 3D and in moving image
  • Drawing in the Site Specific
  • Relationships between drawing and performance

Learning outcomes

  • Gain knowledge of some of the key developments in contemporary drawing practice
  • Have the confidence and ability to build on and extend some of the concepts you have learned into your own practice
  • Demonstrate a knowledge of a wide range of drawing processes and practices and works
  • Build an exciting a diverse portfolio of drawings
  • Digital badge and certificate of attendance

Materials

  • Sketch books
  • Pencils, ink and ink pen
  • A large container of drawing ink and a dip pen
  • Masking tape
  • Eraser
  • Smart phone or camera to document work.
  • Collection of more unusual objects to draw with such as: Old toothbrush, twigs, feathers

Tutor

Richard Ducker

Richard Ducker is a practising artist and curator. He studied Fine Art at Reading University and Goldsmiths. After leaving Goldsmiths, he opened the Fieldgate Gallery http://fieldgategallery.com/fieldgateabout.html in 2006 and continues to curate under this name. Richard teaches short courses in curating at Central Saint Martins and has taught cultural theory at Cass School of Art in London.

Sarah Sparkes

Sarah Sparkes is an artist and independent curator whose practice explores the immaterial and how this may be visualised. Since 2008 she has run the curatorial research project GHost. She has organised numerous collaborative and solo projects, working with both U.K. and international artists and realising ambitious events and exhibitions in both public and private spaces - including the London Art Fair and Folkestone Triennial. She holds an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts and between 2009 - 2011 was a Research Fellow at the University of London. As well as leading and curating a number of visual arts projects, she frequently exhibits her own work which encompasses installation, painting, performance and film. She was the 2015 the winner of the MERU Art*Science Award, recently had a solo exhibition with New Art Projects. A qualified HE Lecturer, she has taught within both academic and non-academic environments and is currently lecturing in Fine Art and Independent Curating at a number of London institutions including Tate Modern and University of the Arts. She lectures and has published widely on her own practice and curatorial projects.

Take a look at Sarah's website

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