Thursday 30 June 2016

Tim Betjeman awarded Summer Residency in Giverny

Tim's easel in Monet's garden

Tim Betjeman (Drawing Year 2007) has been awarded the Terra Summer Residency Fellowship in Giverny, FranceFounded in 2001, the Terra Summer Residency brings together doctoral scholars of American Art and emerging artists worldwide for a nine-week residential program in the historic village of Giverny, France.  The program encourages independent work while providing seminars and mentoring by senior scholars and artists to foster reflection and debate. The Terra Summer Residency provides an opportunity for participants to widen their academic and creative horizons, explore international cultural perspectives, and forge lifelong exchanges and professional networks. The opportunity was advertised in the Alumni Newsletter in January 2016. More info here.

RDS Artists at RA Summer Show 2016


The Stowaway by Paul Fenner

This Year’s Summer Exhibition has opened at the Royal Academy and features many artists from the Royal Drawing School. Click on the artwork names to view images.

RDS Alumni:
Richard Burton Untitled
Laura Broughton Post Party
Nick Bush  Cliff at Saltdean
Lindsey McLean Two Figures in their Landscape
Paul Fenner The Stowaway
Laura Smith Fish

RDS Academic Board Members:
Timothy Hyman RA Melancholy in the City of our LifeTimothy Hyman RA Ludgate Rises Up, Timothy Hyman RA At Hays Wharf Galleria, Andrzej Jackowski At the Lining – Flowers and At the Lining – Forest, Eileen Hogan Self Portrait through Wardrobe.

RDS visiting artists:
Rose Wylie RA Spider, Frog and BirdHumphrey Ocean RA JoyrideMerlin James SuckChris Orr Plague of Frog


RDS Faculty:
Ishbel Myerscough Friends, Robert Dukes Cat Skull, Mary Millner Red Cow and Calf, Julie Held The Gift – The City.

The exhibition also includes pencil drawings by the late Ellsworth Kelly Hon RA.

Richard Ford Award 2016



Geraint Evans and Esme Hodsoll (Drawing Year 2015) have been selected for the Richard Ford Award 2016. They will spend two months at the Museo del Prado (Madrid), making drawings from paintings by the Spanish Masters. Established in 1976, the Award is supported by the Royal Academy. Past recipients include Martin Shortis and Susan Wilson (both RDS Faculty). 

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Rebecca Harper solo exhibition

On this journey I keep going by Rebecca Harper


Rebecca Harper (Drawing Year 2013) has a solo exhibition coming up this weekend at All Saints Church in Isleworth. The exhibition is part of Isleworth Arts Trail and will be open on 2nd and 3rd July from 11 am to 6pm. More info here: 

Rebecca Harper - An exhibition of large scale figurative paintings
2 and 3 july 11 – 6pm, All Saints Church Isleworth
Address: 63 Church St, Isleworth TW7 6BE

Daniel Shadbolt solo exhibition

Daniel Shadbolt (Drawing Year 2004) has a current exhibition at Gallery 286, London SW5 9AS. More info here.
  • Daniel Shadbolt, June 9 - 30 2016: The return - 'the best journey to make is inward'

David by Daniel Shadbolt (265 x 300)

View more of Daniel's work here.

Mark Hanson in upcoming solo exhibition


Mark Hanson (Drawing Year 2014) will be exhibiting new work at a gallery in Hoxton, London. More info here.

Clara Drummond wins First Prize at this year’s BP Portrait Award

We are very proud and happy for Clara Drummond who has won First Prize at this year’s BP Portrait Award. You can view Clara's painting in the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery until 4th September.


Clara Drummond (Drawing Year 2005, RDS Faculty) has won the First Prize in this year's BP Portrait Award – an award of £30,000. Her work was previously selected for the BP Portrait Award in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2014. Clara’s shortlisted portrait is of her friend, the artist Kirsty Buchanan (Drawing Year 2013), who wore a vintage Liberty dress to the sittings. Judges, including NPG director Nicholas Cullinan, author Alan Hollinghurst and artist Jenny Saville, praised the work for its 'subtle, enigmatic nature, and for the indelible impression the artist’s skill makes on the viewer'. You can read a recent article about Clara, here: ‘Third time lucky’. The awards ceremony took place on 21 June. At the judges’ discretion the winner will also receive a commission worth £5,000 to be agreed between the National Portrait Gallery and the artist.

Wednesday 22 June 2016

Four Alumni in 'Pen and Ink' book


The drawings of four RDS Alumni (Michelle Cioccoloni, Fraser Scarfe, Tyga Helme and Olivia Kemp) are featured in ‘Pen and Ink’, a new book release by James Hobbs. All artists use pen and ink, although often in very different ways. ‘Pen and Ink’ is also available in French and German, and further international editions (including a Spanish version) are planned. The book is available in bookshops across the country and also online here

  • ‘Pen & Ink’ Paperback, 224 pages
    Author: James Hobbs
    See a preview of the book here and here.

Jake Garfield concludes MA in Printmaking (RCA)


Jake Garfield (Drawing Year 2013) is concluding his MA in Printmaking at The Royal College of Art. His degree show opens on the 24th June and continues until 3rd July. More info here.

'I’d love to know what you all think of my prints if you get the chance to come down and see it. I’m upstairs in the sculpture building'. Jake

Jessie Makinson wins First Prize at Marmite Prize 2016

Congratulations to Jessie Makinson (Drawing Year 2012) who has won First Prize in the Marmite Prize for Painting 2016. While selecting the exhibition, co-curator Marcus Cope said: ‘One thing I have noticed is that the majority of the suggestions have been for a small group of female painters. Interestingly though, they represent quite different genres of painting… you’d be very unlikely to see them together in a group show.’ The student Prize was awarded to Anthony Banks (Drawing Year 2011). The exhibition also includes paintings by Alumni Kathryn Maple and Oliver Mulvihill, and continues until 1 July.


I never liked you, Jessie Makinson

A portrait by Nahem Shoa enters the collection of Southampton City Art Gallery



A portrait in oil paint by Nahem Shoa (Drawing Year 2003) has been acquired for the permanent collection of Southampton City Art Gallery, which is renowned for its permanent collection that features around 5,000 artworks that span eight centuries and tell the story of western art from the Renaissance to the present day. The core of the collection is twentieth century and contemporary British art. The portrait is of Nahem’s artist friend Desmond Haughton and was painted from life in 1997. Two further portraits by Nahem have been acquired this year by The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry.

Alessia Avellino selected for Society of Women Artists exhibition

Alessia Avellino (Drawing Year 2007) has two drawings in the Society of Women Artists exhibition at the Mall Galleries, which opens on 27th July. Click here to view the invitation.


Francis Hoyland: upcoming solo exhibition

RDS Tutor Francis Hoyland will be the subject of a major retrospective to be held at the Royal Drawing School in the Ground Floor Gallery next month. The exhibition will feature paintings, some never exhibited before, that span his entire career.

Francis Hoyland 
Royal Drawing School, 19-22 Charlotte Rd
Save the date Private View Tuesday 19th July 2016