Drawing School Further Information

Charles Williams
Curator of the Drawing School, Charles has experience of teaching at most levels, from post-graduate life-drawing at the National Film And TV School to a self-portrait project sponsored by Rothschilds Bank at Bow Boys School. Currently he is also pathway leader in Fine Art on the BA (Visual Art) at Canterbury College.

Charles studied at the RA Schools, and was particularly influenced by Norman Blamey, Mike Upton, Tim Hyman and Mick Rooney. He exhibits widely, notably with Thompsons’ Gallery, Marylebone High Street and cag Laren, the Netherlands, and has had shows in USA, Spain and Hungary.

His early paintings were of family and friends, and of the gaunt mountains and industrial valleys of South Wales. Since his marriage to an archaeologist he has painted a great deal in Northern Greece and at Knossos in Crete. The effects of changing light and seasons, and the meetings and contrasts between the man-made and the natural, are constant themes in his work, both at home and abroad.

David Parfitt was elected to the New English Art Club in November 1999. He lives beside the river in West London. Here he paints portraits, and also the tidal Thames, the bridges and tower blocks, the towpath and the foreshore and the people who frequent them. The unifying theme in all his work is the effect of shifting light on his surroundings. His work is widely exhibited, and is represented in many private collections worldwide.

Julie Jackson
I am a London based artist and teacher. I run workshops in painting and drawing and am a visiting lecturer in life drawing at Central School of Speech and Drama. I draw and paint from the model every week which is an integral part of my practice as a teacher and artist.

Drawing is discovery. The act of drawing insists we look closer and will lead us on to discover more. Drawing is direct and relatively simple, although the first marks can seem daunting. We are in the room  with the model engaging in the experience of nature, mass and space. ' Art is a harmony parallel with nature' : Cezanne.

Karn Holly
Studied at the Royal Academy Schools under Peter Greenham. Regular sessions as Visiting Lecturer in Painting and Design on degree courses in and near London, including London University and the Royal College of Art. Exhibits widely, in galleries including the Barbican, FBA, RCA and the Tate. Work in public collections and private in UK Europe USA Canada and Japan.

Practical lectures aim to raise and clarify specific questions of vision, aims and selection processes, from observed sources, and the synthesis of findings into media.

An analytical approach is tempered with enthusiasm practicality and encouragement, germane to the development and growth of each student in an informed and particular way. Has been a major part of the Drawing School since it began in 1993.

Alex Fowler
Alex studied History Of Art at Edinburgh University (1995-1999 BA Hons.) followed by a Diploma in portraiture at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art (1999-2001). He paints portraits, still life and landscapes from life. They have a simple clarity. The approach is simple: the right colour in the right place; his approach to teaching is too. His aim is always to empathise with the students, and to help them to develop as artists. Though there are no hard and fast rules, there are good practices and principles. Good practices such as taking advantage of museums and art galleries. They are a resource that should be treasured not ignored. And we should look at the best because the best art speaks most clearly.

He is a firm advocate of Life Drawing: “the constant of drawing the model every week as a student was a way of exploring and developing all aspects of one’s work. It is a gym for the eye and hand, honing our ability to determine scale and shape, evaluate tone, describe texture, convey space, all critical players in the game of translating the world around us onto the two dimensional picture-plane. It also provides an opportunity to investigate elements of visual language from an abstract viewpoint, elements that are critical to all good painting, abstract or figurative: composition, choreography, rhythm, tempo, the weight and dynamics of forms, the dynamics of proportion.”