Workshop

Saturday Sketch Club

Free online classes

8 May 2021 10.30 - 11.45am15 May 2021 10.30 - 11.45am22 May 2021 10.30 - 11.45am29 May 2021 10.30 - 11.45am5 June 2021 10.30 - 11.45am12 June 2021 10.30 - 11.45am19 June 2021 10.30 - 11.45am26 June 2021 10.30 - 11.45am

Live-streamed online

Free

Join our weekly online art club! It's designed for everyone (beginners and practising artists) and we'll focus on a new technique each week. Booking essential.

Find out more about our latest Saturday Sketch Club classes.

After a difficult year, we want to celebrate our community in this series of free, live-streamed workshops. Join our artist tutors in the Royal Academy for the opportunity to be inspired and get creative, using drawing materials you’ll have at home.

Each Saturday morning session will be led by a different artist, and you’re welcome to drop into as many or as few as you’d like. All you'll need is a pencil, paper and rubber, with each session exploring different techniques and styles.

Drawing is a practice both universal and ancient. These workshops – using the most basic of materials, pencil and paper – reconnect us with the present moment. You'll learn to relate your mark-making to both your surroundings and your imagination, rendering your thoughts, feelings and ideas on paper.

You’ll be taught drawing techniques inspired by RA collections and exhibitions, as well as working from life models and objects from around your house. Sessions are suitable for all levels, so whether you’re a seasoned sketcher or a complete novice, you’ll find activities to inspire you.

These workshops will be delivered via a live webinar. Book your free tickets using the buttons below, and you'll be emailed your unique link to each workshop session.

Please note: participants won’t be on camera, but will have a chance to share their work with us by posting it on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #RASketchClub or on our Facebook Group.

Free

Programme

Saturday 8 May 2021: Still life with Mark Hampson
10.30am - 11.45am

In a series of short, fast exercises, participants will encounter the potential relationships linking observational rendering, expressive mark making, visual interpretation and the role of the imagination when drawing still lives. Together we will look at the importance of looking, how light and shadows affect the objects and the ways in which a still life can be interpreted.

Saturday 15 May 2021: Life drawing with Andy Pankhurst
10.30am - 11.45am

From beginners to experienced drawers, all are invited to follow in the footsteps of generations of Royal Academy Schools students and join us for an artist-led life drawing class. You will work directly from a life model, practising drawing from long and short poses, and learning about proportion, form, rhythm and movement.

Saturday 22 May 2021: Creating worlds with Sahra Hersi
10.30am - 11.45am

Collage is one of the most accessible artforms around. Drawing inspiration from collage artists Joseph Cornell and Richard Hamilton, as well as the outsider art tradition, join Sahra in creating an escapist world. Grab any paper you have lying around (newspapers, magazines, leaflets or receipts), a pair of scissors and something sticky (an old glue stick or some tape will do).

Saturday 29 May 2021: Anatomy drawing with Adele Wagstaff
10.30am - 11.45am

This online drawing session, taught by Adele Wagstaff, will introduce the anatomy of the human form; from the deep landmarks of the skeletal system to the musculature which is evident on the surface of the body. Participants will observe the structure and movement of the body as they practice drawing the model in a series of short and long poses.

Saturday 5 June 2021: Botanical drawing with Laxmi Hussain
10.30am - 11.45am

Join Laxmi Hussain for a guided workshop in botanics. Laxmi will introduce you to techniques involved in mark making, to discover drawing as an everyday activity. Laxmi explores minimalism in her work through continuous line and will demonstrate how to approach and use these techniques.

Saturday 12 June 2021: Drawing as exploration with Elinor Stanley
10.30am - 11.45am

Discover repetition and transformation with Elinor, exploring the power of your drawing through multiple versions. Inspired by Picasso’s cut-outs, this session investigates how simple shapes can be crystallised into expressions and motifs for future works. Have a stack of scrap paper, pencil and scissors at the ready!

Saturday 19 June 2021: Experimenting with the figure with Jake Garfield
10.30am - 11.45am

Join artist Jake Garfield for this fun and informal life drawing session. Working directly from a clothed model, you will break drawing down to its essential ingredients. Expect to explore formal qualities including “line”, “mark-making” and “tone” through a series of short activities, before combining these different aspects over an extended pose. This practical drawing session is perfect for beginners and experienced artists alike. Don’t forget your pencil!

Saturday 26 June 2021: Drawing into the abstract with Emyr Williams
10.30am - 11.45am

This workshop will explore and challenge our perceptions of 'realistic' drawing and abstract art. Emyr will introduce us to new ways of seeing, building confidence in our drawing. Join Emyr to experiment with different hands, grips, speeds and viewpoints, and create your very own abstract artworks.

Submit your work

Please share your work with us by posting your drawings on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #RASketchClub or on our Facebook Group

Please note, when you share your work with us by email or on social media you:
(i) grant to the Royal Academy of Arts a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce and modify your drawing, for use in any media including on the Royal Academy website and social media channels, as well as featuring it in the #RASketchClub broadcast;
(ii) warrant that the drawing is your own original work and you have the right to make it available for the use described;
(iii) agree to waive any moral rights in your drawing, including to be acknowledged as author (or where any such rights cannot be waived, not to assert such rights);
(iv) allow the Royal Academy of Arts to use your name and / or social media handle on the Royal Academy website and social media channels.

Our courses and classes programme

Our varied programme of short courses and classes provides an opportunity to explore subjects ranging from life drawing to the history of exhibitions and arts management, led by expert tutors and practising artists. These courses introduce traditional art-making processes, as well as perspectives on art history, theory and business.