This year’s Friday afternoon Art Enrichment sessions have been a great opportunity for students to explore a range of creative techniques and ideas beyond the normal curriculum. Each term has offered something completely different and our students have responded with remarkable energy, ambition and impressive outcomes.
In the autumn term, we launched the year with our Atelier Art Masterclass. This advanced drawing course was aimed at students who were already confident in their skills and wanted to push themselves further. Inspired by the traditional French idea of an ‘atelier’ (a studio where artists train under the guidance of a ‘master’), students spent their Friday afternoons creating highly detailed pencil drawings. They practised classical drawing methods and refined their ability to draw with accuracy, tone and precision. The focus was on realism, and students worked on challenging subjects that pushed them out of their comfort zones.
In the spring term, we switched focus and went large-scale with a collaborative space mural, connecting 14 large canvases to form one epic artwork, which will be displayed in the Prep School from September. 18 students from Years 10, 11 and 12 worked together to paint the mural, bringing in their own ideas and interpretations of outer space. The result is a bold, vibrant and imaginative piece full of rockets, satellites, colourful planets and even a moon-walking astronaut! It was exciting to see it all come together as the term went on.
This term, we have changed direction again and started exploring ethereal portraits using coloured pencil, inspired by the work of Italian artist Marco Mazzoni and following the video tutorials on his online course. In the tutorials, he explains his influences, what he looks for in a portrait and the steps he follows to achieve his unique style, blending delicate features with surreal, dream-like elements, as well as an unusual juxtaposition of various leaves and flowers. Students have been learning how to build up colour gradually and use coloured pencils in a darker and moody way than they have done previously. It’s a completely different approach to drawing than the autumn term’s masterclass, and a chance to try something more unusual and experimental.
It’s been a packed year of enrichment for the Art Department, with each term offering something fresh and different. Whether focusing on technical skill, teamwork or creative expression, students have thrown themselves into each challenge and produced some brilliant work. We look forward to showing you the results of their efforts in our annual art exhibition on Saturday 28 June. Join us between 1pm and 4pm in the Senior School Hall!
What the students say…
“I’ve taken part in two of the three Art Enrichment projects this year, and both have helped me develop different sides of my art practice. In the autumn term, I joined the Atelier Art Masterclass, which focused on advanced drawing techniques. It was aimed at students like me who already felt quite confident with our drawing skills but wanted to take things even further. We spent the sessions working on realistic pencil drawings and pushed ourselves to improve. The atmosphere felt really productive, like a proper working studio, and I loved the calm focus of it all. I learnt a lot about refining details and controlling shading to create depth and texture. It was really rewarding to see it finished at the end.“
“I’m enjoying this term’s ethereal portraits project, which has been completely different so far. When I was in Year 8, I took part in another enrichment masterclass run by Mr Lax, where we studied the coloured pencil illustrations of Martha Iserman, so I was keen to see how Marco Mazzoni’s approach might teach me a new and different style. I’ve learnt a lot already. His portraits are soft, layered and often quite surreal, and we’ve been trying to recreate that dreamy atmosphere in our own work. We took photos in the sixth form photography studio over the road, with dramatic lighting and a blue gel on one side to give it a moody aesthetic. I love how the photos came out and can’t wait to turn one of them into a drawing. We still have a lot to do before they are finished, but I’ve enjoyed experimenting with colour in a more expressive way. It’s been a nice contrast to the technical focus of the autumn term.“
Niamh, Year 9
“I joined Art Enrichment in the spring term to be part of the collaborative space mural project, and I’m so glad I did. Having finished my GCSE Fine Art course last summer, I was eager to get back into painting again. 18 of us worked together to paint a massive mural, which is going to be displayed in the Prep School. It was such a fun project to be involved in, especially because everyone had a different style, and we had to work out how to make it all connect together. It felt very different from a usual art lesson because it was far more collaborative and energetic, and I liked seeing how quickly the mural came together. I really hope the younger children in Prep like it!“
Millie, Year 12
