Tutor: Melissa Kime
Time: 10:30am – 4:30pm daily
£130
All materials are provided, with the exception of canvas, which can be purchased in the studio if needed.
Animals have long held a powerful place in the history of art — as symbols, metaphors, and characters full of narrative potential. Whether central to a composition or quietly present in the margins, they can represent strength, freedom, spirituality, or playfulness. In this two-day course, we’ll explore how animals can enrich and animate our work through drawing, painting, and imaginative storytelling.
On the first day, we’ll go off-site to draw from life, visiting Mudchute City Farm, nearby nature reserves, and the river — home to a range of animals, from farm creatures to wild waterfowl. You’ll spend the day sketching and observing, gathering ideas and inspiration directly from the field.
On day two, we’ll return to the studio to develop paintings based on your observational drawings and field notes. Working with a range of materials and references, you’ll learn how to transform real-life studies into expressive and imaginative compositions.
Throughout the course, we’ll draw inspiration from a wide range of sources — from medieval bestiaries and illuminated manuscripts, to cave paintings, and works by artists such as Kiki Smith and Picasso. We’ll also explore how animals are represented in poetry and literature — including Aesop’s Fables, Little Red Cap, and more — to help you develop narrative and symbolic depth in your work.
This course is open to all levels and designed to be both playful and thoughtful — an invitation to observe closely, imagine freely, and create boldly.
Melissa Kime
Melissa is graduated with a BA Fine Art in 2011 from Falmouth University, with a postgraduate diploma in drawing from the Royal Drawing School in 2013 and with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2015. She exhibited in Bloomberg New contemporaries, 2014 at the ICA London which was selected by Enrico David, Goshka Macuga and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and won the Arts Club award at The Royal Academy Summer Show, 2019. She has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad in both solo and group shows, she has won numerous prizes for both drawing and painting and her work is in many private collections… >>> read more
