Young Artists Summer Holiday // Drawing the Body: Theatre and Costume (10 - 14 years)

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Drawing the Body: Theatre and Costume

To put on a costume can be transformative; a magical act allowing the wearer to embody a whole new personality, movement and energy. This week is a chance for you as a young artist to experiment and ask questions about what drawing from the clothed body can be!

We will look to the world of theatre, character and staging and explore how different cultures from around the world have used costume and masks to evoke deities and the spirits of ancestors. We will go back through art history to consider the dynamics of dress, and how it has morphed and changed throughout the ages by looking at artists such as William Gainsborough, Paula Rego and Cindy Sherman. We will even consider costume as power and propaganda in the garments of monarchs and politicians, and rebellion and revolution in clothes of protest groups and subcultures.

Together, we will put costume and dress at the centre of your drawings this week - designing, creating and composing sculptural costume and set designs both individually and collaboratively. You will be creating self-portraits alongside dynamic figurative drawings, and you will have a model that will wear and pose in your costumes throughout the week. This is a week to develop your drawing practice in an exciting, fun and playful setting.

Students will:

  • Build observational and life drawing skills whilst also exploring the unlimited power of imaginative work.
  • Learn about art history, different cultures and new artists.
  • Gain confidence in expressing their own individual artistic voice - anything is possible in the studio!
  • Become comfortable working in a playful and experimental way.
  • Develop skills in group work and collaboration.
  • Join a small group of likeminded artistic students.
  • Benefit from one-to-one tuition.
  • Experience a working artists' studio.

This course is for you if you are interested in:

  • Life drawing and figure drawing.
  • Clothing, costume, textiles and pattern.
  • Theatre and performance.
  • Movement and gesture.
  • Narrative, drama and storytelling.
  • Art history.
  • Historic and contemporary artists.

Please note this course may include an out-of-house trip at a London museum, gallery, alternative venue or outside space.

All locations will be in zones 1 and 2 and a full schedule will be issued in advance.

Schedule subject to change.