Workshops

Alongside individual research and practice there will be a number of optional specialist workshops taught by invited artists as the course develops. These include subjects such as: order in space and experimental geometry workshops; light projection; performance; experimental analogue photography; colour and light: exploring how colour informs our space, perception and imagination; technical research in painting and sculpture: making supports, grounds and mediums for painting, making armatures, casting and working with wax, plaster, latex and clay or other pertinent materials for sculpture; the artist’s book and basic bookbinding; contemporary video practice and documentation.

Materials

For the introductory period and for the later workshops, most of the basic materials are provided, however as independent working progresses students will be expected to provide their own materials — a detailed suggested materials list will be provided before the course begins.

Extra curricular programme

A rich and diverse extra curricular programme will run for the duration of the Summer school at least two evenings a week. The history of art and contextual studies programme includes lectures, gallery visits and artists’ talks.
In order to gain maximum benefit from our foundation the course must be taken in full. A certificate of attendance will be awarded, but please do note that this is not an accredited Foundation course.

Course duration = 10 weeks

Drawing (example outline)

This course will introduce you to the essential first principles of drawing through group and individual tuition and will help you to develop your own practice and vision.

Each day, you will explore particular aspects of drawing and experiment with a variety of techniques and materials. These include traditional methods of working such as observation of objects; the human form and light, the use of line, measurement, scale, and proportion; the organisation of pictorial space; materials and surface. You will explore contemporary ideas about spontaneity, memory, imagination, abstraction, construction and recording the creative process. In the second week you will be encouraged to explore and nurture ideas through drawing. You will develop your own art practice and personal vision at your own pace.

Regular critiques of work will be held, along with discussions of future plans at the end of the course.

Course duration = 2 weeks

Collage into Mixed Media (example outline)

This practical course will introduce collage as a way of thinking and encourage learning through making. Through workshops and studio time, you will learn new techniques and realise the potential of collage. You will be experimenting with mixed media (paint, drawing, 3D etc) looking at the varied techniques of collage, and challenging the boundaries of the medium. We will look at the history of collage and its contemporary importance, focusing on Slade alumni for inspiration. The mornings will start with a brief talk and a practical workshop, leaving the afternoons for studio development, discussions and tutorials.

• Day 1: Transforming found images and perhaps your own, through the process of collage to make a new image.
• Day 2: Using collage as part of a process leading to painting, sculpture/installation, drawing or photography.
• Day 3: Developing concepts and techniques covered in the first two days to make a final work.

Course duration = 3 days

Expanded Field of Drawing example outline

This is an advanced course which places drawing at the forefront of studio-based explorations across a variety of mediums and resources. The programme aims to question what constitutes a drawing and how contemporary drawing functions as its own discipline. You will experiment with a variety of mediums and techniques, from traditional

Throughout the fortnight there will be ample opportunity for discussion in one-to-one tutorials with a variety of visiting tutors with their own distinct artist practices, as well drawing materials to newer media (film and video projectors, audio/visual equipment, computers and sculpture tools). The course prioritises independent working time in the studio to develop personal work. This is supplemented with tutor-led projects, one-to-one tutorials, group discussions/ critiques, gallery visits, short technical workshops, lectures, and visiting artists' talks.

The optional extension of the course into three weeks allows artists the time to fully develop and test their work, and will culminate in a public exhibition.

There is an admissions process for this course.

Course duration = 2 weeks

Life Drawing example outline

For many artists, working from the human figure is an exciting and profoundly rewarding experience, and one that the Slade continues to actively participate in. This two-week course will introduce you to the ‘first principles’ in drawing directly from a life model.

You will explore the many and varied results thrown up by intense analytical enquiry alongside tuition in perceptually based methods of pictorial construction. This will include linear and tonal study, the articulation of colour-space, colour and expression as well as experimentation with a broad range of drawing materials, both wet and dry.

You will be taught by figurative artists, each of whom will offer alternative perspectives. Individual tuition, informal discussion, slide talks and group critiques will provide a wider context to the work you make in the studio.

Course duration = 2 weeks

Painting - example outline

This course will give you the support and guidance needed to develop your own independent practice. You will be setting up a studio-based study to evolve your own practical and aesthetic interests. This will be supported by a series of optional morning workshops including: working from secondary sources, mixing and applying colour, discussing supports and grounds, method demonstrations and learning some of the essentials of the painter’s craft.

A life model can be booked on selected days to generate source material. There will be individual tutorials, slide shows and group critiques by invited artists, representing a wide spectrum of professional practice in terms of style and subject matter.

You can take this course for two or four weeks.

Life Painting example outline

This course has been structured to give you the space and conditions in which to explore the formal challenges related to painting from life. These include drawing, composition, tone and temperature. Through personal enquiry and experiment, the more individual elements such as mark making and language can be explored and nurtured. During the first week, life poses will be held for a maximum of one day to offer a diversity of experiences.

The culmination of these experiences will be put to use in a sustained pose during week two to allow scope for students' own investigations. Technical support will be available for those students who wish to make their own canvases. Throughout the fortnight there will be ample opportunity for discussion in one-to-one tutorials with a variety of visiting tutors with their own distinct artist practices, as well as within informal group situations.

Course duration = 2 weeks

Etching example outline

This masterclass will guide you in translating your drawing practice into the medium of printmaking. The course offers an intensive introduction to the methods and materials involved in the traditional techniques of copper etching and will begin with an opportunity to examine examples of original prints by different artists. This will be followed by a thorough introduction to the basic etching processes – hard and soft ground, aquatint and sugar lift. You will be encouraged to explore the various processes fully in order to develop your own personal language. There will be opportunities for one-to-one tutorials as your work develops and progresses.

The course fee covers most of the materials necessary for etching, however copper and paper are not provided and will be available to purchase during the course. You can also take this course over two weeks.

Course duration = 5 days

Photo etching example outline

This one week introductory course will extend the techniques learned during the Etching Summer School and will explore the possibilities of photomechanical printmaking using photo polymer emulsion both as a means of reproduction and as a creative tool for image-making. A prior knowledge of etching is preferable as is the basics in Photoshop, however the course will go over the fundamentals of both areas.

Working with both autographic and photographic positives, you will learn how to produce photo-etchings with incredible tonal range, rich dark blacks, smooth tonal transitions and very fine detail and will have the opportunity to develop your plate further by incorporating the various etching techniques available in the workshop. The course will begin with an opportunity to examine examples of original prints by different artists using the photo-etching techniques. This will be followed by a thorough introduction and analysis of the digital workspace and workflow necessary for producing and crafting tonally rich positives for the photo-etching process.

The Slade studios have a long and rich tradition of printing, and as in all disciplines, a critical assessment of image making will play a fundamental role in the course. Students will be guided in translating their ideas through print and encouraged to debate with fellow students the role of printmaking in a contemporary context. There will be plenty of time for one-to-one tutorials so please bring examples of your work.

Course duration = 5 days

Low Tech Photography example outline

This one-week introductory course teaches experimental photographic techniques and mediums from their inception, with a view to use them for creative exploration. We will be using historic photographic technologies to explore procedures that reach beyond the techniques and traditional understanding of photography.

The emphasis of this course will be placed on understanding photography not only as a medium to represent, but also as a technology to trigger imagination. At its origins, photography was a technique capable of creating images from light, without the use of what we consider today as a 'conventional' camera. The creation of alternative optical devices from scratch in order to manipulate light and photosensitivity allows for an encounter with some of the subtle elements that question what photography is ‘in itself’.

During this week we will experiment in both practical and imaginative ways with these fundamental technologies, to find alternative ways to investigate the creative potential of photography: from camera-less techniques to the creation of photosensitive surfaces.

The course will cover:

• Darkroom techniques: basic processes and experimental processes.
• Creation of photographic devices.
• Photograms, chemigrams and lumigrams.
• Salt prints, cyanotypes, dichromate gum prints, anthotypes (chlorophile) and photo emulsions.

Course duration = 5 days

Art of Looking example outline

This one-week course will be based in both the Slade studio and various museums. You will discuss Art Historical Theory, complete practical exercises and visit museum collections. Artworks will be pitted against one another to provoke lively debate and better understand why one work or artist might be perceived as ‘better’ or more ‘valuable’ than another.

Paintings will discussed by visiting the works themselves, a vital aspect of the course. Students will explore the process of looking and asked to separate the ‘depicted’ subject matter from the ‘artists’ subject matter to better understand the success or failure of a work. Group discussions and individual presentations will focus students to explore and explain their findings, and practical exercises will help in the identification of formal values inherent in art that can discreetly ensure an artwork’s quality.

Course duration = 5 days

Casting from Life example outline

This short three-day waste mould-making course is suitable for beginners, more experienced students or professionals interested in different fabrication processes.

Focusing on alginate and plaster moulding and casting. This hands-on intensive course will teach you: life-casting from the human body, casting from ‘still’ life, such as provided objects or spaces, and small objects/sculptures you can bring in. Alginate has been chosen as the core material because, it is a natural material which has a short curing time, allows flexible and highly detailed moulds to be made and is a safe material to use. To help your personal creative process, the course will teach you a number of techniques. These will include, piece-plaster bandage moulds; poured and lay-up alginate moulds; casting in a variety of plasters and wax, both solid and hollow casting; and experimentation with pigmenting, finishing and direct sculpting techniques. Alginate has been chosen because it allows students to experiment with all these techniques in a short time frame, and to create a variety of small sculptures.

The course will consist of a mix of demonstrations and group and individual activity and will not only teach you some principles of moulding, but also offer you an opportunity to experiment with different types of materials and mediums. This course is relevant for anyone involved with art, design and 3-D Making or interested in finding out more about mould-making and will set you up to move on into silicon casting.

Course duration = 3 days

Generation Text example outline

The history of 20th and 21st century visual culture is entangled with the production of text of all kinds, both about art, and as art. A key theme in this period is the exploration of ways in which creative decisions can be made by some kind of autonomous process, using strategies such as chance, appropriation, game-playing and algorithm design.

This course will provide students with the opportunity to develop their own work by tracing the history of key artists and writers in this field. From the Dadaists to contemporary practitioners using Artificial Intelligence, we will explore the world of generative writing by using their textual techniques in drawing, collage, print, audio recording, performance, photography, video, computer programming – and, of course, simply writing. In so doing, participants will investigate how moments of authorship that occur when making any artwork can be situated, displaced or erased, scrutinising thereby such notions as authenticity, originality, meaning and the existence and character of the self.

Course duration = 3 days

Wood Engraving example outline

Wood engraving is a relief printmaking process using the end-grain of the wood. The very fine detail and strong tonal images which can be produced this way means that it was the technique of choice for illustrating books and broadsheets for over 150 years until photographic reproductions became viable. It is now a vibrant art form in its own right.

In this three-day course you will learn the techniques for marking out, engraving and printing on box wood, producing one or two finished pieces. With reference to wood engravings in the UCL Art Museum you will be tutored in the principles of design for wood engraving and use of different tools and printing techniques. You will have sufficient experience to be able to continue the practice following the course.

All tools will be provided during the course, along with a practice block. Further blocks will be available to purchase on the course.

Course duration = 3 days