Term-time Life Drawing course at the Ruskin

The Ruskin School of Art welcomes artists who wish to learn more about life drawing at the University’s Fine Art department. The Wednesday evening life drawing course is led by tutor-artists Clova Stuart-Hamilton and Roger Wagner.

Participants are guided by the tutors and work with a life model.  
NB: the models - both male and female - pose in the nude.

The course is open to those who are seeking to develop their technical skills and be guided in the process of observation by an experienced artist.  No specific qualification is required to attend the course, though participants must be 16 or over.

The course runs from Week 1 to Week 8 of the University term (see here for term dates) on Wednesdays, beginning Wednesday 11th October. 

The classes take place at the Ruskin's Basement studio at 74 High Street, OX1 4BG. The venue is wheelchair accessible. If you require further accessibility information, please click here.

A maximum of 16 participants work with a life model, guided by the tutors. The Ruskin provides easels, drawing boards and cartridge paper.  Please bring along whatever materials you wish to work with e.g. pencils, charcoal etc, and clips or masking tape for attaching your work to the drawing board, and an eraser. 

Wednesdays, 5.30 - 8.30pm, Michaelmas Term 2023.

For Oxford University students, staff and alumni, as well as non-members of Oxford University,
with Clova Stuart-Hamilton and Roger Wagner.

If you book a place as staff, alumni or student of the University, you will need to present your University of Oxford or Alumni card at the start of the course. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a place for the course without this confirmation. If you need to arrange for an alumni card, or replace a lost card, please click here.    

Fees and Booking

For Michaelmas Term 2023, the fees for the 8-week course are:

• University of Oxford Staff and Alumni: £150

• University of Oxford Students: £75

• Non-members of Oxford University: £200

Booking is done via the University's online store,  and is now open.

Places cannot be reserved in advance but are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. These courses are always very popular and places sell out quickly. 

We regret we do not currently have capacity to run any additional courses but we hope to expand the programme in 2024, so please check the Ruskin website for updates.

We cannot carry waiting-lists over from one term to the next, but will start new waiting lists each term. It is not possible to carry forward any classes that you are unable to attend to a following term. If you discover that you cannot continue with the course after having started, please send an email to the Ruskin to let us know, so that we can contact someone else on the waiting list: reception@rsa.ox.ac.uk

To receive news on courses offered in the future, please subscribe to our Ruskin Short Courses mailing list by sending an email to:ruskin_shortcourses-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.

(You will then receive an automated email from SYMPA asking you to confirm your subscription request.)
 

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation at least a week before the start date will entitle a full refund. Cancellation less than a week in advance and up to the day before the first session will ensure a 50% refund.  Any cancellation on or after the day of the first class will not be refunded. This policy is independent of the cancellation policy listed within the terms and conditions of the online store and takes precedence over that policy.
 

Course Tutors
 

Clova Stuart-Hamilton

Clova trained at the Ruskin and the Royal Academy Schools in the 1980s, winning a number of major prizes and scholarships. Always working from life, her commitment to drawing and intense scrutiny of the subject can be traced back to her rigorous training and, in particular, to the teaching of the painters Jane Dowling and Peter Greenham.  Although most visible in the large, searching and rhythmic pencil drawings and life room studies, the primacy of drawing underpins all the painted work.  Her paintings probe worlds of unusual and distinctive colour harmonies; whether muted and subtle as in the French interiors or rich and sensuous as in her exotic still life subjects or flower pieces, as she responds to a particular stimulus and mood.

Teaching has been an important, greatly valued and much enjoyed feature of her career.  Initially teaching Art and Art History in the highly regarded Art Departments of St Paul’s School, Barnes and Radley College; she then diversified into the teaching of adults at Sunningwell School of Art.  Currently, she balances part time work in the dynamic and adventurous Art Department at OLASS in Oxfordshire with delivering lectures, short courses and workshops in a range of contexts.

Clova's paintings and drawings can be viewed at www.clova-stuart-hamilton.co.uk

Roger Wagner

Roger read English at Lincoln College Oxford before studying under Peter Greenham at the Royal Academy School of Art.

For more information on Roger’s extensive exhibition history and work please visit his website at www.rogerwagner.co.uk