Scholars’ Sketching Workshop

Gifted artists were given the opportunity to learn from an expert for a special virtual scholars’ workshop.

Headington’s Art Department invited artist Jeanette Barnes, a tutor from the Royal Academy of Arts to lead a drawing workshop for Art and Textiles scholars.

Jeanette is inspired by architecture, producing sketches in the urban environment then bringing them back to the studio to build up large pieces through trial and error, bringing together the most interesting aspects from different sketches to create the final piece.

Taking her experiences and bringing them to the workshop, the girls were encouraged to work outside of their comfort zone. Jeanette enthused the scholars through both relaxing and informative exercises which led to drawings full of atmosphere and life. The girls were inspired using photographs of London and Oxford landmarks, along with photographs of Headington’s new building, The Creativity and Innovation Centre: The Hive which is currently under construction and opening in September 2021.

Headington Director of Art Mrs Tova Dalgleish said: “One of the benefits of an online workshop like this was that we could have all 30 of our scholars together, from U3 to U6. We were not constricted by bubbles or physical space. I was so impressed with the girl’s engagement as they drew for two hours solid, totally enthralled by Jeanette’s expressive and descriptive language. It was a fantastic way to spend a Monday morning.”

One L4 scholar said: “I enjoyed the workshop and found it very inspiring, please can we have another one?!”

An U4 scholar added: “I really enjoyed the art workshop we had and it would be great to have a similar workshop in the future.”

And a L6 scholar said: “I really enjoyed the workshop as it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I learnt a lot from it. I think it will really help with my quick observational sketches when I go on trips to museums and other sights. I think it will also help with my experimental drawing in the future.

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