The Renaissance Workshop

Drawing From History

The creative traditions of the European Renaissance represent what is most distinctive about our culture and heritage in the West. The revival of Ancient thought, the impact of rediscovered Ancient sculpture, and the fierce creative energy of Renaissance craftsmen reshaped Western culture in Early Modernity. What is most important to The Renaissance Workshop is the great tradition of drawing that we have inherited from the great masters of the Renaissance. My aim is to reintegrate the principles of drawing and the modes of practice of the great masters into contemporary thought and action. My research centres on intellectual history and the history of art and I share my knowledge in weekly life-drawing classes and creative workshops in London galleries and museums.

Renaissance Drawing methods are often seen as systematic, academic or arcane. This is a misconception I aim to challenge. One can see, at a moments’ glance, the plurality and individual expression of each of the great draughtsman’s work on paper. From Michelangelo to Verrocchio, Leonardo to Filippino Lippi, Pontormo to Ghirlandaio, there is tremendous fidelity to shared principles of design, yet a diversity of style and profoundly individual touch. This is because the principles of Renaissance drawing are a vehicle not only for rendering a visual understanding of nature, but a means of self-discovery and self-affirmation. The principles of drawing employed the in the Renaissance did not ensure that all drawing looked the same; they project the unique individual fully into their art and enable the subjective inquiry into the fabric of reality to manifest.

I make my historical and technical knowledge accessible to all in my Life-Drawing classes at Beckenham Place Mansion and at Mycenae House. These are accessible and relaxed classes where I encourage self-overcoming, experiment, and keen observation. At my creative workshops in London galleries and museums, I talk on historical modes of learning and practice, teaching traditional drawing methods while encouraging people to draw as individuals while taking inspiration from Renaissance or Ancient Art.

For enquiries contact me: [email protected]