Elective Skills Workshops
Unique to the Academy, our Elective Skills Workshops form a significant part of all our degree courses, designed to provide our students with intensive training in the technical skills that they’ll need to develop their creative vision.
We offer the public the opportunity to join these courses and study alongside our BA students.
These courses not only allow you to improve your technical and conceptual skills, but give a taste of what it is like to study on our BA programmes, which include the only BA degree in Europe in Contemporary Portraiture.
Book before the 8th July and save 10% with the Early Bird price*
*cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
The Elective Skills Workshops a major components of the Certificate in Fine Art, Certificate in Portraiture and the Fine Art Foundation, as well as the BA undergraduate courses.
The Elective Skills cover a range of disciplines allowing students to experiment freely.
Painting
Painting Elective Skills Workshops cover a wide range of painting disciplines, from figure and portrait painting, to landscapes and abstract art. There’s plenty of specific skills development, including looking at painting media and methods, light, colour and tone, composition and the palette.
Drawing
Drawing is a core tool for every artist, and our Elective Skills Workshops are a fantastic opportunity for you to hone this skill. You’ll look at the elements of drawing, materials and methods, tone and light, composition, mark-making and mass. You’ll explore figure and portrait drawing as well as expressive and
creative drawing.
Sculpture & 3D
Our roots are in championing and training sculptors, and we offer Elective Skills Workshops in a diverse range of sculpture disciplines; from portraiture and figure modelling techniques to creative and abstract sculpture, ceramics and stone carving. You’ll learn about armature-making, plaster and wire and how to construct moulds. You can also explore sculpting with metal, learning about steel- welding and fabrication.
Printmaking
These Elective Skills Workshops cover a broad range of intaglio and relief printmaking techniques, including etching, linoleum, woodcut, dry-point, collagraph, photopolymer and photo-etching. You’ll develop ideas through self-led projects to achieve a portfolio of contemporary prints.
Digital Art
Our Digital Suite provides the opportunity to undertake Elective Skills Workshops in Animation, moving image and video art, Extended Reality, including Augmented and Virtual Realities. You’ll consider how our familiarity with the “screen” impacts contemporary art practices.
Portraiture
There are a number of Elective Skills Workshops that focus on painting. Portrait Certificate students also usually choose to study related drawing electives, such as anatomy and portrait drawing.
Full Time: 1 year, 3 days per week, plus independent study
Part Time: 2 years, 2 days per week, plus independent study
A pre-degree course for those wanting to study art or design at a higher level. This course develops your skills, creativity, conceptual and critical understanding. Unlike other Foundation courses you will have the opportunity to devise your own individually tailored programme, learning the skills relevant to your goals. You will focus on developing a strong portfolio that will give you a good chance of achieving a place at a sought-after art school or University.
As a full time student you will attend 3 tutored days per week at the Academy and undertake a further day independently developing your individual project work. As a part time student you will attend 2 tutored days per week and on average a half day independently developing your individual project work.
This course offers more contact time with tutors than most other Foundation courses available in the UK. (do we specify how many hours?)
All academic students are able to take advantage of free places on the Academy’s public courses (evening, weekend and short courses). These are available at the discretion of the Academy and subject to availability.
Full Time: 3 years, 2.5 to 4 days per week in taught sessions (depending on stage and term), 10.30am – 4.30pm, plus independent study
Part Time: 6 years, 1 to 2 days per week in taught sessions (depending on stage and term), 10.30am – 4.30pm, plus independent study
Our Fine Art BA is designed for those aiming to establish an artistic practice. It gives you the freedom to pursue your own interests and aptitudes through a bespoke programme of study.
Our teaching approach is unique: we keep our class sizes small (do we include the approximate ratio number), and you’ll benefit from the highest tutor contact hours of any higher education art course in the UK. You’ll learn both traditional and contemporary skills from expert tutors who are all practising artists themselves.
As well as helping you develop the in-depth technical skills needed to take your art practice forward, you’ll be encouraged to think critically about the wider theoretical and historical contexts of your discipline(s), and apply that knowledge to your practical work.
All academic students are able to take advantage of free places on the Academy’s public courses (evening, weekend and short courses). These are available at the discretion of the Academy and subject to availability.
Our BA (Hons) Fine Art is validated by The Open University.
Full Time: 3 years, 2.5 to 4 days per week in taught sessions (depending on stage and term), 10.30am – 4.30pm, plus independent study
Part Time: 6 years, 1 to 2 days per week in taught sessions (depending on stage and term), 10.30am – 4.30pm, plus independent study
As well as helping you develop the in-depth technical skills needed to take your art practice forward, you’ll be encouraged to think critically about the wider theoretical and historical contexts of contemporary portraiture and apply that knowledge to your practical work.
And to further enrich your study, you’ll have access to lectures and talks by eminent visiting artists, open access to our print studio, a session learning to sculpt a portrait head (and access to further sculpture classes) and can drop in to Open Life sessions on weekend mornings. You can also take advantage of free places on our other evening, weekend and short courses (These are available at the discretion of the Academy and subject to availability).
Recommended Pathway: 2 years, 1 day a week, 10.30 am – 4.30pm
Fast Track Pathway: 1 year, 2 days a week, 10.30 am – 4.30pm
Our Certificate Course is ideal if you want to start developing your abilities but have limited time. You will specialise in one of four disciplines: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture or Printmaking, or complete a Fine Art Certificate across multiple disciplines. (maybe swap around the routes, the emphasis on specialising could be misleading)
In joining the Academy you will have access to talks by visiting artists and artistic tutorials with a tutor of your choice. Furthermore you will be invited to exhibit in the end of year Graduate Show upon completion of your Certificate.
All academic students are able to take advantage of free places on the Academy’s public courses (evening, weekend and short courses). These are available at the discretion of the Academy and subject to availability.
Recommended Pathway: 2 years, 1 day a week, 10:30 am – 4:30pm
Fast Track Pathway: 1 year, 2 days a week, 10:30 am – 4.30pm
Our Certificate in Portraiture provides a unique introduction to the exacting discipline of portraiture. Here you’ll begin to learn the skills of portrait painting in small classes taught by practising artists, many of them eminent in their field. (the disciplines aren’t limited to just painting, everything is just portraiture oriented isn’t it?)
In joining the Academy you will have access to talks by visiting artists and artistic tutorials with a tutor of your choice. Furthermore you will be invited to exhibit in the end of year Graduate Show upon completion of your Certificate.
All academic students are able to take advantage of free places on the Academy’s public courses (evening, weekend and short courses). These are available at the discretion of the Academy and subject to availability.
If you have less time, we offer an amazing range of short courses, five and 10-week evening courses, intensive weekend courses, masterclasses, young artist courses and taster courses.
For more information see our Short Courses, email [email protected] or call us on +44 (0)207 407 6969