Slade Summer School Foundation

• The course begins with a structured introduction to fine art.
• In the first few weeks, you'll start to develop your individual creative approach and meet the tutors who'll support you over the coming weeks.
• The emphasis is on drawing as an imaginative tool for inventing and generating ideas.

• As part of this introduction, you'll explore the nature of drawing and its fundamental use for the artist.

You'll learn about a wide range of drawing processes and the role of drawing in creative development. These will include:

• drawing based on the manipulation of surface and materials, the body and the senses, performance, language, sound
• the experience of architectural space, memory, observation
• drawing in relation to time-based work (involving scale, rhythm and sequencing)

• Following this, you'll investigate the processes of making and the application of ideas.
• You'll create work from supplied and found materials, both as a group and individually. In this project you'll follows the evolution of work from the sculptural to the pictorial and explore many of the stages in between.
• You'll extend and translate ideas from drawing through and into painting, sculpture, further drawing and experimental photography.
• You'll be encouraged to extend your understanding of form and explore the physical, spatial and imaginative qualities of materials.

• From week four, although structured teaching will continue in part, you'll focus on individual studio-based enquiry. You'll be encouraged to work intensively to develop your own vision.
• You'll explore personal ideas while keeping an open dialogue with peers and tutors and experimenting with new and traditional techniques.
• You'll be supported throughout the course by regular group and one-to-one tutorials.
• Guidance will be given on how to document your work and record the creative process in preparation for developing a portfolio.
• Portfolio reviews and feedback interviews are available in the closing stages of the course, giving you a platform for discussion about future plans.

• Alongside individual research and practice, there will also be a number of optional specialist workshops taught by invited artists.

These will cover a range of subjects, such as:

• order in space and experimental geometry workshops in 2D and 3D
• video sketch and light projection
• performance and documentation
• 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 suitable materials for sculpture
• the artist’s book and basic bookbinding
• low-tech printmaking
• contemporary video practice and analogue film

• The last two weeks are organised around curating, installing and documenting an exhibition of work that culminates in a final critique, focusing on your individual strengths and achievements.
• The critique is led by a Slade Professor and followed by a private view for students, your guests and visitors.