30 January 2024
Miss Siobhan Campbell, Head of Art
It’s been a busy time in the art studios recently, with a portraiture masterclass for Year 10 art students, a talk from last year’s Art Ribbon Millie, currently on an art foundation course, and our Upper Sixth art and textiles students putting the finishing touches to their A Level project work. We’re also delighted at the superb range of university and college offers received to date by our Upper Sixth art students.
Artist in residence portraiture workshop
Year 10 GCSE students took part in an intensive one-day portraiture masterclass on Tuesday 23 January. Working with our talented Artist in Residence, Eilise Lancaster, students explored the anatomy of the head, discussing the frontal bone and superciliary arches to understand its structure and form. Inspired by the work of Jean Baptiste Greuze, Elisabeth Sonrel, Marie-Geneviève Bouliard, among others, students analysed the use of minimal lines and subtle tones to suggest gesture and character. They produced confident and mature portrait drawings of our Art Technician, Miss Pliaukstaite. Well done all. The students learnt a lot on the day, as two art scholars share here:
Laura K “As well as learning about the anatomical structure of the human face, its diverse angles and planes, and techniques for establishing accurate proportions, over the course of the day, we were guided through two portraits using black, white and red chalks. This immersive session was both educative and enriching.”
Poppy W “The workshop taught me new shading skills to replace harsh outlines, giving a more subtle and realistic look to a face. This was a lovely workshop that really furthered my learning in portraiture.”
Talk from former Art Ribbon
Art scholars, GCSE and A Level students attended a virtual talk by Woldingham alumna Millie Cutts, who was last year’s Art Ribbon (see photo in gallery below). Now studying an art foundation course at Arts University Bournemouth, Millie shared her recent work with students and talked about her transition from A Level Art to her current textile-focused work. The students also heard from Millie about different types of design and industry briefs and how she has navigated her course. It was lovely to reconnect with Millie and we look forward to following her career.
Upper Sixth art and textiles coursework project
Following their mock exams, A Level Art and Textiles students have been putting the finishing touches to their final coursework project. As you can see from the photos in the gallery below, our students have produced ambitious and high quality pieces. This year's summer exhibition is set to be our best yet!
University and art school offers aplenty for Upper Sixth art students
We have been delighted by the success of our Upper Sixth A Level Art students this year.
Congratulations to our Art Ribbon Mineh, who has received offers of places and scholarships at two prestigious US universities – Pratt Institute, New York, with a presidential scholarship, and Parsons School of Design, ranked third in the world for art and design, with a merit scholarship.
Fantastic news for Liv, who is holding four offers to study architecture from Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Loughborough and Manchester.
Well done to Iona for her art history offers from Bristol, Warwick, and Sussex. Fingers crossed for further offers from Edinburgh and St Andrews!
There are exciting times ahead for Anna, with her Foundation offer at Loughborough.
New ventures are on the horizon for Tara, who has offers from Istituto Marangoni, London for Foundation with a degree in fashion, London College of Contemporary Arts for Foundation and degree, and Falmouth for fashion styling and art direction Foundation and degree.
Huge congratulations to Nancy on receiving an unconditional offer for a fashion degree at Kingston University, named second in the country for fashion and textiles.
We are so proud of our students’ accomplishments and commitment to the arts and look forward to hearing how they all continue to progress and flourish.
See photos in the gallery below of all six students with some of their work.
