Royal Drawing School

Frank Bowling: Driven to Draw opens in just a few days.

To mark the opening, join us online next week for two live events exploring drawing as a living, evolving practice and the role it has played throughout Sir Frank Bowling's career.

🎨Digital Studio: Inspired by Frank Bowling
📅29 June, 6.30pm BST
A two-hour drawing class streamed from the exhibition, introduced by Frank’s son and grandson - Ben Bowling and Frederik Bowling. Draw in real time, guided by Frank Bowling’s work.

💬Drawing Dialogues: Ben Bowling & Claudia Tobin on Frank Bowling
📅1 July, 7pm BST
A live conversation on the role of drawing in Bowling’s practice, offering insight into how his work has developed over time.

Book your place and draw with us: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w6-xd0

Image: Frank Bowling in the liferoom at the RCA, c.1960
Photo by: unknown photographer. Courtesy Frank Bowling Archive

The exhibition is kindly supported by The Maria Manetti & Jan Shrem Foundation

💬 “I needed a place that would push me to question what, why and how I do things, and help me find joy in creating things by hand again.” ⁠

For Polish artist Weronika Zareba , now based in Bansko, Bulgaria, the Online Drawing Development Year has provided structured training, mentorship, and valuable feedback, helping to guide and support her artistic development.⁠

The course has also given her the opportunity to be part of a community of like-minded people.⁠
_____⁠
The Online Drawing Development Year is a flexible, year-long online programme designed to help you develop your drawing and studio practice.⁠

🔗 Read Weronika’s full story: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wbvqt0
🔗 Join our next open day: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wbwP30

WIN a FREE online one-week holiday course from the Royal Drawing School this summer! ☀️⁠
⁠
This July, we're offering a selection of one-week online courses designed to help you develop your creative skills from anywhere in the world. Whether you're interested in illustration, painting, or drawing from nature, there's something for every creative learner.⁠
⁠
This summer's featured courses include:
📚 Children's Book Illustration
🎨 Painting the Figure
🦅 Birds and Beasts: Drawing Living Forms
⁠
We're giving one lucky winner the chance to win a place on one of these online summer holiday courses!⁠
⁠
Enter here: ⁠https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wgZ7j0
⁠
Free to enter. Closes 30 June 2026, 12pm BST. Open to UK residents aged 18 or over⁠
Full T & Cs on entry page⁠
⁠
Good luck✨
⁠

Opening next week - Frank Bowling: Driven to Draw

Royal Drawing School summer's exhibition explores Sir Frank Bowling's lifelong relationship with drawing, tracing the development of his visual language from his student years to the present day.

Drawn largely from Bowling's personal archive, the exhibition offers a rare insight into his process, revealing how ideas are tested, reworked and carried forward over time. Spanning more than sixty years, the works on view show drawing not as a preparatory step, but as a constant throughout his practice.

Admission is free, please book your timed slot online. At the Royal Drawing School, we invite you to draw in our exhibition spaces. Free materials are available, alternatively you can draw in the limited-edition ‘sketchbook-catalogue’ - featuring an essay on Frank Bowling’s drawing practice, images and sketchbook pages.

Book your ticket and sketchbook catalogue: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wbfmh0

📍 Royal Drawing School
🗓️ 25 June – 22 August 2026 | Mon–Fri 10am–5pm & Sat 10am–4pm
🎟️ Free entry, or £7.50 donation welcome.

Artwork: Frank Bowling, Leafy, 2024

The exhibition is kindly supported by The Maria Manetti & Jan Shrem Foundation

Tickets are selling fast for our Drawing Weekender at 📍 Hauser & Wirth Somerset () on 18 and 19 July, and we’ve now added two new events to the programme!

Join us for an inspiring weekend of drawing, conversation and creative discovery, featuring:

✏️ Panel discussion exploring the importance of drawing in the digital age, featuring Royal Drawing School () Founder Catherine Goodman CBE LVO (), neuroscientist Ash Ranpura, and former President of the Royal Academy of Arts () Sir Christopher Le Brun PRA ().

✏️ Artist talks with Emma Talbot (.emma) in conversation with Abigail Viner (), and George Rouy () in conversation with Hannah Barry ().

✏️ Artist Encounters: Participatory talks and demonstrations offering insight into contemporary artistic practices with Ishbel Myerscough RA (), Dilip Sur (), Alexis Soul-Gray (), and Matthew Rice ().

Plus drawing workshops, family activities and more across the site.

Open to all abilities, with activities for adults and children aged 7 years and above.

📅 18 – 19 July | 10 am – 4 pm
🎟 Free and ticketed events
Art materials generously supplied by Cass Art

Book here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w68bm0



Image credit: Oudolf Field, Hauser & Wirth Somerset. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Jason Ingram ()

Supporting a young artist as they prepare for art school, foundation, or university applications?

Our Portfolio Preparation Summer Course (Ages 16–18), running 10–21 August, is designed to help students develop a strong portfolio while gaining insight into the expectations of higher education in the creative arts.

Over two intensive weeks, students will strengthen their observational drawing skills, explore a wide range of materials and techniques, and develop the research, critical thinking, and creative confidence needed to progress their practice.

Alongside studio-based learning, students receive personalised guidance on portfolio development, personal statements, and art school applications, tailored to their individual ambitions and interests.

A unique feature of the programme is an exclusive visit to Sir Frank Bowling’s Studio, archive, and education space, providing students with rare access to the working environment and legacy of one of Britain's most significant contemporary artists.

The course also includes gallery visits, group critiques, and a final exhibition of student work, offering an authentic introduction to art school culture and practice.

If you are seeking a meaningful summer opportunity for a young artist considering further study in art and design, this course provides both practical portfolio support and valuable insight into creative higher education.

Book here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w4w0h0

This week's theme is Aerial Perspective ✈️

Explore this inspiring collection of artworks by our alumni, featuring landscapes seen from above.

Once only accessible to birds, aerial viewpoints are now part of everyday life through air travel, drones, and digital maps. From this height, details fade and patterns emerge, revealing a striking sense of scale, beauty, and perspective.

How do you see the world from above? Show us your aerial perspective! 🎨

Artwork:
Christabel Forbes
Louis Pohl Koseda
Dorry Spikes
Aisha Farr
George Williams
Ned Elliot
Daniel Turner

⏳ Just two weeks to go!

Frank Bowling: Driven to Draw opens at the Royal Drawing School on 25 June, offering a rare insight into over sixty years of Sir Frank Bowling’s drawing practice. It will showcase his vibrant experimentalism with materials and drawing tools, from the pencil to the stencil to the spray gun!

📍 Royal Drawing School
🗓️ 25 June – 22 August 2026 | Mon–Fri 10am–5pm & Sat 10am–4pm
🎟️ Free entry, £7.50 donation welcome

Before your visit, watch Frank Bowling in Focus. This film follows Sir Frank Bowling from childhood in Guyana to his life in London and New York, exploring how his early influences shaped his path into abstraction.

To watch the full film on our Living Library, an evolving archive of articles, interviews and drawing exercises:⁠
https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0vxXSb0

⁠The Living Library is kindly supported by the Rothschild Foundation.⁠
The exhibition is kindly supported by The Maria Manetti & Jan Shrem Foundation.