All about Art Club

Art Club has been part of the Union since 1993. It’s great to have a dedicated club with our own studio and regular sessions, especially at a STEM focused university like Imperial where everything can get a bit serious. It is a place for beginners and seasoned creatives. 

The Workshops

Art Club offers Life Drawing and also Arts and Crafts workshops, alternating between the two each Monday with classes running from 6pm to 8pm. We also have a studio where we run many ad-hoc sessions throughout the term and members are also free to do their own work. Everything you need for your creations can be found in the studio.

Life Drawing: History and its Incorporation to Art Club

The human figure was central to western Fine Art for hundreds of years and life drawing was also central to artists’ training for much of this time. This started to change with the invention of photography in the mid-1800s which contributed to a move away from realism and towards impressionism, expressionism and cubism by the turn of the century. By the 1970s life drawing wasn’t cool any more and was very peripheral to art education. It has made a comeback over the last twenty years with the atelier system with people recognizing its importance to art education.

As for the sessions in Art Club: THERE IS A NAKED MODEL! We thought it was best to get this out of the way so people understand what life drawing is . There is no need to be scared however - Jelena and Jessica our models for the year are both very professional and experienced models – it’s not weird at all and you will get used to it very quickly. The sessions are for anyone from complete beginners to expert level. Please come and have a go even if you feel underprepared - some of the best work we have seen has been done by people with very little background in life drawing.

General Arts and Crafts: What to Expect

Arts and Crafts in the West traditionally focused on the skills and techniques that weren’t considered Fine Arts. This could be print making, wood and metal work, ceramics or fashion design. These skills have existed for thousands of years but their  education became formalized in academies in the 1800s in Britain and Germany. Everything changed in 1919 when Bauhaus reinvented the art school giving all students a mixed art and design education as standard. Bauhuas also helped to industrialise arts and crafts. Printmaking would became graphic design, wood and metalwork would become product design – the world of crafting would never look the same.

We run lots of different workshops under the “Arts and Crafts” banner, these include lino print, clay sculpture, jewellery making, fashion upcycling and mending. We also do painting. The sessions are for anyone from complete beginners to expert level. Arts and crafts sessions are interesting because they are all so different people sometimes find they have talents they never knew of. Come have a go!