United Kingdom #6: Figure Drawing

Jade ’25 and Ruby ’26, recount a new experience, followed by a picnic lunch and watercolor painting.

Figure drawing was a new experience for all of us. The lesson was at London Drawing, and our instructor led us through multiple sketching exercises. I learned that figure drawing aims to capture the movement of the model rather than the outline of their figure. We learned how to find proportions and experimented with different mediums to capture the model’s movement. The one-minute drawings were challenging but fun.

The question we are thinking about now is “what is the difference between being a tourist and a traveler?” We are continuing to find the answer to this question as we visit different places in the UK. Experiences like figure drawing guide us towards understanding the essence of traveling.

-Jade ’25

After our art class we traveled through the city to a beautiful garden. There we sat down and had our picnic lunch containing sandwiches and salads followed by a few students taking a nap. After a while we gathered around for a lesson and then I was off to paint with another student. I sat at a bench painting trees by mixing different shades of green to work on my color skills. It was interesting to work with watercolor, a medium I don’t normally work with, but I do think my painting was nice and colorful. I sat at the bench for some time until choosing to explore. I found wonderful and pretty plants and flowers mixed in with statues and bricked walls all around. Lastly, we smelt some roses and were off to our next location.

-Ruby ’26