Drawing with Sarah Simblet (or 'The beginning of my imaginary PHD')

I’m currently studying for an imaginary PHD. Like my imaginary BA and my imaginary MA there is no formal course structure, no set curriculum and no accredited body to award me my grade. I don’t actually hold any qualifications above a Foundation Art and Design diploma from UCA Farnham, I have however spend the past 7 years putting myself through a rigorous program of informal training in the arts and have had the privilege to learn from a plethora of excellent tutors, peers and artists.  

My imaginary PHD involves me allowing myself to spend/lose several thousand pounds and to devote several months of the next few years pursing my interest in drawing in greater depth than my regular work requires. Alongside my own drawing and painting I am undergoing a comprehensive survey of drawing literature and attempting to study with or interview all of the writers, teachers and artists who’s work I most admire; I’ll be writing two more books on drawing with Ilex Press (‘Life Drawing in Fifteen Minutes’ and ‘Draw’) and will be continuing my regular teaching at Draw but the ultimate outcome of my ‘PHD’ is as yet undecided. Suffice to say at some point I’ll be fraudulently referring to myself as Dr. Spicer.  

This lengthy pre-amble is intended to introduce my impending blog posts on the first structured course I’ll be taking as part of my study,  ‘Art and Anatomy’ at the prestigious Ruskin School of Art. The course is an intensive seven day summer school taught by Dr. Sarah Simblet (she’s got a real PHD), author of ‘Anatomy for the Artist’ published by Dorling Kindersley.

I’ll be blogging my way through the course for the rest of this week; each post will contain anecdotes from the day, some of my drawings and my take on the day’s class, both as a student of drawing and as a tutor. You can find out more about the course itself here.