Master Classes For Our 6Th Form Art Students

In 2013 the painter Nick Lord fought off 1,800 competitors to become the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the year and his winning portrait of Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry went on display at the prestigious London gallery. Since then he has been kept busy in his Cardiff studio preparing his work for exhibitions and working on commissions, including portraits of the author Hilary Mantel and one of Mrs Emma Taylor, previous Headmistress of Christ College.

Our Lower sixth have been fortunate enough to have Nick run a portrait painting workshop with them in school, teaching them the secrets of his trade first hand.

Sixth Former Chloe said ‘the workshop has given us an insight into the painting process of a professional artist and I loved seeing his sketchbooks first hand. His encouragement and inspiring teaching techniques have pushed me to approach my portrait drawing differently and move out of my comfort zone’.

Renowned artist Ian Murphy then ran a one day master class with year 13 on Friday 1st December. This was an intensive and productive day where students applied new techniques and worked on a big scale, creating an impressive range of drawings.

Ian Murphy’s work pushes the boundaries of experimental surface textures and his compositions are formed by building up multiple tactile layers which are then worked into, bringing out the detail. He brought an inspiring portfolio of his work with him and students were able to examine his pieces and sketchbooks. They then worked with the artist to investigate and explore these new ideas, alongside artist demonstrations and discussions.

This workshop gave year 13 an opportunity to engage with a contemporary artist first hand and has enriched their working methods, which they are now keen to expand and explore further.