In our latest studio video, we take a closer look at a student study — David Plume’s oil painting after Horace Vernet’s portrait of Napoleon — exploring how form, colour and likeness are built through a classical process. From initial structure to the development of light and shadow, the study shows how traditional methods can be applied step by step to create a more convincing and resolved painting.

Ultramarine holds a unique place in the history of painting. Once more valuable than gold, this remarkable pigment shaped not only the visual language of art but the very decisions artists made within their compositions.

The name means “beyond the sea”, after its journey from the mines of Afghanistan to Europe. Traditionally it was made by grinding lapis lazuli to a fine powder followed by a complex purification process — and because of its rarity and cost it was reserved for the most important passages of a painting: robes, skies, and key focal points, most famously the Virgin’s robes in works such as Sassoferrato’s The Virgin in Prayer.

Today artists work with both natural and synthetic versions, including French ultramarine. Its depth and richness remain distinctive — particularly valuable for creating depth in shadow and controlling temperature within colour relationships. Understanding materials like ultramarine is an essential part of developing a more informed, controlled approach to painting.

Our new life-drawing cycle is now running, working from a sustained pose with our new model, Luigi. The format allows students to move beyond quick sketches into focused, in-depth studies — each session building on the last, strengthening observation, structure, and the understanding of light and form. Led by Martin Drexler, sessions open with short warm-ups before progressing into the longer, continuous pose.

With half term approaching, this is the final opportunity to book the four-day intensive for ages 7–17 (25–28 May): drawing each morning, painting each afternoon, individual feedback in small classes, all materials included.

This month we highlight an oil portrait study by our student Grace Yahiro. Developed over several sessions, the work reflects a careful, layered approach — form emerging gradually through control of tone, temperature and edge, moving beyond surface likeness towards a solid, convincing sense of structure.

Oil painting offers the time and flexibility to refine the relationships between light, shadow and colour — an approach that sits at the core of our teaching.