The Elements of Drawing online sessions 2025

29^th March 2025, 7^th April 2025, 31^st December 2025

A series of informal, free, guided sessions online, inspired by John Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing.

Join us as we embark on a guided journey inspired by John Ruskin's book The Elements of Drawing, first published in 1857. To attend, no prior artistic experience is needed, but we encourage all participants to make the time to continue drawing between sessions.

PLEASE NOTE: For a mixture of practical and personal reasons, it has become necessary to pause this series for the moment, but will be confirming a new sequence of dates for sessions very soon, for the second half of the year.

We suggest that attendees have the following materials to hand:

1. Ordinary A4 plain white printer-paper or similar (5 sheets perhaps) or a drawing notebook if you have one

2. Black 0.5 mm roller ball or felt tip pen (ref. eu.winsornewton.com/collections/fineliners/products/fineliner-black)

3. A4 tracing paper (2 sheets perhaps)

4. A sharp pencil (or two!)

5. An eraser

Sessions will usually run for somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes.

If you have not attended a previous session, please register for the free sessions via email at communications@guildofstgeorge.org.uk.

RECORDINGS OF PREVIOUS SESSIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE.

READING THE TEXT OF THE ELEMENTS OF DRAWING

If you would like to read The Elements of Drawing, it can be found online HERE, and you can find a facsimile of George Allen's edition of 1904 HERE.

The Ashmolean Museum's Elements of Drawing website contains eight short instruction videos from artist Stephen Farthing RA, who was the Ruskin Master of Drawing at the University of Oxford from 1990-2000, which you can watch HERE.