My name is Pricilla Hocking and this piece is ‘The tortoise who wanted to fly’. I’ve been looking forward to this one all through the course  – I was keen on attempting the shiny reflections and on trying an involved collage again as I really enjoyed doing collage in the first assignment.

The smaller size presented a challenge at first because I definitely enjoy working on a larger scale. However I feel like I coped with it. I made use of real feathers with this (although, of course I created my own oval discs to go on my peacock’s feathers) which I thought was a good way to incorporate the bird theme. I made my coloured papers mostly with acrylic paints on plain coloured paper, but also used watercolour and salt for tortoise’s skin. I drew the images in the shell reflections to give them a softer look (rather than collage), and also for the birds flying in the sky.

My main challenge/fear was the space for the text. It said pretty clearly to leave it blank but I was toying with leaving some things hanging over. However, too much of the tortoise shell would have been hanging over so I decided not to risk it and placed a paper rectangle over it, completely blank for the text.

Thanks very much to Maggie for feedback during the course. I’ve learnt a lot and enjoyed the process.

Pricilla Hocking
Illustrating Children’s Books Diploma

My name is Margaret. I am studying the Botanical Illustration Course in Coloured Pencil.

Having spent several years working in Watercolour and with Graphite and Coloured Pencil being my favourite mediums, I decided to have a change and try Botanical Illustration in Coloured Pencil.

I am not a landscape artist. This picture of a rose is part of Module 3 of the course, where you have to draw an initial composition as a tonal study to give the flower volume and then add the final layers in colour.

I used Polychromos coloured pencils in shades of grey for the tonal study and then layered my chosen colours for the rose and leaves.  Layering the colours gradually from dark to light has resulted in a very vibrant composition with plenty of depth.  

Margaret Orchard
Botanical Illustration in Coloured Pencil.

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Welcome to our Weekend Challenge. This week we will be drawing upon your imagination a little with a pen and ink challenge. If you don’t have inks, you can use a biro! We would love to see some decorative pen and ink work. It can be any subject. For instance it can be any kind of pattern or abstract or a more representative collective of flowers, leaves, clouds, faces, animals, water etc, but it needs to be in pen and ink – black and white only. What a challenge! We hope that you have fun with your creativity, we have added some examples for inspiration below.

Post your work on our Facebook Group or email it to us for inclusion on our blog later this week. Have fun!

All of the photos we post on our London Art College Weekend Challenges are copyright free. Feel free to use the artwork you produce however you wish. If you would like your artwork posted here on our blog, email it to Melanie at techsupport@londonartcollege.co.uk. If you have any Weekend Challenge requests let us know too! Best of luck and happy drawing and painting!

My name is Magdalena and I am studying the Illustration Diploma Course. I enclose illustrations from my assignment 1. I must admit I was rather anxious for my first grading and very much surprised by so many kind words from my tutor Steven Hersey. I must keep working hard now as  this is just the beginning of my way!

Magdalena Piwowarczyk

If you would like to receive a roundup of all of our blog posts once a week to keep you inspired in your inbox, why not sign up to our newsletter. You can access our sign up at the top of our page. If you are a London Art College student and you would like your artwork featured here, drop us a line at any time.

Student Alfred Reid created this cartoon for Valentine’s day and we are thrilled to display it on our blog. Happy Valentines day everyone!

If you would like to receive a roundup of all of our blog posts once a week to keep you inspired in your inbox, why not sign up to our newsletter. You can access our sign up at the top of our page. If you are a London Art College student and you would like your artwork featured here, drop us a line at any time.

Welcome to our wonderful blog post filled with artwork by our students who completed our latest Weekend Challenge. Aren’t they all simply wonderful!! Students are able to copy from our photo or they can use their own still life set up. They can work in any medium – painting, drawing, mixed media along with digital too. We absolutely love all of the artwork produced and are very proud to showcase them here. If you would like to take part in our weekend challenges, don’t forget to come back here on Saturday!

All of the photos we post on our London Art College Weekend Challenges are copyright free. Feel free to use the artwork you produce however you wish. If you would like your artwork posted here on our blog, email it to Melanie at techsupport@londonartcollege.co.uk. If you have any Weekend Challenge requests let us know too! Best of luck and happy drawing and painting!

“A great solution to the brief  The Cow who went looking for a friend by student Rachel Hey.”
Maggy Roberts
Read more about Rachel on her website – Rachel Hey and follow her on Instagram Panda_Crafts

My name is Sophie and since joining the Pet Portrait Diploma Course, I have learnt a tremendous amount and I can definitely see the progress I am making throughout the course.

I never thought I would be able to create anything like this and I can’t thank the London Art College enough for their support. My tutor Gayle Mason and fellow peers have been so encouraging and I really appreciate everyone comments. I would recommend the London Art College to anyone who wants to improve their skills!

Sophie Bliss Kilpatrick
Pet Portraits Course

If you would like to receive a roundup of all of our blog posts once a week to keep you inspired in your inbox, why not sign up to our newsletter. You can access our sign up at the top of our page. If you are a London Art College student and you would like your artwork featured here, drop us a line at any time.

This weekends challenge is to draw or paint a glass bottle in sunlight. In any media, paint, collage, pencil, digital etc the choice is yours!

You can use this photo below if you are inspired by it, or you can see what you can find to draw yourself in your home, whether it be a wine bottle or a vase. Just make sure it has some light passing through it so that you can draw the shadows on the ground.

The photo below is very interesting due to the unusual shape of the bottle, the corners and perspective at the bottles base is a bit tricky, so watch out for that! You can draw the bottle on its own, or you can incorporate the background too, which would be especially interesting to capture in colour with the subtleties of the blues and silvers.

All of the photos we post on our London Art College Weekend Challenges are copyright free. Feel free to use the artwork you produce however you wish. If you would like your artwork posted here on our blog, email it to Melanie at techsupport@londonartcollege.co.uk. If you have any Weekend Challenge requests let us know too! Best of luck and happy drawing and painting!

If you would like to receive a roundup of all of our blog posts once a week to keep you inspired in your inbox, why not sign up to our newsletter. You can access our sign up at the top of our page. If you are a London Art College student and you would like your artwork featured here, drop us a line at any time.

James Carson is 15 and is studying the SciFi & Fantasy Art Certificate Course with tutor John Byrne. This is James’ 2nd year studying with the London Art College. He received a distinction in his Graphic Design Diploma Course last year. He lives in rural Northumberland in the UK.
Emma Strain (James’ Mum)