Artist Rebecca Westguard discusses her work and her classes in life drawing, painting and sculpting…
I think I inherited my creative thinking from my family. My rather eccentric paternal grandmother influenced me very much with her drawing and painting and my maternal Great Grandfather practised printmaking/painting.
I live in Johnshaven, where I’ve lived since the age of nine. It’s a magical place – a beautiful historical village and great community. Everyone looks after each other. Now we’re raising our own family here. Having four small children keeps me on my toes, particularly when they decide to add their own creative touches to my sketches. Their creativity provides little windows into their imagination.
I trained as a painter at Gray’s School of Art and was fortunate to have very good lecturers at a time when life drawing was a significant part of course delivery. Since then I’ve combined my own practice with lecturing and managing creative programmes.
I run In the Flesh studios in portraiture, life study, still life as well as outside on location. There are courses in Aberdeen and in Johnshaven and all the materials are provided. My courses are suitable for everyone from complete beginners to advanced artists. It’s about close observation, drawing what’s right in front of you.
Working from life builds confidence and individuality in creativity. It develops a personal signature in your work that becomes unique to you. All sorts of people come to my courses, from people wanting to build a portfolio for art school, those who haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years to trained artists. In the Flesh offers a very inclusive and supportive creative environment with the encouragement to develop and stretch yourself as an artist. I’m thankful to be able to work with truly wonderful people, exercise my brain and analyse the development of several drawing, painting, and sculptures at one time.
Ive learnt so much teaching and studying how people creatively progress. My hope is to continue to grow as an artist and create bodies of work in the years ahead that are meaningful. I’m always so impressed by the pace of progress demonstrated during the In the Flesh workshops, especially over a weekend or four day course. The compositions are on another level and, in turn, the learning experience is unique.
My own work is inspired by artists of yesteryear: the Renaissance and Lucian Freud in particular. I’m fascinated with the human form and the complexities found on the skin – something I will study for a life time. I’ll draw a compositional sketch from the life model, then revisit the pose to tweak it. After that, I’m all in for the final work. I draw on canvas or handmade papers. I draw into wax, I enjoy ink studies and when painting use oil or gouache.
My hope is to continue to grow as an artist and create bodies of work in the years ahead that are meaningful. I’ll continue to develop more course opportunities and share my skills. I have a philanthropic approach and run a free twilight course for Higher Education students and new graduates and I support portfolio builders. I would love to see this approach externally supported. Helping people reach their full potential is invaluable. I also engage our local children in creativity when I can: after a Johnshaven workshop, the studio doors are sometimes open for children to draw at an easel or get their hands on a block of clay. It’ great to see them get creative.
I’ll be running a variety of courses and workshops over the summer and beyond. People can explore my courses and book via facebook.com/RebeccaWestguardINTHEFLESH/ or tinyurl.com/mpa7ex5w
