Drawing the horse: From anatomy to life
- Tuesday, 5 May 2026
- Tuesday, 12 May 2026
- Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Enrol
| Standard: | £540 |
| Concessions: | £486 |
Please book a ticket to attend this course which will take place in the Roden Centre for Creative Learning.
Tickets include entry to the National Gallery. Please arrive in good time to access the building and find the event.
Bookings close 10 minutes before the event begins.
Concessions are for full-time students, jobseekers, and disabled adults.
About
In this three-week studio course, join artist Alice Shirley to explore how drawing the horse moves from anatomical understanding to expressive, figurative representation. Taking inspiration from George Stubbs, the pioneering British painter whose work transformed the depiction of the horse, the course traces a journey from structure to life.
Working in the Gallery and the Clore Art Studio, you’ll study Stubbs’s groundbreaking approach to equine anatomy alongside sustained drawing practice.
Across the three weeks, you’ll develop an understanding of the horse, its underlying structure and how bones, muscles and joints inform surface form, balance and movement. Through guided exercises, you’ll explore proportion, rhythm and gesture, gradually shifting from analytical studies towards more fluid, figurative drawings that respond to the living animal. Emphasis will be placed on seeing the horse as a whole, understanding how anatomy supports expressive mark-making and visual storytelling to convey character and presence.
The course is closely connected to the exhibition ‘Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse’, which centres on Stubbs’s monumental painting of the rearing racehorse Scrub. Looking closely at this work and related studies, we will consider how anatomical knowledge can be transformed into drawings that feel alert, dynamic and alive.
This course is suitable for all levels. All materials are provided, and your work is yours to take home. Handouts with extra resources will be provided in advance of the sessions.
Drawing the horse: From anatomy to life
We begin with close looking in the Gallery, studying Stubbs’s drawings and paintings to understand his methodical approach to anatomy. Back in the studio, you’ll focus on skeletal structure, proportions and basic muscle groups through guided drawing exercises.
Drawing the horse: From anatomy to life
Building on anatomical foundations, this session explores how muscles articulate movement and convey strength, tension and balance. You’ll develop more dynamic drawings that begin to suggest motion and character.
Drawing the horse: From anatomy to life
In the final session, you’ll integrate structure and movement into more resolved and creative drawings. Focusing on pose, colour, character, and composition, you’ll explore how anatomical knowledge can support expressive and personal drawings in response to the horse.
Your tutor
Alice Shirley is an artist and designer living and working in North London. She is an artist who works exclusively by hand in a wide variety of materials. Her work primarily focuses on the natural world and storytelling. She has been collaborating with the French fashion house Hermès Paris since 2012, creating designs for their silk scarves, and other objects across the collections. She has worked with other luxury brands over the years and completed private commissions for clients all over the world. Alice studied at Byam Shaw School of Art, Central St Martins, then studied on the Drawing Year at The Royal Drawing School in London.