Nigel Ip

Founded in 2000 by HM King Charles III and artist Catherine Goodman CBE LVO, the Royal Drawing School is now celebrating its 25th anniversary with a large exhibition of drawings by 25 major artists/creatives and 25 alumni.

Carefully curated so that emerging artists like Olivia Kemp and Louis Pohl Koseda can stand next to titans like Tracey Emin, Frank Bowling, Chantal Joffe, even King Charles III himself, the exhibition highlights the creative scope and mediumistic possibilities of drawing. The latter applies especially to Cornelia Parker’s wire drawing. In doing so, it also shows how drawing is a foundational form of expression and way of understanding the world that transcends status and reputation. In other words, everyone can draw, even if it’s just observational drawing.

Each work is accompanied by a reflection from the artist – included in the beautiful catalogue – offering personal insight into what drawing means to them. The range of practitioners is actually quite nice, including the architects Thomas Heatherwick and Norman Foster, the producer Tim Burton, printmaker Jake Garfield, and illustrator Quentin Blake. Es Devlin’s mixed media collage is a beauty and Ishbel Myerscough has a wonderful sense of line.

Equally fun is the mix of drawing mediums, which mostly comprise of charcoal, ink, pencil, and gouache. I was pleasantly surprised to find Daniel Blumberg’s use of silverpoint, while Fraser Scarfe’s iPad drawing appears to pay tribute to David Hockney, who is represented by a pair of charcoal studies. I also really liked Alicja Biała’s etched brass piece, whose personal reflection mentions how she stopped chasing ‘good’ drawings and started chasing honest ones.

This exhibition is so down to earth and enjoyable, offering a generational cross-section of the centrality of drawing in the daily life of creatives. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this most universal of artforms.

The Power of Drawing: Marking 25 Years of the Royal Drawing School (1 – 26 July 2025) is at the Royal Drawing School, London, https://royaldrawingschool.org/