Life Drawing: Under The Skin [Perfect Spiral]

When I am not drawing comics or working on storyboards for the film and games industry I can also be found teaching with my wife Dr. Mhairi Stewart as part of our Perfect Spiral venture. We have both had experiences holding independently run workshops at schools, libraries and universities, and hosting public events but decided to bring our skills together as a team. Mhairi brings the science and I bring the creative and arty side to the lessons. The cross curricular aspect to the Perfect Spiral classes are definitely proving popular and we have already worked with the Glasgow Science Festival, Scottish Book Trust, Bute Astronomical Society and many other bodies.

Last weekend we ran our new favourite class Life Drawing: Under The Skin for the Glasgow Science Festival. It was a free event held at the Hunterian Zoology, Glasgow University and even with the draw of the West End Festival parade and the sunny weather outside, our workshops were filled with children and parents/guardians all excited about drawing and learning. The demand for the classes had been so great that we were encouraged to offer a follow-up evening class on Tuesday and decided to make that an adults only night. Some of the specimens were more graphic than the public event at the weekend and other items were especially fragile [over a hundred years old and rarely put out on show] Most of the specimens are also unable to be put on display as there are so many of them archived in the building. Maggie Reilly, the curator of Zoology at the Hunterian, Glasgow University was especially generous with her time and allowed us access to some amazing pieces.

I have included some of my own photos of the evening and a link to the Life Drawing: Under The Skin specimens [photos taken by Timothy Drysdale] which I hope you will enjoy and be inspired by. The cuttlefish and Hammerhead shark skeleton specimens are my favourite and I will no doubt be referencing them for future horror or sci-fi work.

For details about the Perfect Spiral please click here.