Jackie started drawing copies of other painter’s work whilst at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, in 1964, and has continued this practice ever since.  She believes that copying helps one to understand structure, form and the inherently abstract qualities that exist in the most formal of figurative painting.  She is not alone in thinking this - Degas, Matisse and Giacometti all copied from the masters.

The study of a Vermeer painting - above - is pencil on paper, and measures 8” by 5”. 

She spent hours sitting in front of Velazquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ in the Prado, Madrid, before spending many more hours on the drawing from it - below.

Sometimes, though, she draws extremely quickly, as when she took her two grandchildren to the circus and made the drawing of the clown, below.  It is interesting to note that she did not look at the paper when making this drawing - or the self-portrait below that - but kept her eyes on the clown throughout.  This is a technique she often uses with self-portraits, and occasionally persuades her students to employ when making quick drawings.

The very bottom drawing is from a Giacometti sculpture, and the one above it is a drawing from a self-portrait by Bonnard.

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