Pippa Ridley
- Alumni, 2006
Biography
Pippa Ridley was born in the Caribbean and pursued her secondary education in the UK after winning an art scholarship. She went on to study Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, and later completed The Drawing Year at The Prince's Drawing School (now the Royal Drawing School) in 2004. Ridley has been artist in residence at Kensington Palace and in Pignano, Tuscany, Italy. She exhibits regularly at Thomas Williams Gallery, London, including a solo show in November 2013, and at Quercus Gallery, Bath. Her work has also appeared in many group exhibitions including the Jerwood Drawing Prize, Threadneedle Art Prize, Barbican Arts Group Open Exhibition and Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. She taught for many years on The Drawing Clubs and now teaches at Drawing School Central with the Royal Drawing School.
On drawing
Drawing is like a scaffold over which I can freely explore colour and gesture. If something is amiss in my paintings or collages it is usually a problem with draftsmanship and re-drawing can resolve it. I literally ‘go back to the drawing board’, where my ideas begin, develop and end. I make sketches of daily life that bring a truth to my imaginary studio work. I see my reportage sketchbooks of intimate and spontaneous moments as complete, but I try to recreate their immediacy in my paintings. Observational drawing helps develop my range of marks and comprehend formal problems like space and balance.
