I am a painter from Mississippi and have been interested in attending a Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson for almost two years. I must admit I was skeptical about what the Drawing Marathon would be like online. I imagined that the large scale works I had seen made during a marathon and the immersive experience I had heard so much about would not be possible in an online course. But after giving it a lot of thought and trusting the reputation of Studio School’s Marathons, I realized that the Marathons are unique every time and this particular circumstance was only going to serve as a new kind obstacle that had the potential to yield very interesting results.

Once the Marathon began, I was immediately impressed with the fluidity and professionalism that it was greeted with. Graham Nickson and his colleagues did a fantastic job curating a creatively rich and challenging environment for each student. I found that being forced to work outside of my comfort zone intensively for two weeks was a great experience. The Marathon was both physically and mentally demanding and, of course, extremely rewarding. I had a great time working from my own studio and I think I came out of this experience a more competent artist. As I return to my own studio practice, I am excited to see how my experience in the Virtual Drawing Marathon will influence my own work both consciously and subconsciously.