On Tuesday 25 February, the Drawing Schools had the pleasure of welcoming Joshua Obichere OE, an art teacher at The Campion School and founder of SkinDeep Education. SkinDeep is an organisation that provides tailored workshops to educate people about race and diversity through art. Etonians were very fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in one.
Joshua greeted us warmly in the Drawing Schools, diving straight into the session. There were 15 of us in attendance, and our task was to paint a portrait of Joshua himself using printed reference images. Many of these images depicted him as a child, and I personally ended up painting him in his Eton uniform with stick-ups and a red rose on his tailcoat. As we arrived, he asked us to fill a palette with whichever colours we liked from the selection he had prepared—a range of blues, reds, and yellows, which would become significant later in the workshop.
Joshua’s primary subject matter is painting black skin, something that is underrepresented in Western art, and he challenged many of us to step outside our comfort zones. His main message throughout the evening was about the rich variety of colours within skin. Rather than viewing skin as a monotonous, flat surface, he emphasized its texture and multi-coloured nature, leaving it up to the artist to decide how to depict this. As an example, Joshua bathed his figures in light using yellows and pinks instead of white.
As we began painting, we quickly realised how challenging this task was. The choice of colour could make or break the painting. However, we were encouraged throughout, and Joshua provided valuable advice to those in need of assistance, reassuring us that any shapes could be adjusted, and colours could be changed. Many thanks to Dr Osborne and the Art Department for organising this fantastic workshop.
