Accent 6 (1962)

Issue 6 is perhaps the clearest in setting out its thematic intentions. The editorial tackles the recent history of national changes to art education. Government stipulated that “The aim should be to produce courses conceived as a liberal education in art in which specialisation should be related to one of a small number of broad areas, or, to put it another way that a subject that principally emphasised should always be studied in a broad context and that courses should be approximate in quality and standard of achievement to a university course of the same length leading to a first degree.” (Accent 6, p. 2) The articles that follow reflect on what it means to teach art.

In My Education Through Art, Patrick Hughes shares with the reader the ways in which he was educated i.e., by himself, through professional work, and at an art college with studios, a permissive approach, and a good library. Inspired by Hughes, third year Creative Writing student Miranda Leach has penned a reflective piece on her own education through art.

Further: A Personal Experience in Teaching, by Roy Slade, describes what he saw as the enormous benefits of integrating artistic and creative activities into the teaching of ‘non-art’ subjects at a Further Education college. A Diploma in Art and Design, by George Taylor, directly confronts the effects of the Dip. A.D. course and assesses its initial impact, specifically looking at the complications of admissions and the de-prioritisation of design education. Again, Utopia in Art Education, by Douglas Sandle, tackles the needs of higher education in art with direct reference to the Dip. A.D. and takes the opportunity to lay out an ideal framework for art education from childhood to adulthood.

W Price Turner on His Own Poetry prologues his poem Thoreau Fare with a piece of prose decrying the over-analysis of poetry and says that its purpose will endure beyond critique or cultural relevance, as long as the “apprentice hermit” (Accent 6, p. 19) is allowed to “get on with the job.” (ibid). Finally, in Making the Film: Drawing with the Figure, J. Jones discusses the film that was made to take account of the experimental art course organised by [Leeds College of] Art Foundation, which looked in new ways at the problem of figure drawing. It is this article to which third year BA (Hons) Creative Writing Student Ella Knott has responded.

Image: Article by J. Jones

I had never been to life-drawing class before, I thought it was pointless. I was a landscape painter, humans were not part of my practise. Nature was where true beauty laid in my eyes. How naïve I was.

A friend of mine had offered me an all-expenses paid dinner at a restaurant of my choice if I joined him at the class one week. I was unsure why he was so desperate to go, like myself he had never shown an interest. ‘There are naked women modelling this week.’ I sighed, he was a scumbag. I didn’t have time for relationships, I had all I needed in my painting. But I went, as any poor university student would, and thank goodness that I did.

The idea was to change the customary approach to life drawing radically, that’s what they told us. Naked women filled the classroom. I was sat on the floor, the hard wood felt as if it was pushing against my bones, fighting to get me up. I felt unwanted here, out of place.

The experience was immersive. Models walked on top of us, their bodies moving freely like trees in the wind. And suddenly the concept began to feel less foreign. My pencil was guided to the page on sight of a woman on the other side of the room. Her hair was dark and just skimmed the skin on her shoulders. She changed position, moving her arms across the top of her head. I watched as the skin on her sides would fold as she danced, my hand couldn’t keep up with my eyes. She was beautiful.

My drawing was a muddle but my head was clear. We were told to watch out that boredom and habit didn’t creep in. I had never been less bored in my life and my habits included nothing that was happening in that moment. The work I was producing was not necessarily contradictory to my previous art but was otherwise dissimilar. However, my actions after the class were completely contradictory to anything I had done before.

‘Excuse me, I think you are beautiful and I’m sure lovely on the inside too. I was supposed to see a friend for dinner tonight, but I would much rather go with you, if you would.’

After that day, I never painted landscapes again.

Rationale

“This short story is in conversation with ‘Making the film Drawing with the Figure’ by J. Jones. It is an article on how he made his short film about a contemporary life-drawing class. In my piece, I wanted to explore what it must have been like in that room, filling in the blanks that aren’t seen in the article. I have embedded direct quotes from the article in my text, as if J. Jones was in the room. I hope that my piece shows the benefit and joys of art, and how they can change a life, much like the Accent magazines.” - Ella Knott

Image: Left: Article by Patrick Hughes. Right: Article by Roy Slade.

“And most important that this particular student wanted first to say things in paint, rather than wanting to paint, period.” -Patrick Hughes

Our tutor asked us to describe our writing without referring to character or plot. In other words, he was asking us to describe our work through the themes they explore. To get to the heart. The why. Leeds Arts University is the third post-secondary institution where I have studied creative writing. It is the only one that has cared about what I want to say, and not simply the way I say it. Do I know what I want to say? No. I am still figuring that out, but I, like Hughes, appreciate the environment afforded to me to be able to do so. The curators of the Accent magazines seemed to know. They used stark architectural lines. They hired predominantly male contributors who proclaimed their opinions on the arts unwaveringly; on the importance of what they do. It can range from impressive to insufferable, engaging to dull with every page turned. These magazines were not written by students, and I have not studied the world of art in the 1960’s. Perhaps we could use a little more reverence in the 2020’s. However, my preconceptions influenced my experience of reading, I was drawn to the understated and unfussiness of Hughes’ words. His awareness of perception. The three-dimensional view that is present in his paintings today. In 2025, I feel a kinship with the conclusions Hughes had on his arts education, he said it was “satisfactory in that I can still draw on it and have never wanted another,” (Accent 6, p. 4) and I can’t help but agree.

Rationale

“When it comes to my art, I only have my experience of the world to share. Initially. I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to my chosen excerpt within the walls of the brief. I felt there was a ‘right’, or rather a more ‘imaginative’, ‘creative’ or ‘intelligent’ way to engage with the Accent Magazine. Ultimately, I decided to respond with the very thing that pulled me towards Patrick Hughes in the first place, which was candour.” – Miranda Leach