Jake Attree will hold a Summer Drawing School at the New School House Gallery, Peasholme Green, York, from next Monday to Friday.

The five-day school will concentrate on “the idea of drawing as commitment, as an engagement with the visual world and a determination to make a record of that engagement through the act of drawing”.

“Drawing, for me, is a way of explaining the world to myself, wordlessly. The drawings the participants make can take any form; all I ask is that they are an authentic response to looking at the external world,” says Jake, who has evoked the landscape of York many times in his work.

Participants do not need to sign up for all five days. “I’ll endeavour to make one or two days every bit as useful as five; but, with drawing – as I suspect with everything else – the more you put in, the more you will get out,” says Jake.

He has drawn up a plan of how the five days will pan out. “But this is not set in stone; people can draw whatever they choose to draw,” he says. “I see my role in this drawing school as a guide: I will advise, demonstrate, bring and show examples of my own drawing.

“I’ll not be showing people ‘how to draw a tree’. I may well show them how I draw a tree and then suggest ways that they articulate their own sensations through drawing.”

Day One will consist of the group drawing in the garden adjacent to the School House. Should the weather be inclement, there are windows in the gallery to draw from; alternatively, a still life will be set up in the middle of the studio space.

Day Two will involve drawing in the Museum Gardens; again, dependent on the weather. Alternatively, the group will assemble at York Railway Station.

Day Three will feature an exploration of Foss Islands, Pond Garth, Fossgate and Walmgate. If it rains, the group will explore the interiors of some York churches, beginning with Holy Trinity, Goodramgate.

On Day Four, participants will draw from the collection at York Art Gallery, before drawing from other locations in York. For Day Five, the school will return to the garden by the School House, or the session will involve drawing from draperies set up in the studio space.

“There will be a range of materials to draw with, but this will not be a ‘how to draw a streetscape in Conté’ kind of drawing school; rather, it will be a drawing school where the participants feel they have challenged themselves, risen to that challenge and come out seeing much more clearly than when they went in,” says Jake.

Trained at the Royal Academy, he has been painting professionally for more than 30 years and is now based at Dean Clough, Halifax. Next June he will hold a solo show of Landscapes For Figures at the School House.

The Summer Drawing School costs £65 per day or £300 for the week. To reserve a place, send an email to mail@schoolhousegallery.co.uk or phone 01904 653603.