Fairweather studied at London's Slade School of Art from 1920 to 1924, under Professor Henry Tonks, who was renowned for his drafting skills. Fairweather’s drawings from this period, such as his nude figures of the early 1920s, demonstrate the academic style from which he eventually departed, though he never abandoned his interest in line. His time at Slade provided him with a solid grounding in European art; however, he never graduated. Dissatisfied with the strictly traditional principles advocated at the School and the pressure to work to deadlines, Fairweather left three years into his training.