The Big Draw
February 16, 2004
I'm not big on writing about things that are already on the Internet but I think this one is quite interesting and one may not normally stumble across it:
"Drawing Power has a simple but ambitious aim - to get everyone drawing. The Campaign was initiated in 2000 by The Guild of St George, a small charity founded by John Ruskin, the great Victorian artist, writer and visionary. Ruskin saw drawing as the foundation of visual thought. His mission was not to teach people how to draw, but how to see. (sound familiar?).
The annual October Big Draw brought together thousands of people at over 650 venues across the UK. With 825 events to choose from, they discovered that drawing aids observation, communication and creativity and, above all, gives pleasure."
The website for the event is fairly useful and includes photos of the events and quotes from all sorts of people on why drawing is a good thing and downloadable instructions for making a camera obscura and a camera lucida.
Many of the patrons were successful artists like Quentin Blake, David Hockney and Gerald Scarfe. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this movement spread to America and the rest of the world?
A record of my exploration into all aspects of drawing, illustrated journaling, creativity, and the inspiring aspects of art. By the author of "Everyday Matters," "The Creative License", and "An Illustrated Life" and other books.
Comments
Funny, we were just talking about Quentin Blake at lunch today.. love his jazzy, scribbly, jolts of life played out in ink...will check out this site...immediately...thanks
Posted by: fern | February 16, 2004 05:42 PM
The world just becomes more ... real ... through observation and drawing. If more people really stopped to see - to look into another's face for more than a fleeting glance - what a different place it would be. You cannot be detached from something when you draw it whole-heartedly. It is not possible.
Posted by: Karen Winters | February 16, 2004 11:01 PM
Thank you for this website! If it will be in the Natural History Museum in London again this october I'll go and visit it! A great place to draw!
Posted by: Marloes | February 17, 2004 02:39 AM
The Big Draw is good fun. I've taken part for a couple of years. Last year (or maybe the year before) I had huge pieces of paper set up and people drawing in charcoal with their feet. A sort of messy game of Twister (do you have that in the US?)
Posted by: Michael Nobbs | February 17, 2004 03:09 AM
Thanks for this link Danny. My son Joshua (8) is an avid artist and we are always on the lookout for new ideas for him.
I have linked this comment back to a drawing he did last year. I have the original on the wall at work.
BTW it is dry and very hot today in Canberra :)
Posted by: Justin Knol | February 17, 2004 11:14 PM