Day two for me on The Big Draw, the sun was shining and Aviva Square was buzzing with potential budding artists. Our task today was to run the Drawing Stall. A brilliant project with a very simple idea: do a drawing and exchange it for another drawing on our stall. No money swapped hands, the only currency we took was peoples drawings. On our stall was a range of fruit, veg and traditional London tourist icons such as the London bus, telephone box, tube etc. People were encouraged to select their item or items, or even draw some of the stunning surrounding architecture using a wide range of materials. Drawing materials available included pencils, coloured pencils, charcoal, felts and chalks. I was really impressed with how many people jumped straight in and used the felts. I am not sure if we were just lucky enough to have lots of confident artists at our stall or if felts offered that instant mark, that memory of childhood and called to people to explore what they could create using a medium that - lets face it is not know for it's blending and colour mixing qualities. Over the course of the day our stall was very busy and filled with some gorgeous art work made by families, couples, groups, children and of course The Drawing Stall team, Sarah, Bea and myself.
Anyone seen a pencil?
Can you spot my spelling mistake - never mind, this chalk pavement drawing did the trick and enticed people to join in the activities put on at Aviva Square
This stunning drawing was completed by an actor, we had a really interesting conversation about how therapeutic art can be - how as adults we don't allow ourselves to spend five minutes a day taking break from our busy lives to relax and concentrate on us. Drawing, music, a good book all offer us the chance to escape from our busy lives and escape to a different world. We should all make a conscious choice to find 10 minutes a day for ourselves - everyday -without fail - what do you reckon?
An amazing drawing completed by one of our young artists, love the life and colour in this piece
Sarah's Warhol style bananas - needless to say these didn't last long be fore they were exchanged for new drawings
One of Bea's amazing sketches, I love her mark making, use of line, colour and intricacy. A beautiful mysterious drawing
A member of the public drawing a fantastic picture of a marrow. I was really impressed with how everyone picked up the felts straight away and didn't shy away from colour, no fear of "what if it goes wrong - I can't rub It out". I think a lot of people found the activity liberating.
Towards the end of the day I decided to make some origami shirts and draw on these - how seductive do these look?
Other activities available as part of Sundays Big Draw included `Put yourself in the picture`. Passersby were encouraged to draw themselves or the architecture on large piece of paper taped to the boardings. We are so used to drawing on a small scale this was an excellent opportunity to people to think big. One lady stayed for nearly an hour completing a large scene - drawing the crowd around the square. Now tell me what would that lady have down if The Big Draw had not been there. Being creative is such a rewarding experience and this July's Big Draw highlighted how easy and accessible drawing can be, if you can give yourself the time.
The drawing tours were very busy, with large groups taking time to walk around the local area, take in the architecture, learn a bit about perspective and explore mark making.
In the marque there was a fantastic activity where you could make a mini sculpture inside a matchbox. There were very intriguing and completely addictive. How amazing do these look?
Anish Kapoors sculpture served as a beautiful looking glass reflecting the cardboard city built by all ages from all walks in life.
In Diagon Alley oops I mean Leadenhall Market artists showcased there work as part of the art fair and even created some works on site.
Overall I have learnt that I love drawing outside, I love watching and inspiring people explore their drawing skills and surprise themselves, I enjoyed being part of a exciting and creative community and most of all thoroughly enjoyed myself. If you missed out this time, have no fear The Big Draw is back in October. Keep a look out on The Big Draw website for further information http://www.thebigdraw.org/home/index.aspx
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