The Big Draw 2013 in 15 countries

More than 200,000 people in 15 different countries are expected to get involved in The 2013 Big Draw which this year runs from 1 October to 3 November.

You too can be part of the world's biggest drawing festival!

These events are for those who love to draw, and those who think they can't.

This is the 14th year of the Big Draw. Since it started in 2000, The Big Draw has:

• encouraged over 1,000,000 people to get back to drawing
• created the longest drawing in the world (the world record was set at 1 kilometre)
• organised the greatest number of people drawing simultaneously (c.7,000)
• created enjoyable drawing spaces in national museums, Trafalgar Square, Somerset House - and the underground tunnel which runs between the museums in South Kensington!
• created hundreds of new and enjoyable drawing activities that connect people of all ages with museums, outdoor spaces, artists - and each other.

There's lots of kids involved - but it's NOT just about children. This post is going to be about what's happening this year for you, your children and your grandchildren OR your Mum and Dad and grandparents!

Drawing faces at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012
Image courtesy of The Big Draw

What is The Big Draw?

The Big Draw is run by the Campaign for Drawing - set up by Quentin Blake.  The original inspiration came from visionary Victorian artist and writer John Ruskin, whose mission was to teach people how to see through drawing.

The Campaign for Drawing aims to get everyone drawing. It raises drawing’s profile as a powerful tool for thinking, creating and communicating. Its long-term ambition is to change the way drawing is perceived and used by the public and professionals. 

The Campaign’s annual flagship, The Big Draw, proves that drawing can be a public activity as well as a private passion.

The Campaign also demonstrates that drawing can also connect communities. Over 1000 organisations in the UK and fifteen other countries participate - including India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Brazil.  They all offer events for all ages and abilities.

Drawing is important for happiness and a sense of complete humanity.Andrew Marr, Campaign Patron

This is the 14th Big Draw and there will be events in over 750 venues across the UK in October.

With the Big Draw we seem to have struck something in the national consciousness - it's as though everybody had just been waiting to be told that they are allowed to draw. Perhaps it isn't surprising - we live under a bombardment of manufactured images, and in the face of that we need to be able to draw as a way of discovering the reality of the world about us, as well as the life in ourselves. Sir Quentin Blake, Campaign Patron

The Big Draw
what happens when you use your imagination on a REALLY BIG piece of paper!
Image courtesy of The Big Draw

The Really Big "Big Draw" Event: 

There's always one really BIG event every Big Draw - and this year it's going to be just up the road from me!  I'll probably walk there.

Your Park: Your Big Draw. 

This will take place at the brand new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford E20 3BB (next to the Olympic Stadium) on Saturday 12 October, 11am - 5pm. It's an open invitation to celebrate the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with a day of free fun activities and DIY art installations for all ages.

What you need to get involved

• No money - it's free (but you must book for the Artist Books event)
• No art materials - these are also provided free
• Just bring your imagination!

What's happening

• Make Artist Books: London Centre for Book Arts are going to help people to make concertina sketchbooks, albums and artist’s books. 
• There are two workshops 11.30-1.00; 2.30-4pm.  
• Both are Free, but tickets must be booked in advance via the Big Draw Shop.
• Sketch Mob: 2pm: Walk & Draw architecture with Drawing at Work, starts at the Timber Lodge Terrace.
• Other activities and workshops: Drop in - between 11am and 5pm
• A team of 30 artists will run activities and workshops in response to London’s unique new park. They will be leading experiments with recycled materials, walk-through installations, filmed animation, electric drawings, origami, architectural drawing and much more.
• The Draw Tomorrow theme will inspire participants to invent buildings, design gardens and create fashions for the future. 
• Drop-in workshops will use wild and wacky methods to generate wise ideas for sustainability. 
• Nature lovers can explore the park, sketch its flora and fauna, and help a giant caterpillar leave its cocoon. 

Who are the artists / arts organisations involved?

• Bad Things Creations, 
• Jeanette Barnes (see her drawings of the development of the Olympic site - right next to her studio!) , 
• Rebecca Birch, 
• Louise Clarke, 
• Codasign (see their blog post about an event they ran in the park this summer), 
• Carlos Cortes and the Build Your Worlds Collective, 
• East London Mobile Workshop (ELMO), 
• Tom Grimsey, 
• Hicks 54, 
• nk Illustration, 
• London Centre for Book Arts (the UK’s first open-access book arts resource and educational centre, located in Fish Island, next to the Olympic site in east London) , 
• Nick Marsh, 
• Ministry of Making, 
• Bob Motown, 
• Museum of Tomorrow, 
• Raksha Patel, 
• Sketch Mob, 
• Pen Pushers, 
• Tracey & Hobbs

How to get there

• Train: Hackney Wick, Stratford & Stratford International;
• Bus: 588 from Hackney Wick & Stratford City Station; 
• Find out more about transport to the park at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park website
• This is a map of the Queen Elizabeth Park relative to Stratford stations etc
• You can DOWNLOAD THE MAP

On the way to the Park

• either drop in to The White Building, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN to start your drawing circuit,
• or take part in a map-drawing relay from Stratford Station to the park gates.

Supported by: Creative & Cultural Skills, Drawing at Work, East London Mobile Workshop, GF Smith, Posca, SPACE, Stour Space & The Wick Art Store
Produced by Continental Drifts; Hosted by Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Other events

See www.campaignfordrawing.org/bigdraw/search.aspx for details of ALL events.  You can define a search which identifies the events that you can access easily.

Drawing should be part of visual education, in the same way that press-ups are part of an athlete’s training.David Hockney OM CH, Campaign Patron

Over 750 events will be held throughout the UK 

Hundreds of drawing activities are going to be held in schools, museums, galleries and heritage sites.

• England - 638 events
• Scotland 42 events
• Wales - 28 events
• Northern Ireland - 2 events

Some are targeted at specific age groups (ie 0 - 5; 6 - 11; 12 - 16 and 16+).

So, for example, there are 44 drawing events during October 2013 for people aged 16+ and over within 5 miles of where I live.  Some of these will be for all ages.  Some of these are for people who have physical or sensory impairments.

International Big Draw Events

There are 67 overseas events at various venues from the Art Institute of Chicago to the Museu Picasso de Barcelona!

The Bottom Line

Drawing is not just for October and not just for children. Find ways to join the wider drawing community on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and The Big Draw blog.