October has arrived and that means only one thing...the world’s largest drawing festival!
Artfinder’s Liz Hipkins interviewed The Big Draw’s President, Sue Grayson Ford, to find out more about this creative festival.
Where did it all begin for The Big Draw?
The Campaign for Drawing was set up in 2000 by The Guild of St George - a guild founded by the art critic and accomplished artist John Ruskin. The charity launched The Big Draw in the same year as a one day celebration to highlight the importance of drawing. The festival has grown from that single day of 86 events 15 years ago and is now a month-long festival with over 1800 events worldwide!
Why is drawing so important?
Drawing opens our eyes up to the world, it's a way of communicating or breaking down complicated ideas. A lot of people say "I can’t draw" or "I am no good at that", but The Big Draw is open to everyone, regardless of age or ability. Experimentation makes you braver!
It is easy to think that the only career path for those with drawing skills is to become an artist, but there are a whole range of professionals who use drawing in their daily work: architects, designers, scientists, engineers. So it is really important that this sort of creativity is encouraged in schools and remains a part of the curriculum worldwide.
In light of this, The Big Draw holds regular events called ‘Ask the Expert’ which enable young people to meet industry professionals who use drawing in their daily lives.
Tell me more about this year's Big Draw festival
The theme of this year's festival is ‘Every Drawing Tells a Story’ which was announced by one of our patrons, Andrew Marr. We've all heard the old saying 'a picture can paint a thousand words' and this is the basis for our theme. Drawing is a unique language that can express an instant idea or narrative and create an impact - look at how architects, designers, artists, engineers and scientists use drawing to change the world!
A variety of events will take place throughout October and it's still not too late to get involved wherever you are in the world! If you would like to set up your own event visit The Big Draw website.
If you are based in London, you can join The Big Draw Team at Granary Square in King's Cross for ‘Drawing The World’. The event will take place on Sunday 11th October, 11am-4pm.
Happy drawing!
Special thanks go to Sue Grayson Ford at The Big Draw. All images courtesy of The Big Draw.
