The Campaign for Drawing was launched in 2000 by the Guild of St George, a small charity founded by John Ruskin. The Guild initiated the Campaign to celebrate Ruskin's centenary and to promote his belief that drawing is a key to understanding and knowledge. Now an independent charity, the Campaign raises the profile of drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement. It has developed two programmes to encourage the use of drawing by professionals and others: The Big Draw and Power Drawing

As in previous years Cambridge School of Art has run Big Draw events for students and the local community. For further information about these events please contact Pam Smy.

Please click images for a larger version.

A Day in the Life of a Superhero

On Saturday 17th October, the Street in the Helmore Building, Cambridge campus, was transformed into a bustling family event as part of 'The Big Draw'.

The Big Draw, now in its 10th year, was founded by Quentin Blake to promote awareness of drawing through nationwide events that engage the public with drawing projects big and small. This year undergraduates from the Illustration and Animation, the Illustration courses, and from the MA in Children's Book Illustration set up Cambridge School of Art's first Big Draw event for Anglia Ruskin.

Choosing the theme of 'A Day in the Life of a Superhero', students worked with local children and families on ink drawings of their imaginary superheroes, and helped work them into a large mural based on a comic book format. Giant rabbits, Supermums, Captain Electron and Mr Fat Fox all took their place on the boards as toddlers, school children and their parents worked towards filling the space.

Less inky activities were also on hand. A dressing up station enabled children to paint their faces and don tights, capes and wigs and some tables were set aside for drawing and puppet making.

It was a well attended event where students from all three Illustration courses from all the year groups worked toward making The Street a welcoming, lively and creative space for Cambridge families.

 

Drawing Together in the Community

Illustration and Animation, Illustration, MA in Children's Book Illustration Students braved the Saturday morning drizzle on 24 October for a 2 hour drawing event as part of the Big Draw.

On the day of the drop in staff from the museum, artists and student volunteers from the illustration courses worked with over 50 visitors to create a mural in a communal garden area of the Community Centre. Inside the centre the participants made inky drawings of people and places of Romsey and added these to the mural. They also enjoyed making their own badges using images from the Fitzwilliam Museum collection and making puzzles and spotting people doing strange things in reproductions of Brueghal's Village Festival.

Aimed at encouraging participants to think about aspects of their local community, Illustration undergraduate, Alex Hahn, had been into St Phillip's Primary School with Fitzwilliam museum staff to work with the children, showing them his own sketchbooks of observational drawing as preparation for the day.

On the day children's work was copied onto the mural, integrated with student's drawings and hand lettering to leave a lasting reminder of this collaborative project that be enjoyed by future users of the Community Centre for many years.

 

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