Big Draw East

Today we visited the V&A Museum of Childhood for the launch of this year's Big Draw event. This is a month dedicated to drawing in all it's many guises organised by the Campaign For Drawing. I was longing to meet Quentin Blake who was opening the day. We arrived too late, only to see his scruffy hair and band-aided forehead crossing the road to his car. I found myself getting sentimental and tearful even about seeing that. His illustrations have accompanied my whole life. His faithful partnership with Roald Dahl stories are a tangible part of my childhood. When my son was born four people sent me the same congratulation card drawn by him.
I got Ruben all fired-up about meeting the author of his favourite "Mr Magnolia has only one boot", then had to suffer the consequences of disappointing him. So we got stuck-in to workshops and activities that filled every nook of the museum. Visitors crammed drawing on tables, on the floor, on walls, on themselves. And the next door park. And the Church on the corner. We spent a long time making a cityscape that perfectly satisfied Ruben's love of cars, trains and cranes.
There was a bus to take visitors to the other drawing locations in the East End, where the bus-fare was a drawing for the driver. Wouldn't that be great always?

What really impressed me was the quality of the materials given to us. Often at free events, especially those aimed at children, the materials are cheap and shoddy (I want to say "crap" but I won't). "They-don't-know-any-better-and-they're-only-kids-and-will -probably-trash-them" attitude prevails. If your first taste of bread was something bland and stale you'd never eat it again. It's even more important that a first experience is a pleasure, that it opens your eyes and senses to new possibilities. We got thick card, soft Derwent sketching pencils, various strong tapes, sharp scissors and luscious pastels of every colour. My congratulations to whomever organised that.

There are many many events during the next month, all over the UK. It's actually overwhelming as you can't do everything (Drawing Dragons at the British Museum, Snake Lines at the Zoo, or traditional Canal Barge painting? All on the same day locally). On the website you can search by postcode for something near you. I'd urge you to join in. Happy drawing.


P.S. the museum has a great floor.
A wave to Portugal.