Drawing Across Australia

National Art School, Sydney

In September, Eileen Adams, Director of Power Drawing, was Artist in Residence at the National Art School in Sydney. It is housed in what had been Darlinghurst Gaol. The cells are now studios and the site also has a theatre, a gallery, workshops, offices, a café and a library.

Students from Kambala School in Sydney dropped in to the National Art School to do some drawing during their three-day exploration of the city, including camping on Cockatoo Island, a disused industrial area and nature reserve in Sydney Bay.

Students studying for their higher school certificate spent a day with Eileen, learning about The Big Draw and exploring a range of drawing activities. They tried speed drawing, drawing from observation, memory and imagination, blind drawing and collaborative group drawings.

Radio waves

Eileen was a regular visitor at ABC Radio. On the breakfast programme with Fran Kelly, she was asked to draw, and to explain the different purposes of drawing. You can watch a video of Eileen demonstrating her ideas at ABC Radio, and you can also download an audio file of the interview.

Interviewed on the arts programme by Amanda Smith, she had a chance to explore ideas about drawing more fully. You can hear the programme at ABC Radio/artworks

Canberra Radio provided another opportunity to alert listeners to the joys of drawing.

The Big Draw 2010 in Australia

This year’s Big Draw in Australia was launched at the National Art School in Sydney by Anita Taylor, Director of the National Art School, Margaret White, Director of Drawing Australia and the artist Colin Lanceley. Eileen added good wishes from The Campaign for Drawing in the UK.

Tutors and students ran drawing workshops for children and adults, including life drawing, decorating ceramic pots, ‘chook’ drawings in chalk, postcard drawings, life drawing and drawing the moving figure. Eileen’s workshop prompted a concentrated focus on the Blake Exhibition at the National Art School Gallery.

Decorating the big pots took a lot of concentration! Drawing on a curved surface using slip created many different marks, some fast and bold, others more tentative and sensitive. Drawing machines, scribbling and a large wall drawing also captured the interest of younger participants.

Enjoying ArtPlay

ArtPlay in Melbourne is a children’s art centre where families and children can be creative and express themselves in an open and supportive environment. Eileen contributed to a seminar with artists and landscape architects, who are planning a new environment for outdoor play. Find out more about ArtPlay.

Eileen collaborated on a workshop with Greg Alexander, who leads the Big Draw programme at ArtPlay. The session was for educators to explore the use of drawing as a means of learning in schools, museums and galleries. Find out more about ArtPlay's Big Draw.

Sean Tan exhibition

In Melbourne, Eileen visited an exhibition of the work of illustrator Sean Tan. This was organised by Books Illustrated to show how Sean’s book, The Lost Thing, had been translated into an animated film.

Power Drawing at Monash University

At a lunchtime forum at Monash University in Melbourne, Eileen presented a glimpse of the work of Power Drawing, the Campaign for Drawing’s professional development programme, and explained how this was based on action research.

Big Journal Big Draw exhibition in North Adelaide

Eileen visited the Big Journal Big Draw exhibition of drawings and prints by 120 ten-year olds working with Carclew Youth Arts and artists, John Whitney, James Parker and Sebastian Humphreys. The show at Murray Bridge regional art gallery, near Adelaide, was a wonderful display of work, including sketchbooks, observational drawings and studio-based work.

Creative Minds at the National Portrait Gallery

In Canberra, Eileen was a keynote speaker at the Creative Minds Conference at the National Portrait Gallery. Speakers from various areas of arts education reiterated the value of the arts as a medium for learning, and considered the challenge of the plans to introduce a national curriculum in Australia.

A workshop with members of the education department at the National Portrait Gallery gave Eileen an opportunity to explore in greater depth ideas about the use of drawing in museums and galleries.

The National Portrait Gallery has set up a drawing space for people to draw portraits. The room is covered with post-its of people who have visited Headspace, an annual exhibition of portraits by children and young people, a wonderful showcase of high quality work from Australian students.

Power Drawing books

The Co-op bookshop has imported copies of the Power Drawing books to Australia; see The Co-op Bookshop