EVERYBODY.
This was scientifically proven on Saturday when I went to London to draw The Future, as imagined by 48 children ranging from 4 years old to 11.
It was probably one of the Best Things Ever in my life of drawing. Saturday saw me and assorted CIA colleagues interpreting, in real time, a vision of the future as imagined by our appointed children. Mine was four-year-old Rex, who became my art director for the day at London's Museum of Childhood Big Draw event called 'Drawing Tomorrow'. It was warm, busy, messy, stinky, noisy and smiley.
Put together between ad agency AMV BBDO and Ben and Charlotte at Central Illustration Agency, I drew live and on cue as Rex directed me through his brief:
'Rex will live in the land of Ooo, a leafy environment with robotic blue owls wearing welly boots who growl at people while delivering ice cream'. I took what I thought was way too much stuff but used everything in the bag to make this neon vision of Rex's world - acrylics, ink, glitter, Poscas, liquid chalk and felt tips.
Did I do it justice? Well, Rex in his awesome owl jumper appeared to think so. And as we all know, it is only the AD's opinion that matters.
Fellow 'live interpreters' included Jill Calder, Stanley Chow, Chris Gilvan Cartwright, Le Gun, Jessie Ford, Rose Blake and Ulla Puggaard, as well as a big bit of colouring-in drawn by one Good Wife (the Warrior was at home nursing a busted elbow!) Everyone coloured in - grown-ups and tots alike.
There was cake and tea on tap for the artists (thank God), a massive collection of pre-illustrated 'Futures' by the rest of the CIA artists, complete with their 'future descriptions'. Some of our favourite, slightly darker visions are below. Rest assured, they might be little, but their future predictions are far from cutopian, predicting flooding, the sun exploding, hostile chickens and over-population.
This little girl drew her own interpretation of the finished piece, and I gave Rex his own colouring/scrap book to take away at the end of the day.
Messy, exhausting and exciting. Thank you to little Rex, who styled it out for nearly four hours when all reasonable children could have been forgiven for wandering off after 20 minutes, and gave me a tiny grey soldier to add to my collection of studio creatures.
What an excellent day. How brilliant is colouring in?
