My friend Christina Norberg co-hosted a Vancouver Draw Down event with me on Saturday at The Leeway. We had the terrific support of Lauren and Jacqueline, two of the technicians from Emily Carr Continuing Studies. They set up all the lovely grey drawing paper across the tables, and provided us with drawing tools of all sorts.

The largest collaborative drawing was about 14.5 feet long, with a few of the other tables set up for people to work on as well. There were about forty people who dropped in throughout the day, and many of them stayed with us for half an hour or more.

The idea was to work with mark making with a focus on simple shapes and lines. Christina and I made sure to work on the drawing all day long to make it into a cohesive piece. We also greeted and guided people into the space when they seemed hesitant.

I was drawing almost the entire four hours we ran the activity, which is probably the longest time I’ve spent drawing in one sitting. The finished collaborative work is pretty wonderful, and I’m hoping we can come up with a place to show and share it with more people.