For most of us, drawing anything other than the occasional distracted doodle is a lost skill. A UK campaign currently celebrating its 10th year aims to change that by reintroducing people of all ages and abilities to the pleasures and benefits of the art form. Next month The Campaign for Drawing will stage The Big Draw; an annual line-up of free events designed to get people putting pen to paper in an artistic style. This year has seen an increase in the campaign's international profile, with Big Draw events taking place in Australia, the Falkland Islands, Canada, USA, Hungary, Italy and Singapore.
Launched in 2000 by the Guild of St George, a small charity founded by the Victorian artist and writer John Ruskin, The Campaign for Drawing works to raise the profile of drawing; promoting its value as an effective tool for perception, invention and communication. Its long-term ambition is to change the way drawing is perceived and used by professionals and the public.
Ruskin's writings on art, architecture, natural history and social and economic issues are central to the campaign's project. He saw drawing as a means of connecting with the environment and a way of opening up our eyes to the world around us. "I believe," he wrote, "that the sight is more important than the drawing; and I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love nature, than teach them looking at nature that they may learn to draw."
In 1871, Ruskin set up the Guild to assist the liberal education of artisans and in turn, the Guild initiated the campaign to celebrate its founder's centenary and to promote his belief that drawing is key to understanding and knowledge.
Our relationship to drawing changes with age. For young children, drawing is as natural as playing. They draw the world around them, what they encounter and how they see things. Sketchbooks are filled with images of redbrick houses with billowing chimneys, smiling stickmen and summer skylines.
At a certain age, however, most of us stop drawing. We change from free, expressive artists into individuals with set ideas about our capabilities. But why is that?
"Schools offer drawing as an independent subject," says the campaign's director, Sue Grayson Ford. "It becomes something that is used only in the art room and isn't valued it in its wider applications: diagrams, charts, geographical maps and design. The campaign believes that everyone can - and should- draw."
Putting this view into practice, the campaign will stage The Big Draw at over 1,000 venues nationwide, welcoming audiences to a series of free, intergenerational and intercultural events. The usual boundaries of drawing are stretched with events using paint, charcoal, sand, clay, digital imagery and vapour trails.
By using all of these different methods, the campaign aims to illustrate that drawing is about more than sketching. One of their stated aims is to promote the perception of drawing as "an important tool for learning, creativity, enjoyment, and social and cultural engagement - a basic human skill used by everyone in all walks of life".
Highlights of The Big Draw are set to include Now We Are Ten, an exhibition celebrating the campaign's first decade, with commissioned works by well-known and up and coming illustrators, designers, cartoonists and artists including Quentin Blake, Steve Bell, Adam Dant, Nicholas Garland, Chris Orr, Paula Rego, Gerald Scarfe and Posy Simmonds.
Elsewhere, visitors get creative at the Royal Academy of Arts, draw aircraft models at the Royal Air Force Museum and take part in cartooning workshops and see underwater drawing at the National Marine Aquarium, demonstrating that drawing can be a shared public activity as well as a private passion.
Venues range from museums, galleries and castles, to parks, schools and village halls. "Collectively they show that drawing is a universal language connecting generations and cultures," says Grayson Ford.
For graphic designer Thomas Hipwell the Big Draw project is about showing people that drawing isn't just a hobby, but a prerequisite for a number of creative careers. "Drawing is central to my work. If the drawing fails, the project fails. Clients want to see how things will look and I use sketches to give shape to my imagination. It's about precision and focus. It's a great transferable skill."
The artist William Taylor believes that drawing is all about training and retraining the eye to copy what you see. "You don't get drawings right the first time," he says. "But you rub out the imperfections and try and capture it again. A good drawing is a series of corrected mistakes."
For Nancy Shakerley, a community worker, The Big Draw provides an opportunity to unite people. To date, the initiative has encouraged over a million people to start drawing again. In the process, it has picked up two world records - for the longest drawing in the world, measuring one kilometre, and the greatest number of people drawing simultaneously, which hit over 7,000.
Running projects with local children aged six to 11 and individuals aged over 60, Shakerley asked participants to draw images from the local environment and used them to create a mosaic that is now displayed permanently in the local community centre.
"Not only did it make them think about their surroundings, but it drew them together as a community. Now they have a monument to their creativity and a reminder of the fun they had during the project. Let's hope that this is a catalyst for long-term community cohesion," she says.
Changing the way drawing is perceived by the public and educationalists is one of the greatest challenges facing the campaign. With increasing use of recording equipment and computer graphics, drawing has become a dying art form for some, while others believe that it still marks the zenith of artistic expression.
"It's so utterly annoying when you go into a museum or exhibition and find people snapping pictures of works with their iPhones", says the art historian Aimee George. "Yet somehow, when you happen upon someone sketching in the sculpture gallery, it's nicer. I feel like they are appreciating the art the way it was meant to be appreciated. After all, drawing is one of the most rudimentary forms of art-historical study. There is no substitute for sketching, it forces you to explore a work in the tiniest detail."
"The art world is swinging back in favour of drawing," says Grayson Ford. "When you visit an exhibition, the biggest crowd always gathers around the drawings, because they are the most direct medium of expression and communication. If you want to know what motivates an artist, it's all there in the drawings."
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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England v West Indies
England squad for the first Test Cook, Stoneman, Westley, Root (captain), Malan, Stokes, Bairstow, Moeen, Roland-Jones, Broad, Anderson, Woakes, Crane
Fixtures
1st Test Aug 17-21, Edgbaston
2nd Test Aug 25-29, Headingley
3rd Test Sep 7-11, Lord's
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
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Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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