Written by Chloe Davey, Transforming Lives Trainee
Creativity is something we have within us all and it can be expressed in many ways. Did you know that a charity known as The Big Draw holds an event that encourages creativity every year? This year focuses on drawing with an interesting twist, using the five senses: Sound, sight, smell, touch and taste. The Big Draw runs from the 1st of October to the 31st and I encourage you to participate. Go ahead and express your creative side! We can even offer you some inspiration to help with your artwork, inspired by both our common interests and the five senses.
Sound – As we know frogs and toads despite their similarities, are quite different. This includes their croaks, particularly during mating season. Frogs have a deep yet quiet croak whilst a toad has a much louder and higher pitched croak.
Sight – Landscapes of nature are always a truly beautiful sight to behold. There is so much to see when you look across the horizon and really puts you in the mood to venture on to discover its every detail for yourself.
Smell – Nature has many unique but wonderful smells, whether it’s the brisk country air or the sweet scent of wildflowers. My favourite smell would have to be the fresh aroma of grass after exposure to rain.
Touch – Surprisingly a great crested newt’s skin texture is quite different to the other species of newts in the UK. Great crested newts have bumpy skin. However smooth newts have, as the name suggests, smooth skin as do palmate newts too.
Taste – It’s important to know what you can and can’t eat before foraging. Blackberries are sweet and juicy on their own, but they can also be used in multiple recipes. Mint leaves can also be foraged and have a cool taste.
Hopefully you are now inspired and intend to create your own art piece. It would be amazing to see what you come up with. If you want to share your drawings on social media, remember to hashtag #DRAWINGWITHSENSES #BDF2023 #TheBigDraw.
Why not take a look at our draw-along videos for even more inspo?