Ready, steady, DRAW!

Sophy Henn and Nick Sharratt arrived in Chichester on the morning of Saturday 19th July with pen in hand and a twinkle in their eye. They were there to take part in a Draw Off, a dynamic, fun-filled and exciting way to test their creativity and speed of thought!

Sophy Henn is the award-winning author/illustrator of lots of wonderful books including Bad Nanna, the Happy Hills series and her latest book, I Hate Everything and she bounced onto the stage ready for an epic battle!

Her opponent, Nick Sharratt, was an author who has illustrated so many books for so many years that it’s a safe bet we all have something drawn by him in our homes. To have him grace the stage at The Prebendal School was very special for grown-ups and children both.

The fabulous Jospeh Elliott kindly agreed to act as compere and expertly managed the whole thing, reading out challenges such as, ‘draw the thing you least like to draw’ (horses!) and asking for suggestions from the audience for unlikely items to pop together in a scene (a cow and a butterfly with an apple, anyone?)

The children had a chance to join in too and all three authors were completely in awe of the artistic talent in the room, showcasing the array of joyful pictures for all to see.

One of the favourite challenges was the squiggle test. Everyone draws a squiggle on their own piece of paper and then passes it to the person next to them, who then has to incorporate it into a picture. Even people who think they can’t, will find themselves drawing anything from flowers to fortresses and marvelling at their own brilliance.

The morning finished with a book-signing and a theatre full of happy, inspired and joyful families. Huge thanks to Sophy, Nick and Joseph, to the Petworth Bookshop, Sam Stephenson for the photos and to The Prebendal School for hosting us!