IoS draw for Britain art competition results

From intricate black-and-white line drawings to vibrant colour renderings of fruit, bottles, sharks and shoes,
The Independent on Sunday's Draw for Britain competition has brought out the best of Britain's unsung artists.

The Children's Laureate and illustrator Anthony Browne last week picked four winners from more than 1,200 entries.

"It's fantastic to get so many people drawing and it's very exciting that all age groups were so good," he said. "It's especially nice to see there are still quite a lot of older people who haven't lost their drawing skills."

The competition helped mark The Big Draw, an annual event by the Campaign for Drawing to encourage us to unleash our inner artists.

Here are the winners and runners-up.

Adult category

1st prize: Christopher Storey, 37

Christopher's intricate pen-and-ink drawing was created in snatched hour and half-hour periods after he finished his day job as a machine operator in the Bostik glue factory near his home in Stafford.

"I completed a degree in fine art art 15 years ago, and I have exhibited a few times but I haven't really pursued it. Life gets in the way. I'm married and have two children," he said.

"This drawing is an extension of the work I did at college. We were told that big drawings were fashionable, so I went in the opposite direction and did very small drawings. I like sitting down doing intricate things."

Anthony Browne said of this entry, "There is a real sense of the creator and the personality of the artist coming through in this piece."

Winning the competition – he receives a Cass Art Thames radial studio easel – has inspired Mr Storey to spend more time on his art.

The runners-up are Sam Brown, aged 17, from Leicestershire, with a portrait, and Lexi Strauss, 38, of Worcester with a portrait of a model ho posed at a drawing class.

11-16 category

1st prize: Rebekah Davies, 12

Rebekah entered the competition after taking part in an after-school arts club. Her study in pencil was inspired by light reflecting on bottles at her home, near Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan.

"I thought it looked really nice, the way the light hit the bottles on the table," she said. "I entered the competition because I love drawing. I've been drawing for years but I haven't always been good. I do use paints some times but I usually prefer pencil."

When she is older, Rebekah, who goes to Bryn Celynnog School, said she would like to teach art or "something practical" such as technology. "I'd always like to practise my drawing, though."

Anthony Browne said of her winning entry: "It's a lovely free drawing, not struggling to get it right. There's a real life about it."

She wins a Daler-Rowney wooden watercolour box set.

The two runners-up were Mabel Evershed, 13, from Buckingham, with Grimalt in the Garden, and Georgia Watson, 15, from east London, with her study of a hand.

7-11 category

1st prize: Favour Mena, 8

Favour's self-portrait was described by Anthony Browne as "a very powerful and strong piece". Favour, from Coventry, painted the picture in her art class at Moseley Primary School.

"I've always liked painting," she said. "I like making up the pictures." She chose to do a self portrait because: "I just wanted to do a picture of myself. It took about two days to do. I did it all by myself. I used watercolour because I wanted to use the paint."

Favour wins a Cass Art £150 gift voucher.

Runners-up in her category were Joseph Hall, seven, with his white shark.

"I love creatures under the sea and It makes me happy when I draw and paint," said Joseph, who lives in Reigate.

The other runner-up was Isabelle Cain, 10, who lives in Sheffield, with a painting of her sandal.

Under 7s category

1st prize: Flora Scordino, 6

Flora is very arty, said her father Julian. This is the second competition she has won this year. She also picked up a prize from her school.

"I like drawing a lot," said Flora, who goes to Redhill Preparatory School in Haverfordwest. "I know what I look like so I didn't need to look in a mirror. It took me 10 minutes. I used felt pens, crayons and acrylic paints."

Her father added: "Everything she's done has been her idea. She had no help at all."

She wins a Cass Art £150 gift voucher.

Runners-up were Lauren Fletter, six, from Sheffield, who drew her shoes, and Ryan Furness, four, from Leeds, with his self-portrait.

The IoS Big Draw competiton is run in association with www.campaignfordrawing.org