I play out all sorts of exercises with groups of people interested in drawing and exercising their creativity more broadly. Outside of the classroom, I've worked together with classes of children, marketing executives, architects and people from all sorts of zany backgrounds: from brick layers to footballers. I've used drawing in situations where communication was only a possibility through hand gestures and drawings.On that note, the greatest bridge between ourselves and younger children is oftentimes drawing.

I am certainly of the opinion that no such thing as 'talent' exists and subscribe to the view that every human has boundless creativity. A quick mention of the role of Camera Obscura in art history. Even Renaissance greats were using an optical tool akin to a projector to aid the creation of their drawings and people are often instilled with a new found perspective. It’s important to softly encourage people to move away from the idea that drawing is all about photorealism working to debunk the myth purported by western arts education system that a failure to be able to draw someone with Da-Vinci-like-accuracy therefore means you are an incapable 'artist'.

Drawing is a tool and I work to invent new ways to open its possibilities live - sometimes innovating based on the reactions of a class to one exercise or another. Not only does it have meditative properties, but I've found it can be used for problem solving in the workplace, relationships and even decisions. Having fought a bout with cancer of the tongue, Michelin star chef Grant Achatz, used drawing to articulate his dishes and ideas to his chefs at Alinea.

We know too well about the power of drawing where architecture and design are concerned. See Bjarke Ingels' wonderfully inspiring video on the power of drawing for storytelling here.

Nothing ever leaves the page and yet skyscrapers, likely taller than the building in which you are now sitting reading this, are often drawn on paper as flat as the table before you.Drawing is a mirror for the mind. Once the gears are oiled and all the self-doubt is identified for what it is - that is, self-doubt and self-doubt only; it's not real! - in the mind of the person drawing the gateway is open.

Over the years I have created a series of smaller workshops introducing people to some approaches to drawing which I should hope they can carry with them throughout their lives. I have found utilising 'blind drawing' especially useful in this arena. I basically invite people to trust their hand, reminding them again and again to concentrate on aligning the movement of the eye with the hand. A series of exercises concentrating on this concept alone often lead people to gain an enormous confidence in their drawing abilities. No longer are they particularly 'ashamed' by their perceived lack of skill, but elated by the lines looking back at them - which more often than not scream out Picasso! With this first step of validation it is then possible to take a group of people deeper and deeper into exploring what can be done with time, effort and courage with a pen in hand.

My overall intention is to essentially illumine people to their own individual creativity - something which can be sparked with but a pen and single sheet of paper.

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