PUPILS at a Barrhead school have been drawing on their skills as artists to take part in a 30-day sketchbook challenge.
More than 50 pupils in S1 to S3 at St Luke’s High signed up for the competition, organised by the school’s art department.
They were challenged to keep a sketchbook and, every day for 30 days, add a drawing of anything that caught their imagination.
That sparked a variety of colourful creations, with drawings featuring everything from wildlife to Batman villain The Joker.
First year pupil Jodie Badza won the competition with her Hallowe’en-inspired sketches, which included a portrait of pop star Billie Eilish.
There were also prizes for Diana Gusarova and Eva Rose Smith, who were both named as a runner-up.
Fraser Jenkins, joint principal of creative arts at St Luke’s High, came up with the idea for the contest after being inspired by a similar online art challenge called Inktober.
“I thought it would be a good way of engaging pupils – and a lot of them loved it,” he told the Barrhead News.
“We gave them some prompts but we wanted to see what they came up with themselves. Many of them drew fantasy things that I didn’t know about.
“That’s what I wanted – I hoped it would feel less like work if their artwork was not prescribed by me.”
The sketchbook challenge also allowed the art teacher to get a better understanding of each of his pupils.
“I learned something about each of them from their sketchbooks, such as what they liked drawing and what their interests are,” added Mr Jenkins.
“Jodie is quite a quiet girl but her sketchbook spoke volumes, so that was nice.”
Margaret Pollock, depute headteacher at St Luke’s High, described the entries as “wonderful.”
She said: “There were some amazingly creative drawings and designs.
“Well done to Jodie, who was the overall winner.”
Mr Jenkins is hoping to stage another art challenge later in the year, which will challenge pupils to be even more inventive.
He said: “I’m thinking of doing a journal challenge, where pupils can try to do more interesting things with each page, instead of just drawing.
“They would be doing various tasks such as sticking things inside or tearing pages apart and putting them back together in new and creative ways.”
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