We proudly manufacture and print our garments here in Manchester, the city where the Industrial Revolution began. The city once nicknamed Cottonopolis, home of Britain's cotton industry. A city renowned for its creativity and innovation.
RUN&FELL is on a journey, delving into the creative community of Manchester, meeting people who share our values, and make things here. We're passionate about local people embracing and excelling in their own forms of craft, launching initiatives which have a wider impact for good, and choosing to pursue positivity in their work to inspire others.
In our Made in Manchester series, we're connecting with visionaries who are cultivating their own innovative enterprises; artists and designers creating inventive new visuals; musicians driving the heartbeat of the city. You may have read our previous article on local illustrator Dave Draws a couple of weeks back, (if not, catch up here) and how he told us about OverDrawn, a live illustration event he runs with his arty pals. We figured it would be rude not to go and check it out.
Made In Manchester Series - Part 9 - OverDrawn
Last night's OverDrawn event was an epic eight-hour "All Day Art Festival". Taking over the Deaf Institute on Oxford road, the three floors were filled with artists, students, art, prints and live illustrations... and inflatable crocodiles.
We missed the "pop-up fancy dress life drawing" sesh, (gutted!) but we thoroughly enjoyed watching the live illustration showdowns on the main stage. Two artists were selected each round to battle it out on the stage. Given three minutes with an easel and a large drawing board, both artists had to freestyle illustrate a word they were given, whilst the DJ played a track. After the three minutes was up, the audience voted for their favourite (whoever gets the loudest noise from the crowd wins) who then went through to the next round.
OverDrawn at The Deaf Institute
Easels stood round each room, with a variety of artists showcasing their own styles of drawing and painting, busily working away creating new pieces live. Pound Portraits were on offer too; pay a pound and have yourself immortalised in a quick doodle caricature. Paper-covered tables in the bar areas gave everyone the chance to be an artist for the night. And if you liked what you saw, prints from the OverDrawn artists taking part were available on the merch table, be it quirky sketches of local scenes, portraits of Corbyn, or paintings of cats.
Running regular OverDrawn events at The Deaf Institute and Ancoats General Store, last night's event was their biggest so far, providing a warm welcome to new students arriving for Freshers Week. But according to Dave Draws, the only way is up, "The best thing about doing it for me is that we've just met so many amazing artists through doing it. And lots of them keep on coming again to the events so it's almost like a community growing within OverDrawn artists. We want to build up to doing OverDrawn socials, and having a website where we sell art from OverDrawn artists, and do more pop-up events as well as the ones at Deaf Institute and Ancoats, so it's just interesting where it's going to go."
The DJ plays whilst the illustration showdown is underway
We love that it's not just another night out in a bar, but it's something everyone can join in and get involved with, whether you feel you have any drawing "talent" or not. We highly recommend you find out when the next OverDrawn event is on and add it to your diary. It's such a fun, creative and quirky atmosphere, plus you could end up going home with some affordable new artwork for your walls. In this already vibrant and inventive city, OverDrawn is proving itself to be an event that can certainly draw a crowd.
