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February's DRAW! theme

Draw a portrait

This month artist Adébayo Bolaji is inviting us all draw a portrait or self-portrait – part of DRAW! supported by David Hockney.

Headshot of man in beanie and black coat infront of his lare pieces of colourful abstract artwork

Published: February 6, 2025

DRAW! supported by David Hockney is a nationwide project to get everyone drawing.

In February, internationally-renowned artist Adébayo Bolaji is inviting us all to draw a portrait. Check out Bolaji's drawings that inspired this theme, and take a look back at some of the amazing drawings you sent to us in January.

Last month, David Hockney encouraged us to draw ‘something you find beautiful’.

And you didn’t disappoint! You sent some incredible drawings that showed us what you find beautiful, from your pets to familiar views of the places you love – we loved seeing what inspired you to get drawing!

Check out February’s theme ‘portraits’ below chosen by artist Adébayo Bolaji and see a selection of his drawings that inspired the theme.

And read on to see a selection of some of the incredible drawings you sent to us last month, hand-picked by Bradford 2025 Creative Director, Shanaz Gulzar. Thank you to everyone who shared your drawings with us.

I like to approach drawing like a child discovering the world for the first time, no judgement just curiosity and being open to the element of surprise.
Adébayo Bolaji
Headshot of man in beanie and black coat infront of his lare pieces of colourful abstract artwork
A close up of artist Adébayo Bolaji
Adébayo Bolaji: draw a portrait
Meet February's DRAW! artist Adébayo Bolaji.

February's theme

‘Draw a portrait’

This month, internationally-renowned artist Adébayo Bolaji is inviting us all to draw a portrait, inspired by his recent work Justice.

Bolaji is encouraging us all to draw portraits of the people around us or draw ourselves in a self-portrait.

“Drawing for me is curiosity, sometimes a restlessness even, but in a good way.” said Bolaji.

“It’s a time for me to play. I like to approach drawing like a child discovering the world for the first time, no judgement just curiosity and being open to the element of surprise.

“So rather than saying sketch or even draw… I prefer to say, play… it’s curiosity and playfulness.”

Discover Bolaji’s own drawings below – shared exclusively with Bradford 2025 for this month’s DRAW! theme.

Find out more about Adébayo Bolaji at www.adebayobolaji.com.

A multicoloured drawing of a multicoloured man in a colourful robe with a brown hook in one of his hands, and a pink glow and yellow glow around his head.
Adébayo Bolaji – The Harvester. 2025 [crayon, pencil and biro on paper, 27 x 24cm] 
Multicoloured abstract sketch of a face close up, resting on their knuckles with a green and yellow background.
Adébayo Bolaji – Me. 2025 [crayon, pencil and biro on paper, 27 x 24cm] 
Abstarct drawing of person with arms in the air and head to the side, inforn of them there is a pit of fire and at the bottom of the drawing is a sea of blue and red waves at the bottom of the page
Adébayo Bolaji – Justice. 2025 [Acrylic and oil pastel on cotton, 160 x 130cm] 

How to share your drawing

To share your drawing with us, take a photo of your artwork and send it to us at bradford2025.co.uk/mydrawing. Or share it on social media using the hashtag #Bradford2025, or tag @bradford_2025.

Share your drawing ↗

Look back on January's theme

‘Draw something you think is beautiful’

You kicked off our year of drawing in incredible style in January, with over a hundred of you sending us your drawings on the theme ‘draw something you think is beautiful’ – inspired by David Hockney.

Bradford 2025 Creative Director Shanaz Gulzar has looked through all of the submissions you sent in and hand-picked some of her personal favourites.

See some of Shanaz’s highlights below.

Childrens drawing of three purple flowers, and a yellow sticky note in the middle saying Bradford, and Rise written underneath
Jude Brown – RISE 
A vibrant green painting of an outdoor scene with lush grass and bushes. A wooden fence runs across the middle, with a cat up in a tree and a black cat sitting on the ground beside a hedgehog.
Lindsay Forrest – Bruno and Jelly in the garden 
Drawing of church with colourful windows and a rainbow path around the bottom of the church
Claire Harwood - Bright Bradford 
Water colour painting of a cup of tea in a blue mug
Tony Williams - Proper tea
Children's drawing on lined paper, three trees, with path in the middle of the page and animals!
Mohammed Zayaan - My happy place
A drawing of the back view of a Grandad and four other men wearing Bradford City gold and burgundy football shirts, on a football ground
Lennie McNulty - Grandad's Football Team
Drawing of two women, one in a green jumper and the other lady and another man in black Jumpers. The bottom of the page is red checked with the words 'Bradfordians be bold be proud' at the bottom
Mark Chappell – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Black and white drawing of a man walking his dog in the woods
Jan Hutchins - Winter walk in the woods
Black pencil sketch of multiple men on horses with a blue sketched background
Ruth Orbach – Valeries Horses 
Digital drawing of a giraffe with white spots
Savannah Mwangi – Stand tall
A drawing of a wall with bushes on the other side and a wooden pole with electrical lines.
Adelina Court – Out of the window in January
Pen line drawing of a girl laid down on a sofa covering their face with a round table next to them.
Patrick Gaunt – random girl, bored, waiting to get into Hockney Manchester
Drawing of small pretty flowers on top of a bunch of colourful pencils
lalewii creative – chameleon
Pencil drawing of the back of houses and a street light.
June Russell - My back yard
Close up drawing of a zebras eye
Angela Kershaw
simple line drawing of a man turning and falling
Rose Fulbright 
Pen sketch of a man and a puffin bird
Laura Smith - David Attenborough
Drawing of the country side, light grey sky and a digital green sketch over green areas
Adam Raees Ismail - My back garden
A drawing of a closed gate in a snowy field
Samuel Galloway – A Winter's Gate
Childrens drawing of a house, buildings and a tree with a pond
Tobias Hammond - Bradford
Black pencil drawing of a cat on a window sill with plants
Helen Steele - Sky cat plants
Pencil drawing of Feathers McGraw, a small penguin with a rubber glove on it's head holding a remote
Leo Lewis – Feathers McGraw
A canal with houses on both sides and a gate across the middle of the page, with green hills in the background
Nick Mortimer – Gates of Salts Mill 
Pencil drawing of an open book on a table with a cup of tea and a a cat peering at the end of the table
Seojae Park – Regular CAT customer of my cafe 
Lesley Butterworth – Espaliers, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Lesley Butterworth – Espaliers, Yorkshire Sculpture Park 
Credits →
Image: Adébayo Bolaji © Gregg Houston

DRAW! supported by David Hockney

David Hockney has drawn the world around him for 60 years – and the Bradford-born artist is now supporting DRAW!, a nationwide drawing project for Bradford 2025.

Each month, a different artist will invite us all to create a drawing inspired by a particular theme. Learn more - and get drawing!

Artist David Hockney sits on a chair in front of one of his paintings. The artwork is hung on a white wall.