He had laced up his performance sneakers. He has an iPad and a stylus. Illustrator Dan Woodger embarks on a project that combines his favorite mode of transportation – running – with his profession: painting, painting, painting.
Run London/Draw London is a creative project raising money for Oxfam, linked to the London Marathon that Dan is preparing to run on Sunday 26th April. Here’s how it works. When someone pledges a donation of £5 or more via Dan’s JustGiving page, he will add their drawing to a large illustration he is creating, which charts the marathon route.
Donors can describe the characters they want included in the image, and Dan will comply. “It’s been a really lovely combination so far,” he said. “Some are perfect for me – wearing fruit sunglasses and the like. Others are completely outside my cultural knowledge, like Steve welding a netherite sword from Minecraft. Another donor asked for the entire cast of their 18-piece swing band to be included, and I’m really looking forward to getting that done.”
Dan has started filling in his map.
This element of randomness made the project as interesting and challenging creatively as it was physically. This will be Dan’s first marathon and he has been training hard. In fact, it’s been too difficult since he recently missed two weeks with shin splints. At least it gives him time to devote to the arduous task of promoting the project on social media. Of course, there’s also managing the scale of the drawing and the number of characters that might be involved.
Dan continued: “I feel like, from a technical perspective, I’ve thought this through as thoroughly as I can. I spent a lot of time trying to get a balance in the details. The imagery is big, but it’s achievable because the characters are relatively small or simple. The thing that kept me up at night was the engagement. This project relies on audience engagement, and audience engagement is a very tenuous place to be.”
He doesn’t have to worry too much. At the time of writing, Run London/Draw London is already halfway through its £2,000 target and even if the total is exceeded, Dan will continue to add characters to his marathon route. In addition, he has received support from some of the biggest names in the running world, thanks to former British Olympic runners Paula Radcliffe and Christopher Thompson.
“I fainted!” Dan exclaimed. “I introduced myself to Christopher at a running event last year and we exchanged Instagrams. Chris co-hosts a podcast with Paula called Paula’s Running Club, so I asked them if they would be interested in the project and they said ‘yes’.”
As we were about to publish this story, news had just arrived from Dan that when the dust settled, he planned to have the final image produced as a signed art print. The first 50 donors will receive a free copy, and it’s also on sale for £15.
Start watching Dan’s journey here.
Throughout the project, Dan’s goal was to maintain ease of participation and a community spirit. Donations start at just £5 per character and each character will receive the same level of attention as any character drawn by Dan. He’s documenting the project’s progress on YouTube so people can watch the giant images gradually come together.
Ultimately, as missiles fly over the Middle East and people around the world feel helpless in a relentless cycle of bad news, Run London/Draw London is an opportunity to make a difference.
“I’ve worked with Oxfam a few times over the years and I really believe in the work they’re doing. Fighting wealth inequality, tackling the climate crisis and delivering aid to some of the areas worst affected by conflict. Sometimes reading the news makes you want to scream and feel helpless. This is one way I can at least do something,” Dan said.
If you would like Dan to draw your character and add it to the London map, please use the link below before 26th April.
