OKEHAMPTON residents are being encouraged to be quick on the draw and get involved in October?s nationwide ?Big Draw? campaign.

Okehampton Library is holding a ?Drawing from Nature? event and anyone is welcome to come into the library and try their hand at putting onto paper their perception of objects such as leaves and pinecones which will be on display.

There will also be two exhibitions running as part of the initiative ? students with learning disabilities from the Leaze Day Centre are mounting an exhibition of photographs, and the Rethink Group will be displaying a work with the theme of new beginnings entitled ?Rethink, Rejoice, Regain, Relaunch?.

This will constitute a screen made by service users of Rethink, a project which supports people with long-term mental health difficulties, their carers and families. The installation ties in with World Mental Health Day which took place last weekend.

All these events run until October 20 during library opening hours.

The Drawing Power campaign was launched in 2000 by The Guild of St George, a small charity founded by John Ruskin, the Victorian artist, writer and visionary. Ruskin saw drawing as the foundation of visual thought; his mission was not to teach people how to draw, but how to see.

The Big Draw is the latest event organised by the campaign and aims to get everyone drawing through 1,200 events taking place across the country.