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Children drawing together on a chalkboard headed Ping Pong Drawing.

Ping Pong Painting One person draws a line. The next person adds another.

A drawing made by taking turns.

The answers

Short instructions, many answers, made together and shown as art. The artwork is all the answers side by side. How the works work

  • A drawing of thick black arcs, blue teardrop loops and a small face with a red and green mouth.
    Drawing from Ping Pong Painting
  • A drawing of a pale blue box on orange legs, with two cars, a yellow flower and a red shell shape.
    Drawing from Ping Pong Painting
  • A chalk drawing on a blackboard: a face split into two halves, a sailboat and a bird.
    Chalk drawing from Ping Pong Painting

From the workshops

  • Two children seen from above drawing on one shared sheet, with the words Ping Pong Painting added over the photograph.
  • A worktable seen from above, covered with pens, scissors, paper cut-outs and a tin of pencils.
  • A child drawing at a low table beside a pot of coloured pencils, other children drawing behind.
  • Two children drawing on one sheet at a wooden desk, with pots of felt pens between them.
  • A classroom of children in green uniforms drawing on shared sheets at pushed-together desks.
  • Children and an adult drawing at wooden desks; one sheet shows blue waves and red marks.
  • Children in white shirts drawing on large sheets at wooden desks.
  • Children drawing around a table in a classroom with shelves of materials.
  • Two children in front of a chalkboard holding up a coloured drawing.
  • A hand adding a chalk line to a drawing on a blackboard.

Photographs from the workshops of Ping Pong Painting.

We say, ‘A person is a person through other persons.’

Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness, 1999

How it happened

The name comes from the game. A drawing goes back and forth between two people, and each one adds to whatever the other drew last.

Nobody has to talk. The drawing is the conversation.

In March 2012 a week of CRE8 workshops at Can Coll primary school in Spain began with Ping Pong Painting.

Run it anywhere

This workshop is open. Anyone can run it, with children anywhere in the world. The kit has the instructions, what you need and how it goes.

Get the kit

Where it happened

Photos from CRE8's own Flickr albums.

Thailand

Photographs · 2011

  • A laughing girl draws on a blackboard covered in chalk shapes. Thailand, 2011.
  • Two students draw on one big sheet from opposite sides of a wooden table. Thailand, 2011.
  • A student in a white school uniform draws with a yellow pen. Thailand, 2011.
  • A girl in a school uniform rests her chin on her hands, thinking. Thailand, 2011.
All 12 photos from Thailand
  • A student in a white uniform draws with a pink pencil. Thailand, 2011.
  • A classroom of students in white uniforms drawing at wooden desks. Thailand, 2011.
  • Students drawing at wooden desks, one covering his eyes with his hand. Thailand, 2011.
  • A student pins drawings of faces to a green board. Thailand, 2011.
  • Students at wooden desks in a classroom, a teacher standing at the back. Thailand, 2011.
  • Two students hold up a sheet with two drawn faces side by side. Thailand, 2011.
  • Two students hold up a sheet of drawn faces, classmates waving behind them. Thailand, 2011.
  • A wide sandy schoolyard with children playing, a temple roof beyond the trees. Thailand, 2011.

Flickr album: “Drawing workshops in Thailand”

Also on record, in the journal: Bogotá, Colombia · Can Coll primary school, Spain

Film

About Ping Pong Paintings

4:33
Watch on YouTubeHow a drawing goes back and forth between two people.

Journal