Comic joins City Of Culture project

Johnny Vegas has been announced as the November featured artist for Draw!, a nationwide drawing project presented by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.

Backed by Bradford-born artist David Hockney, the initiative invites people  to create and share a drawing inspired by a theme set by a different artist each month. 

Vegas has selected the theme 'Something that makes you happy' and has created a line drawing sketch of a man reading a newspaper in his local pub from the late 1980s.

He said: ‘Daring to be different, to be the real you makes me happy.’

The comic added: ’This month's theme is "something that makes you happy" and how you interpret that is totally up to you. It might be a memory, a favourite place, a scribble of a landscape, or it might just be a swirl of colour, it's completely open.

‘From a young age drawing was so important to me. I realised later in life that I'm ADHD, so this was a means of expressing myself. 

‘I have 50 ideas a day, the beauty of art, the beauty of sketching is scribble it down, or else it'll be gone as a new idea will come in and nudge it out of the way - beautiful chaos.

‘I implore you to not be intimidated by sketching and drawing and art. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t draw. Art and culture are in all of us - set it free, send it in, and let’s have a look.’

Earlier this year, Vegas  created an ‘avenue of hugs’ for the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent.

The public can share their drawings i by uploading them to bradford2025.co.uk/mydrawing

Published: 4 Nov 2025