Rod Emmerson's Colouring-in Club: And the best ones are...

Cartoons

Scribbling and doodling. We've been exploring our creative side since our ancestors could pick up a stick of charcoal and draw on a cave wall.

So I wasn't surprised to discover — while launching a series of online drawing tips for amateur artists in lockdown — a huge interest in drawing activities.

We wanted to offer more to meet this demand, so we published five colouring-in panels to suit all ages.

The response has been fabulous, with people sharing their masterpieces, drawings unrelated to the colouring-in, pictures of pets, their Anzac artwork in windows and images of families huddled over tables with children busily scribbling.

Ages ranged from 4 to 87, and from far and wide. We showcase five of the best here but the standard of entries has been immensely satisfying.

During the lockdown, musicians, actors, artists and people from all walks of life have chipped in to keep us sane and entertained.

I'm very confident when we surface on the other side of this maelstrom, we'll all be the better for it.

- Rod Emmerson

Ten-year-old Kayla Hepi's bright colours show off our native birds in all their glory.

Georgia Burn, 49, and 10-year-old Harry completed this to honour those who fought for our freedom.

Grace Marshall, 8, gave us a vivid version of the farm animals drawing.

And here's Grace's work up close.

Anne Glogowski, 81, gave us this masterpiece of life on the edge of the sea.

Steve Taylor, 58, gives us his take on world leaders.

If you're after the answers for the world leaders crossword, they are: Trudeau, Tsai, Ramaphosa, Ardern, Morrison, Merkel, Solberg, Jakobsdottir, Abe, Modi, Kim, Trump, Putin, Xi, Johnson.

Rod Emmerson - a scribbler and doodler since long before lockdown.