The Drawing Machines is a participatory artwork created for Forest of Imagination 2018, installed in Kingsmead Squareas part of a wider programme across the city. The work consisted of three large-scale drawing machines, each representing a different forest habitat: the forest floor, the understory and the canopy. Arranged at varying heights and orientations, the machines translated ecological ideas into physical acts of mark-making. The forest floor machine sat low to the ground, inviting tiny, creeping marks that echoed the movement of small ground-dwelling creatures. The understory unfolded horizontally in front of the body, producing sweeping, pendulum-like gestures inspired by animals swinging between branches. The canopy rose vertically, encouraging participants to throw muslin sacks filled with charcoal dust upwards, creating splattered marks that referenced frogs leaping from leaf to leaf high in the trees. Each machine used charcoal in different forms—from small fragments to chunky blocks and powdered dust—allowing for a wide range of textures and scales. Visually, the machines drew on Piet Mondrian’s abstracted studies of trees, constructed from primary-coloured timber elements arranged like branching, geometric forms. By mediating how bodies could interact with the paper, the machines removed the intimidation of the blank page while enabling bold, expansive marks to be made in a public square. Children instinctively jumped in and played, while adults engaged with deeper references to abstraction, ecology and perception. Designed to be intuitive and inclusive, the work also opened up large-scale drawing to people with limited mobility, allowing small movements to generate marks far beyond the reach of the body.