ARTISTS from across the globe have jumped on board with a youngster’s painting project.

Nathan Jones started helping his son Noah paint on pieces of cardboard as a lockdown activity for the 11-year-old about three weeks ago.

After realising how much Noah, who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and hydrocephalus, was enjoying using a paint brush, Mr Jones came up with an idea.

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Creative - By Guts @dcguts

The dad-of-two put a call out on social media asking artists to complete the paintings Noah had started from their Dedham home.

Since the project launched, more than 150 artists have come forward to add their designs to Noah’s colourful backgrounds.

The completed paintings will be auctioned, with the money going to Colchester Hospital’s children’s ward.

Mr Jones, who works as a painter and decorator, said: “Painting has been a way of keeping Noah entertained in lockdown.”

The 47-year-old and his wife Laura, who is an art teacher for Tendring Technology College, often take Noah and his brother Ruben, 14, to street art exhibitions.

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Quirky - By @Nolarts

“I follow street artists on social media, so this is where the idea for the project came from,” he added.

“Some are quite friendly with me so I thought they might be able to get involved.

“We never expected we’d be sending more than 150 backgrounds to artists across the world though.”

Noah has been creating between ten and 15 backgrounds a day, which Mr Jones has posted to artists in countries including the US, Columbia and Australia.

Once artists complete their work on top of Noah’s backgrounds, they post the piece back to him.

Mr Jones said: “Noah gets to open the post to see what the artists have created.

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Original - By artist Korp @korporate

“He is non-verbal but the project is keeping him happy and busy.

“It’s a lovely legacy for us and brings a lot of joy to everyone involved.

“Artists have reached out to us too saying the project has really helped them during lockdown.”

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Colourful - By @Winniemmay

The family hopes to display some of the finished work at Colchester Hospital.

Anyone who is interested in the project can follow Noah’s Instagram account, under the handle background_bob.