Museum Sketching Day (again!)

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 Nothings beats a day of sketching with another sketcher for company! My good friend Roxanne Steed and I took a trip in to the American Museum of Natural History today to relax and indulge in a day of making art that's just for ourselves.

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Everything about a sketching trip is fun. I love the planning, what to take, which pens, which paints, which sketchbook etc. Then there's all the things that you learn particularly in a museum. The penguins were an easy first choice, and it was interesting learning that they live on an island off the coast of South America.  

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The Hall of North Coast Indians was something I only had time to walk through last time I was at the museum and I knew that I  definitely wanted to get back for sketching. We were fascinated by these huge totem poles and the incredible animal imagery on them.  The more we looked as we sketched, the more we saw.

When I'm sketching in a museum or zoo I like to use a pen with non-waterproof ink. That way I can create tonal washes quick and easy with my water brush. If there is time I can then add a bit of watercolor to liven things up a bit.  Yes, some of the ink will bleed into the watercolors but that has a way of one, unifying your colors and two seriously keeping you from overworking your application of watercolor, It's gotta be a quick simple wash and you have to leave some white areas which lends sparkle to a sketch.