Gladiators

 Our afternoon in Central Park was really fun. One of our members found out that Gladiators NYC do bouts once a month on a hillside next to the Museum of Natural History. These poor guys were dressed in layers, padding, and armor on a VERY HOT day. The group was very welcoming and performs for the public for free. It was fun to watch them get ready in their costumes and suits of armor. The difficult thing was that it was almost impossible to catch them in battle stance. I ended up sketching them before the bouts started or after (like the guy resting against the bit tree). I did a collection of sketches of the gladiators, the troubadour, and the mc.

A Trip to the Met - Part 1

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch. There was an exhibit that was ending soon called "The Last Knight." This exhibit is reported to be the most ambition North American loan exhibition of European arms and armor. Much of the work has never been on view outside Europe and includes some of Emperor Maximilian I's own armor, including a suit of armor that he wore at the age of 12. There were also tapestries, sculptures, glass, toys, and manuscripts.

I got attracted by this armor as I came into the first room. When I read the information about it it said that it was the first combat armor worn by Maximilian I. I set my stool out of the way of traffic and started sketching. My original plan was to do sketches of several of the suits of armor on the same page, but I was nearly done with the first one and this young girl came along. She seemed so intent standing there that I couldn't resist sketching her near the display and the next thing I knew the sketch had grown to include a man looking at a relief of a coat of arms. This probably took me nearly 1 1/2 hours. I did it with watercolor pencils. The museum prefers that you use dry media, but the guards often overlook that especially in galleries where the objects are behind glass. I did take out my water brush and use that and the guard didn't say anything. 

I did a sketch traveling in on the Long Island Railroad in the morning. If I leave from my home station the ride takes about 1 hr 20 min and if I am lucky there is usually someone sitting across the aisle from me that I can sketch.

Armor at the Met

Today the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch in the Arms & Armor section. This is such a fun place to sketch with so many sketching possibilities. I started with one of the samurai warriors. The museum's policy about materials isn't really enforced in all areas and I have always been able to use any kind of medium in this section...probably because almost everything is behind glass. I used my Lamy pen, a Zebra Fine Line Brush Pen and a few assorted watercolor pencils.

After lunch I headed back to sketch another suit of armor. This one had a lot of detail to it. I liked the hearts by the elbows and knees. I also did a separate helmet since I had a little time left before our "show and tell."

Armor Sketches from the Met

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were sketching in the room that contains the armor. I've sketched there before and enjoy sketching the displays. The museum policy is that you can draw with dry media but they usually let us use water brushes. I sketched this in watercolor pencils.

The above sketch took quite a while and I had just a little while before we were meeting for lunch. Two of our fellow sketchers were busy in the same room, so I sketched them.

More from the Met tomorrow.

#inktober, #inktober2015, Day 3 - Armor & More

Today's #inktober #inktober2015 Day 3 sketch was done at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have such a great display of assorted armor. I couldn't figure out how to fit the knight and the horse on one page so I stretched it across a double page spread in my Strathmore grey toned sketchbook.

The NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Met today since it was a rainy and dismal day. The sketch above was actually my last sketch of the day but it is the one I am using for #inktober.

I started with a sketch of some musical instruments. The saxophone is 6 feet 7 inches high...wow! For this I used grey ink, watercolor pencil, and white ink.

I love the staircase that comes up from the great hall at the Met...so I had to sketch that too.

In among the armor was this piece for a samurai warrior. I used a black brush pen, black ink and watercolor pencils.