The Museum of Natural History

When the NYC Urban Sketchers announced out location was going to be the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan I was so excited! I hadn't been there since 2015!!! Here is my post from that visit. I think it is funny that I returned to two of the same locations in the museum on Saturday.

My friend, Susan and I were first on line outside the museum waiting for it to open. I knew it would be crowded so as soon as we were allowed inside I raced upstairs. Not only was it a Saturday but it was the beginning of President's Week and all the kids have the week off from school. I love the dinosaur room, especially T-Rex but it is very difficult to fit a tyrannosaurus in a sketchbook. I think I missed the last few bones on his tail.lol I found a corner in a raised area where I had a wall behind me and a railing on my left...a good place to sit and sketch where people wouldn't be tripping over me or knocking into me. This sketch took me about 1 1/2 hrs. One of the security guards kept coming over to see how I was doing and loved the sketch. My friend, Ana came into the room and joined me, sitting nearby so we were able to talk and watch each other's property if we needed to get up. A lot of people stopped by to comment on what we were doing and it was fun talking to them.

The sketchers were meeting at noon for lunch but I decided to just keep sketching. It is nice to socialize but breaking for lunch down in the cafeteria takes away too much time from sketching. I knew I could socialize later in the day. Instead of taking a lunch break Ana and I went down to the Hall of Ocean Life to sketch.  This is where the blue whale is displayed. The blue whale model is 94 feet long and very impressive. The setting for it is perfect! Of course the room was very crowded but Ana and I found an out-of-the-way spot to sit. I know that there are many areas of the museum where the lighting isn't really good for sketching so I brought along a light to help me see. I attached it to my sketchbook.

Here I am using my light to help me see what I was sketching. My thanks to Ana for taking this photo.

Here is the sketch I did of the blue whale.

My third sketch was a repeat too. In the area that has African animals there is a display in the center with wonderful African elephant models. I sketched a few of them. This room was also very dim, so my light came in handy again.

At 3:00 the sketchers gathered in the cafeteria downstairs for our "show and tell." I always enjoy seeing what everyone selected to sketch, how they approached their sketch, and what materials they used. Sharing ideas with other artists is so inspiring.

 

Museum of Natural History

Last Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers visited the American Museum of Natural History. I haven't been there since I was teaching and we would take the kids on trips. It was very crowded and we started in a room the Hall of African Mammals. It had huge, life-sized elephants and dioramas with other animals. Unfortunately the room was very dim and it was difficult to see the elephants well.

I sketched one of the elephants and two of the sketchers working.

One diorama had several African animals and a background like a savannah.

After lunch the group plan was to go up and sketch in the Mammals and their Extinct Relatives Hall...think wooly mammoths. I opted to sketch in the dinosaur room instead which is usually super crowded. Even with people standing in front of me a lot of the time I was able to see a great deal of the dinosaur over their heads since it is so tall. I found a spot in a corner and started painting the tyrannosaurus directly in watercolors. My sketchbook was 9 x 12 and when I got to the spiral spine I opened it the rest of the way and continued. It was hard balancing 24 inches of sketchbook in my lap. lol He looks small here but take my word for it...he was BIG.

Here is a photo of my sketch and pretty much my view.

I had a little time left before we were scheduled to meet downstairs, so I pulled out my iPad and sketched the skull of the tyrannosaurus. I'm slowly figuring out how to shade what I sketch on the iPad.