Five years on: My first sketchcrawl with Urban Sketchers London

The Brunswick Lion of Gallery 46a - pastel and graphite in 20x20 cm sketchbook 

[From Cynthia Barlow Marrs SGFA] This week five years ago I took part in my first Urban Sketchers London sketchcrawl. I arrived on my own and elbowed my way through the packed lobby of the Natural History Museum, wondering how to tell an Urban Sketcher from a regular person. When I spotted a cluster of regular people brandishing sketchbooks, my heart leapt. Our sketching territory included the Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. I chose the V&A, and that's where I fell under the spell of Gallery 46a*. It's part of the museum's renowned collection of plaster casts of European sculpture. I drew the back end of the Brunswick Lion. 

As luck would have it, Urban Sketchers London returns to the Kensington museums this coming Saturday 9 December 2017, but this time we're meeting at the new Sackler Wing of the V&A. If you've never joined an Urban Sketchers event, here's a little something about sketchcrawls in general. And if you're joining us for the first time, don't worry if you're not sure how to spot the Urban Sketchers. Just look for a group of regular people carrying sketchbooks. See you at the V&A!

My original two-page sketchbook spread

My favourite cast court: Gallery 46a with plaster casts of sculptures from northern Europe and Spain 

*Gallery 46a is closed for renovation until November 2018, but if you make your way to Gallery 111 you can look down on progress from the balcony.

Five years on: My first sketchcrawl with Urban Sketchers London

South Kensington Sketchcrawl on December 1st

Yesterday was the third Urban Sketchers London sketchcrawl, which took place inside both the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, it being a little cold for a full day's worth of sketching outdoors. We had another good turnout, so thank you to everyone who came, and there were some great drawings that came out of it at the end of the day, as you can see below.

I think it might've been helpful to have a bit more structure to the day, as it was very busy, especially at the NHM, and so it wasn't always easy to meet everyone as they went their separate ways, it would've been fun to spend time in specific rooms as a group or groups, so perhaps a missed opportunity on my part there, but hopefully people still got to mingle and see all the art going on during the day! We had a wonderful array of styles and subjects being displayed in all the different sketchbooks.

Museums are great for people-watching, and so I decided to focus mainly on the visitors, but couldn't help getting sucked in to drawing a few impressive exhibits too:

I also braved the cold just long enough to draw the ice skaters outside the Natural History Museum, London's most popular Christmas ice skating venue. I didn't bother sketching it out with a pencil first, (too cold to faff around with that as I would normally do), I just launched straight into it with a pen, which was quite satisfying.

Thanks again to everyone for coming, I hope to see you all again soon. Watch out for further announcements about sketchcrawls in the coming months!

South Kensington Sketchcrawl on December 1st

Urban Sketchers London - Sketchcrawl 3

Come and sketch with us! We'll be taking in the sights of the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and, weather permitting, the surrounding area. The Natural History Museum has an ice rink in the winter months, so should provide something different to draw, while the exterior of the museums themselves have fascinating architecture, not to mention the endless stream of tourists that even the cold can't keep away.
The nearest tube is South Kensington, and we're starting at 11am, inside the main entrance of the Natural History Museum - the big, grand Central Hall (the one with the big dinosaur skeleton). Don't forget your pencils!

Urban Sketchers London - Sketchcrawl 3