Urban Sketching at the Natural History museum

 Yesterday I hoped to upload a post but got distracted with one of the many logistical things that goes into having a family and generally being a busy person. Anyway, enough said about that. Today is a new day and I am making up for it now.
   Last weekend a few people from Urban Sketchers Graz met up to do a bit of sketching at the Natural history museum. As some of the people hadn't been there before we spent a little bit of time walking through the exhibits before finally sitting down in one of the mineral collection cabinets. I did not take close up photos of the minerals and gems themselves, but I assume it is easy to imagine how beautiful and diverse they were.
  We spent about an hour and a half sketching, slightly longer than we usually devote to one session, and the results were interesting in their diversity. Some chose to do the entire cabinets and others chose individual stones. The photo at the top of this post is of my sketch, I did the cabinets as well as part of the room. The oven was just too good to pass up.

   We found one of the museum employees to be very helpful. She assisted Jana Grabner in properly naming the minerals in her sketchbook, in contrast to another employee whose aim in life seemed to be to remind every person coming or going not to touch the cabinets. He would rush to the end of the room everytime he heard the door open so as to spring this valuable advise on the unsuspecting newcomer. It was annoying to us when we arrived, as it was to almost everyone entering the room, but sitting for a prolonged time I, at least, began to see the humor in his utter dedication to the protection of the furniture. Something he alone seemed to value perhaps even more highly that the minerals themselves...

 We always take a comparison, flat lay photo at the end of a sketching session. Seeing the work side by side is so rewarding. I often wonder at that moment why it never occured to me to choose a completely different layout. One more interesting or colourful, in essence, one represented by one of the other sketchers. However, that is the beauty of working together. More sets of eyes, more unique perspectives of the same scene. And thus the ability to see more of whatever we are looking for.

 Well here are a few finished pieces. Each different but together creating the feeling of the place.

 Supplies I used in my sketch*:
- Hahnemuele Watercolour Sketchbook
-Schminke Watercolors
-Washi tape
- Pentel Pointliner 0.3
-Staedtler Norris school pencil
- Staedtler Stick eraser
- Pentel Aquash Waterbrush

 Affiliate links- This is not a sponsored posts


 If you liked this post you might also enjoy:

- My Sketching kit for the US
- Field Sketching kit
- Urban Sketching Paris
- Second Urban Sketching sketchbook tour

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