More Sketching at The V&A

Blissful sketching at The V&A continues...this one a white marble winner, 'The Bather' by Albert Toft. He was obviously a very clever chap. His sculpture wasn't half bad either.

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I decided to spend more time than I ever thought possible sketching at London's Victoria and Albert Museum over the last few days...so what was I thinking as I sat there sketching watched by onlookers over four day period?

*It is so cool the V@A (http://www.vam.ac.uk/) have these little 'sketching' chairs for artists who want to sketch in the sculpture gallery - how thoughtfully British. All we need now is Union Jack sketch books for sale in the gift shop.

*The history of this great art institution - and to be sketching amid its' mind-blowing contents - is making the hairs on my neck stand out.

*People do - and say - the funniest things to draw attention to themselves and to distract the artist from drawing. Are they secretly envious? One lady explained the intricacies of breastfeeding to her seven year-old daughter loudly in front of me. NOT KIDDING! I didn't fall for it. My concentration remained intact. She was puzzled.

* How on earth did this sculptor, Aime-Tules Daleu, 1873, render this piece of a peasant girl breast-feeding her tot? It is very tender. Certainly for a mom. The crowds roaming through the V@A love it. Or is it just my drawing they are checking out? I sure got a lot of comments.

*I am so grateful that I now have the drawing confidence to sketch and copy masterpieces in museums, and I really enjoy it. Thank you to the ' 365 Days of Drawing' challenge I set myself last year. I continue to discipline myself to draw very often now, hence being in the V@A, when I could be in the local pub having a large G&T with friends. Ok...I did that too. Later.

* Simplify and connect the shapes. Know what to leave out. Hmmm...it is good to have a mentor. I think of Mr. Kinstler's words all the time, near or far. http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/

* I must do a close-up of the sculpture's face AND another of the full figure. I have not lost my Type A personality with jet lag. DRATS.

* Why was that scone in the V@A tea room, in front of the exquisite Pre-Raphealites' stained glass windows, A, so expensive (err, derrrr!) and, B, so stale? Unforgivable. I have had better scones in America at that awful coffee chain beginning with S. That is telling you something.

Come back tomorrow to see more drawings from my serene sketching sojourn at The V&A....