How to Sketch in Museums Without Feeling Awkward

Описание: In this video, I would like to show how I use museums as inspiration, what kind of sketches I make, and how I take photos and videos. I’ll also share a little “trick” I use to check whether my sketch is accurate or off.

First of all, this time I visited the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. I wasn’t alone, so making sketches on site took a back seat. But I’ll give you a few tips in case you don’t have much time to draw: just bring a sketchbook, preferably a smaller one with a hard cover. I brought a slightly larger softcover one, and it bothered me that I couldn’t hold it with one hand and had to put it on the ground or on my lap. There isn’t always a place to sit.

I brought colored pencils and a few markers. But I didn’t really have time to take out the markers, so I only used the colored pencils. At home I’ve tried sketching with pens and markers, and I think this combination could also work well on site. Pick something that isn’t too complicated to draw so you can move quickly, and take photos and videos of the more complex things. You can sketch those at home later.

You don’t need to stick exactly to what you see—this isn’t for a scientific book where precision is essential. This is your sketchbook, a place to experiment! Collect ideas; if you only like a part of something, just draw that. Don’t be afraid to leave sketches unfinished—there’s a special charm in that too. Weeks later, you’ll look at them differently.

Some people may feel shy about drawing when others are around. I personally don’t have that problem, but if you’re more reserved, find a quieter spot in the museum and make your sketch there, even if it’s based on a photo you just took. The experience is still fresh, and the photo helps recall the details—plus you don’t have to draw with people staring.

Keep your sketchbook and pencils handy. I brought a backpack, and it was annoying to keep rummaging through it for pencils and my sketchbook. Next time I’ll definitely bring a smaller sketchbook and keep everything I need for sketching right in my hands. When painting plein air, I found it useful to wear a cardigan or pants with big pockets, because it made it easy to grab my tools.

Of course, if you go by yourself and have plenty of time, you don’t really need to worry about these things, since you can move at your own pace.

Now let’s move on to how I work with the photos at home. I like to zoom in on the photos and videos and pick out details. Sometimes you can discover strange and interesting things this way—like when I noticed that ugly goblin in the mural.

In the end, I started with the stone lion. When I finished the pen sketch, I realized something went wrong—it didn’t look right. That was frustrating, but you can turn this to your advantage by learning from it. What I do in this case is trace the rough sketch onto transparent paper and place it over my own drawing. This way I can see what went off track. In this case, I had misjudged the placement of the lion’s nose and ear. The rest was in the right place, which made me really happy!

I corrected the mistakes in red, then used a thicker black marker to merge the two lines. That gave me a nice sketch.

And what could this sketch be good for? Many things. Maybe years from now you’ll be preparing a painting or an illustration, and you’ll be glad to have this sketch as a starting point to develop something else.

I think I’ll wrap up my story here today. I hope you found some useful tips and that the video was interesting for you. See you next week!

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