Tag Archives: Museum

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A Weekend Drawing at the Museums

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museum1Two very different drawing workshops at two of Edinburgh’s fantastic museums.

On Friday night the National Museum of Edinburgh of Chambers Street hosted their latest Museum:Lates event, this time themed around their Celts exhibition.

Revellers could take a break from the bar and live music in the main hall and chill out creating Celtic designs to colour in. Below are a few photographs from the night, which was a huge success. The Celts exhibition runs until 25th September 2016.

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Then on Saturday I was up early to run a number of workshops at Surgeon’s Hall Museums to mark the Festival of Museums weekend.

Celebrating the magnificent architecture within the Surgeons Hall courtyard we sketched various angles in black fine liners and watercolour. It was great to be sketching in the sunshine, and to share some of my speed sketching tips to a great bunch of artists.

Below are a few photos from the gloriously sunny day. If you would like to come sketching with me keep an eye on my Sketching Workshops page, where I will post all details and links to where you can book a place.

I hope to see you sketching soon!

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Celts exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland.

Surgeons Hall Museums website.

Daily Sketch

Celtic creativity this Friday night at the National Museum of Scotland

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FramedDesignTomorrow an evening of Celtic entertainment takes over the National Museum of Scotland.

With live music, Celtic inspired DJ sets, silent discos and even a silent ceilidh the evening should be a huge success. There will be food and drink served in the main hall and creative activities including facepainting and temporary tattoos on ffer around the museum.

I will be there with a couple of tables offering Celtic creativity in the form of either designing your own Celtic pictures to colour in, or try sketching some of the exhibits from the Celts exhibition, which runs until the 25th September.

Above is my coloured in Celtic design, and below part of the process. Find me on Friday night to make your own Celtic symbol design.

Buy your ticket to Museum Lates: Celts at the NMS website. celtictrace

 

 

 

 

Daily Sketch

The Celts are coming … to the National Museum of Scotland

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Celts_Sandstone Cross
Tomorrow, the 10th March sees the arrival of the eagerly anticipated ‘Celts’ exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

 

This major exhibition, their first of 2016 spans more than 2, 500 years and unravels the story of those who have used or been given the name ‘Celts’ through the extraordinary art objects they made and used.

 

The piece I have sketched using cross hatching and shading techniques is a grey sandstone slab from Monifieth in Angus Scotland. Probably carved in the 9th century it is decorated with a cross carved in relief and filled with interlace and spiral patterns.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing this and around 300 other treasured objects from across the UK and Europe, assembled together in Scotland for the first time in this fascinating exhibition.

 

Find out more at the NMS website below.

 

This sketch is drawn in black fine liner, drawn free hand with no pencil.

 

National Museum of Scotland website

Daily Sketch

Lego Build It! exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland

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Lego at NMS with JamesThousands of Lego bricks have been piled up at the Museum, who’s coming to play?

 

Who doesn’t love Lego? The original multi-generational toy which lets imagination run wild and sees creations big and small come to life with the use of simple multicoloured bricks.

 

 

If you do then you should head to the museum just now, especially if you haven’t played with the iconic bricks for a while as both young and old are being encouraged to ‘Build It!’ as part of the museums latest exhibition.

 

Running until April 17th the event is sure to be popular this half term, and as well as having the chance to build you can also see some great mini-buildings and models by renowned brick artist, Warren Elsmore and his team in the Grand Gallery. They will also be on-site, building a special three metre model of the museum.

 

The sketch above is of Sketcher Twin 1 busy in a world of imagination, drawn in fine liner pen with a watercolour wash.

 

Follow the link below to find out more about Build It! Adventures with Lego Bricks.

 

The National Museum of Scotland website

Daily Sketch

A festive trip on board The Royal Yacht Britannia

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RoyalYachtBritannia_festiveDrawingRmToday the I took the Sketcher family for a festive trip aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal in Leith.

The ship was launched from the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank on 16 April, 1953. For over 44 years she served the Royal Family, travelling over one million miles to become the most famous ship in the world.

 

A floating museum I find seeing the cabins, engine and living rooms fascinating, especially just now as the whole ship has a festive sparkle. The Sketcher twins loved it too, now almost five they loved using the ‘speaking’ hand held boxes. Keying in the numbers of each room which then led to them being told a little history about the location.

 

The sketch above is from the very Christmassy Drawing Room on board, and the one below is the deck which curves around the ship.

 

Look out for Captain Bear on board too, count the furry toys as you travel around the attraction for a chance to win a family hamper from the Royal Yacht Britannia gift shop.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia website

Watch what happened when Santa visited the Royal Yacht Britannia HERE

 

 

Daily Sketch

Photography: A Victorian Sensation, at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

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Museum_DaguerreotypeThis week I visited the current exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

‘Photography: A Victorian Sensation’ runs until November 22 and chronicles the birth of photography, from early shadows on a copper plate with the pioneering inventors, Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot through the hugely popular stereoscopic photography to self developing your own film in a dark room like I was taught at college. Which of course now has been succeeded by the instant and simple digital photography we all use today.

 

Indeed many of you may not remember having to put your spent film in at the chemist and waiting a day or two for your photographs to be developed. I am thankful for the ease of taking a photo now and having it instantly available to share on line or use for work, but I also remember the excitement of picking up photos with my mum and looking through, reliving the event a week later!

 

The exhibition runs until November 22nd and is well worth and hour or two to see the wonderful portraits taken not that long ago, when photography was scene as magical, amazing and life changing.

 

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My two sketches were drawn in black ink at the exhibition and then coloured later with a water colour wash.

 

National Museum of Scotland website

 

Daily Sketch

Spooky Sketch Classes this Halloween at Surgeons’ Hall Museums

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SurgeonsHall_MuseumNight650This Halloween on Saturday 31st October I will be running three sketching classes at the recently revamped Surgeons’ Hall Museums.

If you haven’t visited since the Edinburgh educational attraction was reopened earlier this month, then this is the ideal opportunity. Open from 10am until 8pm, there will be a number of events taking place throughout the day and evening of the 31st October.

 

I will be using some of the exhibits on offer to share my speed sketching skills, and show how anyone can sketch and create a piece of art that won’t scare you this Halloween!

 

Find out more about the other events happening at the Surgeons Hall Museums Halloween event HERE

Book your place in the Surgeons Hall Sketch Classes on Halloween by clicking on one of the links below.

1pm class

2.30pm class

4.30pm class

Daily Sketch

Sketching the Surgeons’ Hall Museums reopening

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SurgeonsHall_ToolsoftheTradeLast week saw the hugely anticipated reopening of the Surgeons’Hall Museums after a major refurbishment, and I was there to capture the day in sketches.

Having been closed for 18 months to undergo a £4 million transformation, the new combined space houses one of the largest and most historic collections of artefacts charting the history and development of surgery. The collections include surgical instruments and artworks and one of the largest collections of anatomical specimens in the world.

 

I was in my element sketching from the many beautifully displayed exhibits for an hour before the doors opened to the public. My sketch above shows how the surgeons surgical instruments are displayed in one glass case.

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There are many interactive displays too, I loved having a go at key hole surgery, very tricky indeed, and tying a surgeons knot. You can also take a seat at a 17th Century Anatomy Theatre in the History of Surgery Museum, and watch as a (plastic) body is dissected and explained as if you were a 17th Century student.

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There were many events on throughout the day including a welcoming speech from crime writer Val McDermid and Professor Sue Black, Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology. Also there was a Crime Scene re-enactment where visitors could try and solve the clues and find a murderer.

 

Below are the rest of my sketches from the day for you to look through. If you would like to book myself to sketch your event then please drop me an email at contact@www.edinburghsketcher.com

 

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Admission to the Surgeons’ Hall Museums is £6 per adult, £3.50 concessions.

 

The Surgeons Hall Museums website

Daily Sketch

The bandages are off… at the Surgeons Hall Museum, Edinburgh

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SurgeonsHall_BandagesTomorrow I will be sketching live as The Surgeons Hall reopens after a major refurbishment which has seen the Nicolson Street museum closed for over 12 months.

 

Having nipped in for a sneak preview a couple of weeks ago as the new space and exhibits began to take shape, I can’t wait to see the finished attraction open to the public. Highlights from the gruesome to fascinating tell the intriguing story of medical science in Scotland, and the world.

 

There are 1000’s of exhibits to inspire and capture the imagination, with state of the art exhibits which will educate, and make you so thankful we live in the 21st century!

 

Surgeons’ Hall Museums reopens to the public tomorrow,  the 24th September at 10am. Admission is £6 for adults, £3.50 for concessions.

 

The Surgeons Museum website

Daily Sketch

A night at the Museum

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MuseumLates_SilentDiscoLast night I attended the RBS Museum Lates event at the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

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The after hours event is an extravaganza of entertainment, culture, live music and surprises; like this silent disco (left) which was very popular. Very strange to hear only dancers singing the words, and whoops of delight as a favourite song was played.

The night coincided with the final final few days of the current exhibition: ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’, which runs until the 17th November.

I arrived early and headed to the Museum Brasserie for some dinner, and found this delicious gluten free burger, along with chunky chips.

 

With the main hall filling up with revellers and the DJs playing the dance music I headed up to the top floor to see this view of the main hall, the exhibits look on as guests mingle and have a drink at the bar. Including the mighty moose at the back of the room, can you see it? Click  on the sketches for larger versions.

 

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The smaller rooms were free to explore and as well as the usual exhibits to look at there were also a few surprises. Above centre you can see people having there faces painted while underneath a huge plane hangs from the ceiling. And above right visitors get chance to make there own artwork and badges with help from the Red Door Gallery, underneath the skeleton of a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex!

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Finally I love this one, it sums up the night perfectly. An Amur Tiger, one of the exhibits on the third floor sits in front of a glitter ball, sparkling down on the main hall below. There were sights like this all night, two worlds combining. You can’t help thinking what the perminant residents are all thinking 🙂

 

Look out for the next Museums Lates night, it really is a great experience, and a super way to show off the Museum; it’s exhibits and the beautiful building. And in the mean time visit the museum before the 17th November to see the extremely interesting, and harrowing story of Mary, Queen of Scots.