Friday 25 March 2016

Out and about, drawing at The Ulster Museum Belfast

This week I took my students for a bit of location drawing at the Ulster Museum. This is a wonderful place to draw. While it is certainly a hive of activity, it's large atrium allowing sounds to echo round the building and bounce around the walls, it is (contrary to what you might expect), a welcoming environment and students have no trouble zoning out the noise (or the more curious members of the public), and focusing on drawing.

Standing, L-R, Trevor, Carolyn, Sara. Seated, Mark and myself.

It is good to work away from a desk - being outside our usual comfort zone keeps us fresh and alert and of course the amazing variety of subject matter seems to be endless, from busts to animals to pots, canons, cars, willow sculptures, shells, ceramics and treasure from ship wrecks.

Demo time


Susan, Tony, Margery and Nisa

An extra bonus is the lovely garden which is overlooked by the cafe, so we can draw the trees no matter what the weather is doing. We began with some charcoal drawing, getting a bit messy, which was a good way to warm up and settle in.



Chad -  tree in charcoal
Work by Neill, Peter, Dympna and Karen

Front - back: Chad, Peter (Beaming), Dympna, Karen, Ben, Jackie, Neill
Peter's little sketch book drawing, his first time on location. Great!
And as it was the last day or term, we had to have lunch together, of course!


Lunch!