Museuming with Friends
A couple weeks ago, my friend David invited me to the Met. I would be joining him, his partner Tim and their friend Jason (who was visiting from out of town). He figured that since Tim and Jason also like to sketch, I would fit right in! He may have had an ulterior motive and wanted to pick my brain on teaching scene painting, as David is going to be teaching his own scene painting class next semester. We started by checking out the Michelangelo exhibit, which was amazing but I dubbed it too busy to sketch on that particular Saturday. I was also initiated into the game of "Add to Basket" they play at museums. The idea is, each person can "buy" one thing in each gallery. It can get quite competitive (though there was none of the yelling I was promised early on. Maybe next time), as if multiple people want the same thing they have to fight over it. Apparently I was declared the winner for the day. As I didn't know there would be an overall winner, I was thrilled. I mostly attribute the win to the fact that I walked into the Michelangelo exhibit, did a quick scan before I pointed to a smaller work and said "add to basket," and after everyone did a full lap it was unanimously considered a solid choice. I've always been a decisive shopper! Even in hypothetical shopping, it seems.
After a nice lunch in the cafeteria, we split up to do some sketching. I hunkered down in one of my favorite locations, the 18th Century Sculpture Hall. I did this sketch of Sappho in two hours. Going in, I assumed I wouldn't finish it so I focused on the parts that drew me to her to begin with. I loved doing this and stretching my "dry media" muscles so much, I'm considering going back and doing a much longer (and larger!) study to completion. I think I'll be leaving this one unfinished.
We went up to the balcony for a drink and a knosh, and I pulled out my watercolors (which aren't allowed in the galleries) for a sketch from the balcony cafe. On our way out we ran through the Hockney exhibit before being shuttled out by museum employees, as it was closing.
