International Sketchcrawl

It started out more of a sketch- swim with mother nature being the ultimate decider of where our drawing venue would be. Thankfully the Australian Museum is always a great venue, rain, hail or shine, and most of us splish splashed our way over there. And it was the first time I managed to check out the dinousaur exhibition, and I dont think it will be my last.

Sketching birds in the Australian Museum

While it is too cold for outside sketching we go to the Australian Museum to the "Search and Discover" room. It is right in the middle of Sydney so a good place to meet up.

There is a wonderful array of Australian native birds and animals - stuffed and on plinths. You can just go and choose one and take it to where you are sitting to draw. They have koalas and kangaroos, snakes and birds. The kangaroos and some of the other larger animals aren't able to be moved around of course - you have to go to them.

In cabinets there are insects and butterflies and beautiful shells also. It is a very sketcher-friendly environment. In the place where there are some small objects in showcases, the light is extremely good. They have wooden tops to protect the glass that they will bring over (big and heavy) and put there for you to use as a sketching desk. Stools to sit on, also.

The only down-side is that it is equally popular with children, so sometimes between 11am and midday, the noise level gets such that it is necessary to depart. This was such a day, as it was school holidays. Until then though, we had some budding sketchers at our elbows some of the time. Some days we meet lovely families with delightful children who are really interested in drawing.