Drawing In/With/Out the Museum

Over course of the 22nd to the 28th of April, 2026, I conducted 5 fieldvisits to 5 different museums, four in Amsterdam and one in Leiden. During these visits I would approach different objects and engage with them through illustration. I also photographed these items and their labels as reference for later. Upon returning home, I logged the items so I could find back to them, and also wrote a reflection note regarding the day’s experiences.

Map showing all of my field visits: 1. Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), 2. Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), 3. Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (Amsterdam), 4. Wereldmuseum Leiden (Leiden), 5. Allard Pierson (Amsterdam)

Illustrations, photographs, object information and relflection notes

Fieldsite: Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam)
Date: Monday 20th of April, 2026
Time of arrival: 10.10

S1: Beyisima by Norva Sling (1978)
no results found: https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/search?query=norva+sling&filter%5B%5D=collection_work

S2: waterketel by Peter Behrens (1908-1909)
Object number 1987.1.0840(1-2)
https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/collection/38816-peter-behrens-waterketel

S3: armstoel by Ida Falkenberg-Liefrinck (1939-1946)
no results found: https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/search?query=Ida+Falkenberg-Liefrinck&filter%5B%5D=collection_work

S4: Broken Column by Steve McQueen (2014)
Object number 2016.1.0001(1-6)
https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/collection/97978-steve-mcqueen-broken-column

S5: Office Chair uit de serie Black Beauties by Ineke Hans (2000)
Object number 2002.1.0573
https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/collection/17092-ineke-hans-office-chair-uit-de-serie-black-beauties#content

S6: Office Desk uit de serie Black Beauties by Ineke Hans (2001)
Object numbe 2002.1.0574
https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/collection/17093-ineke-hans-office-desk#content

Reflection:

As I went to Stedelijk right around opening, there were relatively few people, particularly upstairs (which makes sense). This was obviously a major benefit, and it will be interesting to see how the project is affected whenever I find myself in crowded spaces.
I would like to test how the observational drawings develop in crowded spaces, and to simply continue drawing every time I move/change angles, to see if the illustration will sort of “map out” my movements also.
I very quickly experienced a sense of “getting closer” to the object, through forcing myself to look (I am certain there is a connection here to draw to Berger’s Ways of Seeing or About Looking) more closely, incorporating more or different details as I discovered new things or changed my angle. Beyisima was a particularly good example of this, starting off with how the angle of the eyes changed the sculpture’s expression/emotion, to “finding” the limp at the back off the head when changing my angle, coming to realise that the “marks” on the chest were probably two (right) hands, noticing the carve lines around the circles, and lastly the almost hatch-like texture of the clay (?). (I should have taken more detailed photos, in particular as the sculpture was not confined behind glass. I would also like to experiment with drawing details and not necessarily the entire object every time.)
Only the small column and the kettle were confined behind glass, and in the case of the kettle, angles were limited as it was part of a collection display.
Illustrating the object forces you to linger, to take in details and try to understand what you are seeing in order to translate it into lines on a page. This is much easier with sufficient space, and also when there are less or no people. (I felt people looking at me as they passed, and also slightly in the way when I had previously been alone and taken the best vantage point.) Taking a photograph is quicker, and renders the object “perfectly” (at least if it isn’t confined behind glass), but the familiarity is less intimate.

My illustrations were far from perfect, partially because I need to practice more life drawing, but interestingly I do not necessarily think they always “improve” the longer I stay, they just get more detailed. I would like to continue drawing the objects just based on my sketches (and perhaps photos), and seeing what comes of them if I continue rendering them after my initial viewing, potentially coming back later on.

What are the best drawing materials? The one that works best to imitate texture? Those that can render more details, do hard lines and shadows? How can you sharpen a pencil in a museum without feeling like a nuisance?
I really feel what our teachers talked about so often, the limitations of a sketchbook compared to a blank sheet. Maybe I should get a clipboard? Then again, they are big and may not be allowed in - are there A5 clipboards?

Also, sometimes it’s not easy to draw when the book is a bit floppy, small, and I am always standing. Another interesting thing of seeing how this would evolve at home.
Note to self: Bring a clip next time, see if it helps to keep the sketchbook flat and stiff, maybe it helps. Also, need to buy a new sketchbook.
Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned before, but I wear the same vest every time I’ve gone to a museum visit, because it has pockets big enough for my sketchbook, meaning I don’t have to carry it all the time, the fluffy vest that makes me feel like a farmer and Cinderella at the same time, even though it’s not farming-partical nor made of fur.

A few hours later:
This is probably also why my mind went to Berger; “Unlike photography, which stops time, field note drawings can ‘encompass’ time, as Taussig writes, it is a ‘two-way movement’.27 Taussig refers to John Berger when examining the process of looking that is used when drawing; a line drawn brings you ‘closer to the object, until finally you are, as it were, inside it: the contours you have drawn no longer marking the edge of what you have seen, but the edge of what you become’.28 A drawing, then, becomes a form of ‘sympathetic magic’29 – a type of magic based on imitation and contact30 – in which the drawing allows for an embodied understanding of the subject through the physical act of making the image.” (Rachel Emily Taylor, Illustration and Heritage, (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2024), 137)

RI: Fieldsite: Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)
Date: Wednesday 22nd of April, 2026
Time of arrival: 09.00

RI: Mohar Málá (1848-1961, Suriname)
Objectnummer NG-2023-71
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Mohar-mala-ketting-met-munten-uit-verschillende-landen- -88e8685cb7169802e6c846ffc6b07390?tab=data

R2: Chair, Firma Gebroeders Horrix (1875, Den Haag, Netherlands)
Objectnummer BK-1971-257-C
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Stoel-afwisselend-glanzend-en-dof-zwart-geschilderd-en-versierd-met-vergulde- randen-en-enkele-goudkleurige-beslagstukjes-Bekleed-met-oranje-velours--d999ddf3cd30afb47b3d40ad8602a4af?tab=data

R3: Tafel met onderstel van gebeeldhouwd en verguld lindehout (1689, Antwerp, Netherlands)
Objectnummer BK-1962-49
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Tafel--ca1c3a63380ea18dd8be8ba2ee8df638?tab=data

R4: Wollen mutsen van Nederlandse walvisvaarders (ca. 1650-ca. 1700)
Objectnummer NG-2006-110-2
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Wollen-mutsen-van-Nederlandse-walvisvaarders- -4a1799fb8721436c16f9662d9525067e?tab=data

R5: Kist, toegeschreven aan Koami-werkplaats, Kioto (ca. 1635-ca. 1645, Kyoto, Japan)
Objectnummer AK-RAK-2013-3-1
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Kist--f2e92177d7028a86492b585fddd3c0de?tab=data

R6: Vat in de vorm van een gans (ca. 1575-ca. 1600, Milan, Italy and ca. 1640-ca. 1660, Augsburg, Germany)
Objectnummer BK-17133
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Vat-in-de-vorm-van-een-gans--53ed68fe89c495b76f7140189d4db45a?tab=data

R7: Taoïstische godheid (collection)/godin (exhibit) (ca. 1500-ca. 1600, China)
Objectnummer AK-RAK-2014-6
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Taoistische-godheid--79b5f814db0b5c6d73da9e7a90ddf111?tab=data

Reflection:

The line just to get in was relatively long, but I suppose I wasn’t the only one who thought going early was a good idea. At least it was less crammed once I got inside and people spread out, but it was a sharp contrast to Stedelijk on Monday, or my Werreldmuseum visit(s, even). There is a decent amount of objects, a lot of it is glass and/or metal tableware though, which I find challenging to render properly with limited supplies and/or they’re often in the middle of rooms and I feel like I would be a bother. I attempted to do the thing of just continuing to draw every time I had to move, but either I sort of forgot and just continued based on what I COULD see and moved back as soon as possible, and when I was conscious and tried to do it I barely had to move, and you couldn’t really tell.

I’m still not sure what materials are good, if I should perhaps bring a smaller fineliner, or if it’s just my skills.

I got to spend the most time with the whaler’s hat, which I think you can tell, because most people just passed them by when they entered the room, and I found a corner to stand in where I was never in anyone’s way. I suppose I also had the right colours for it, although my cream coloured pencil didn’t render the wear and tear like I wanted it to. In a way I suppose this is also the only object I sort of have a relation to? Not that I’ve ever been to Svalbard personally, although I know people who have, I’ve never been further North than Tromsø, but perhaps it has to do with the wool and the fishing and it being a part of Norway, which means they always say what the weather will be like up there. There was a Danish family who passed by and had a look at them, which was nice in a way, at first I thought they were speaking Norwegian. Sometimes it feels funny, thinking they might not know I understand what they’re saying. There was a guide walking past with a group of mostly Americans, I think, and she said something about Spitsbergen being an alternative name for Svaldbard? I’m not sure if I misremember if that’s what she said the Dutch call Svaldbard? Either way, whatever she said she must have misrembered, since it’s a PART of Svaldbard, but what I DID learn is that Spitsbergen is Dutch and means “pointy mountains”. Since “berg” is a Norwegian word I never thought much of it, but hearing it and now knowing some Dutch that makes sense. Spitsbergen always makes me think of the weatherforecast on the evening news and the radio, which reminds me of home. Maybe that’s why I liked the hat.

A few hours later:
Funny. I went back into the NRK’s log, and found the evening news from exactly twenty years ago (I didn’t remember those graphics, but I suppose that makes sense, since I was only four), and one of the headlines was that Dutch people were moving to depopulated Norwegian areas. Coincidences are funny, I guess.

Fieldsite: Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (Amsterdam)
Date: Thursday 23rd of April, 2026
Time of arrival: 10.00

Reflections:

Sometimes the first illustration captures the essence, even if it isn’t “right”.
I need to bring a brown pencil if I want to draw things more realistically in colour, and maybe drop the markers that bleed. Perhaps this is more of a pencil and fineliner affair? I would bring acrylic markers, but I fear that’ll just get messy.
My A5 clipboard arrived today! (I could only find them online.) Might also be useful for clipping my sketchbook to, to have a sturdier surface, although it doesnt fit my vest pocket. Maybe I could construct a sling? Then again, I think that may be a bit inconvenient and draw too much notice? I don’t know.

Wereldmuseum is very quiet, especially the Pressing Matters bit, and it also has a lot of objects in glass cases, so it might be worth continuing to return there. Maybe I could continue working using sketches and images at home, and then also see how it is to then come back to the item? Additionally, I am not in the way of anyone most of the time, and feel comfortable contorting myself almost all up in the glass to try to get a good angle and proper look at details. I do however still want to conduct a visit somewhere where I’ll be forced to move, but a part of my feels bad going somewhere during peak time to be in someone’s way on purpose.

Brought a 0.3 fineliner (couldn’t find a 0.5) today, but in the end the 0.9 did a good job. I tried using a bigger postit to redraw a jug, so I could move it around, but I don’t know how it went. Also tried drawing the likeness of a cast, it was mediocre, but that has more to do with my life drawing skills (and maybe the orientation?).
I also drew one of the lasercut tiles - it’s not technically an “object”, even though it does represent one, but it is something I can touch and feel already, and so I wanted to see how the drawing changed things. The smell got stronger as I held it closer, and I even noticed my hands smelling like burnt wood an hour later.
The position of the cabinets does not allow you to walk around it entirely, and/or some sides do not have glass, i.e. the water jug and comb, or the headdress.

I can also feel that I am becoming tired - only about 2 hours went by before I said enough (although I did have to stand on the metro journey there, and then walk, which I don’t think helped, even though I enjoyed the walk itself in the nice weather). My knees could feel the crouching, and my soles were achy. I decided to leave as soon as the frustration started creeping, even though I was tempted to also go to the Making … In China exhibit and draw some of the objects there. Maybe next time, I’d rather take care of myself as I set out to do than burn it all already.

I find myself speaking to the objects inside my head, calling them “you” as I draw them, adjust, study. Is this part of the “sympathetic magic” of Berger?
Yesterday I also look at my sketches and photos of Beyisima by Norva Sling from Monday, thinking to myself in a similar manner, and even making Sling into a sort of parent or mother for the statue, telling it (?) I suppose that I was listening to music from its homeland, from its mother’s homeland, I’m not sure if I was referring to the sketches of the statue as the “you” at this point, or if I was sort of convening with the statue through the sketches? I have no idea, it just sort of happens by itself. Was it perhaps particularly “natural” as the statue is humanoid?

My process thus far:

Materials

Supplies

Polyschromos pencils (assorted colours)æ
Fineliners
Brushpen
Markers (Faber-Castell, different sizes/types)
A5 sketchbook
Double size grid post-it note (added later)
Clip (added later)
Pencilsharpener and eraser

I keep all my supplies in a phone purse with zipper pockets, so I know it will be within size allowance - my actual phone is in my pocket
I wear my fluffy zip-up vest as it has pockets big enough for my sketchbook (and a book), so I can be hands free and can’t put my sketchbook away if needed

Planning

Pre-book tickets, check for travel route, if photos are allowed and if there are lockers/coatroom (unless I am already familiar)

In situ

Visit museum, observe and illustrate, and write fieldnotes or comments if relevant
Take photos of label and object (including zoomed in and/or from different angles)

After/at home

Using both the photo of the label and search on the museum’s (archive/collection) website, I log the item name, maker (if relevant), year, location (if available/relevant), object/inventory number and link to the item in the online archive, of the items I have interacted with/illustrated
Then I write a reflection note, based on what I remember, wrote down and drew, either the day of or the day after
Alongside this I continue reading and doing “literature research”
I have also slightly thus far engaged with the items and sketches once at home, for instance looking up further information and making more drawings

Fieldsite: Wereldmuseum Leiden (Leiden)
Date: Saturday 25th of April, 2026
Time of arrival: 10.20

WL1: Shishi-leeuw (1844, Japan)
Inventarisnummer : RV-417-102
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/20e83802-795c-4235-b1b1-495bec895c8c

WL2: Plengstaaf - ikupasuy (19th, Japan)
Inventory number: RV-259-18
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/9c6c7f06-061c-417f-90a7-1c59062c5506

WL3: Grove haarkam/Coarse hair comb - ŏllebit (1800-1888, Japan)
Inventory number: RV-666-16
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/4677e72a-2c72-4455-9000-d24537e6688e

WL4: Grove haarkam/Coarse hair comb - hwagak ŏllebit (1800-1888, Korea)
Inventory number: RV-666-17
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/078531bb-29c2-4597-bd7a-2f0dd77b485d

WL5: Vishaken (1850-1897, Solomon islands)
Inventory number: RV-1134-675
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/2c43c0dc-343b-4d41-9f72-f4a626cd61f4

WL6: Godenfiguur (1800-1891, Nukuoro, Carolines, Federal States of Micronesia)
Inventory number: RV-828-63
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/9cee9e3f-755f-4fb8-817c-c61fe9286a2e

WL7: Masker (1891, Vanuatu)
Inventory number: RV-828-148
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/88fcac20-3594-4405-8189-a60b11088ebd

WL8: Masker (1850-1882, Vanuatu)
Inventory number: RV-357-47
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/1a0e3951-f342-4fe7-becd-956337bed363

WL9: Woman’s Costume (pre-1993, Quiché/Almolonga, Guatemala)
Wikkelrok
Inventory number: RV-6093-460
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/79981303-41e2-4edf-a718-bfcc88d6813b

Omslagdoek - Perraje
Inventory number: RV-6093-1
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/df6c8fa2-bf71-4359-9916-3784ee391c09

Huipil met zigzaglijnen
Inventory number: RV-6093-38
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/24bc7810-6968-4eae-84c3-9986cccdaa97

WL10: Sjamanenamulet (1860-1890, Tlingit/Southeast Alaska)
Inventory number: RV-2779-2
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/b1a6241c-eb93-4205-aaf9-bc5927e9ec3b

WL11: Kniebeschermer (300BC-300AC, Olmec, Mexico)
Inventory number: RV-5561-1
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/81354f76-fdb9-456e-a33c-4c03f44de6f6

WL12: Mand (pre-1954, Pomo, California, Indigenous North America)
Inventory number: RV-3177-2
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/8ab79c9e-bade-48a5-a640-8422097815bb

WL13: Kralen schaamschort voor vrouw - Kwéjoe (pre-1940, Lokono or Arawak, Suriname)
Inventory number: TM-1772-2249
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/11bd1e56-9c66-4673-9ba1-7186b7b52dc2

WL14: Bewerkte kalebas (19th century, Cabinda, Angola)
Inventory number: RV-497-123
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/51f4e5a4-ca65-4ea4-ae2a-1c3cd23e9bc8

WL15: Kalebasfles (pre-1889, Vili/Cabinda)
Inventory number: RV-714-4
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/aa5e4ab9-9f36-47d3-968c-cc3cc68cbab4

WL16: Kalebasfles (pre-1889, Vili/Cabinda)
Inventory number: RV-714-5
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/49f2e619-34a0-4d15-89c1-a3726210d5bc

WL17: Trom en slaghout/Dubbelvellige cilindrische trom - Gangua of Tabennguritt (pre-1950, Morrocco)
Inventory number: TM-2439-28a
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/4143c7ca-1742-474b-9978-dbf9b62c3905

WL18: Twee blaasbalgen van uitgeholde boomstammen - asiogor (pre-1916, Supiori Islands)
Inventory number: RV-3403-1
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/06e75b76-dd39-4c2b-9bfb-2cf2d5c7a384

WL19: Houten voorouderbeeld met veren hoofdtooi - korwar (ca. 1900-1940, Papua)
Inventory number: TM-1772-491a
https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/#/query/1c9a3a89-2c6c-40e5-9cb1-33c9b813b2aa

Reflections:

Took the train to Schipol, and from there I switched to a train stopping in Leiden, walking from the station to the Wereldmuseum Leiden. It was nice and sunny! The museum entry/main hall smelled a bit like the Amsterdam one does, just way more pungent.
This museum seems to have mostly permanent exhibits focused on different parts of the world, with one area being the temporary exhibit space.

I really noticed how much you zoom in when doing this - not just in focusing on details of objects, but also in spending prolonged time with certain objects, and then less time with others, because it’s as good as impossible to combine the drawing with “normal” museum attendance, just time wise. I got to see everything today (I ended up being there for about 4 hours), but I did not see everything in the same amount of detail, nor do I read every label or study every cabinet as closely, as I would have otherwise, because I am spending more time focused on one specific item. There is also a zoom-in in terms of surroundings. In my midterm research, I was studying the space as a whole, taking note of layouts, lighting, other visitors, etc. I still do that now, but more because I’m experiencing it than noticing, to phrase it like that - I am not observing that the lighting is dim because I am looking at the lighting, rather because I can barely make our my pale yellow pencil on the paper or my phone goes on night mode to photograph. I do not study other visitors, rather I look for good places to draw from and try to make sure I am not in anyones way. Sound however, I notice very well, and I think I became extra aware of how much today because in every room they were playing music or ambient sounds linked to the culture/region/country items on display were from, like drums and singing or arctic wind and snowscooters (I think, at least). It was a bit like when I held the lasercut wood tile and I smelled the burned wood, as I was focusing in on the object the only other thing my body perceived was sounds, noticing when they switched and when the loop had started again, trying to identify what each sound was and (if there was more than one culture/region in the same room (i.e. the case with the North Pole/Arctic and North America room)) when the audio seemed to switch from one theme to the next.

Partially because I was a bit tired, and partially because I felt like I was producing few sketches compared to the time spent in the museum, I started drawing quicker, more observational sketches, including focusing in on details. I decided that this time I was gathering details to use for illustration work at home, that it didn’t have to be perfect or “accurate”. These are much rougher, sometimes have certain details but not all re-sketched, and were mostly just done with a black 0.9 fineliner, both as it meant I wasn’t spending time finding/switching tools and because it naturally limits what I am capable of rendering. I also brought my A5 clipboard, and I feel like it made things a bit easier, at least it means my sketchbook is less floppy. I also ran out of paper in my sketchbook, and had to bring some extra. Instead of buying new sketchbooks I might just try to bind my own?

All in all it will be interesting to see how this compares to the other days, because I have more quantity than quality, but that was also an experiment in itself. I’m also starting to see that there are several items that sort of look alike each other or fit in the same categories, and I’d like to try to do something with combining those sketches. I also photographed an objected I would have liked to draw, but at that point I was really pushing myself, and so instead took several photographs of it - I will see how this compares to the on-site and THEN home sketches.
Lots of bad work today, but also some good.

Do the drawings have to be faithful?
As an illustrator, you often exaggerate, but when I’m drawing objects, I am often drawing objects that already exaggerate or transform the real world - am I ruining the work, then, if I exaggerate further, and focus on i.e. essence instead of likeness? Does this maybe vary based on the object?
Is illustrating/drawing an object more “ethical” than photographing it? Then displaying it? Are there certain things that can be displayed, but shouldn’t be engaged with through illustration?
Are there certain objects I have no right to illustrate?

Fieldsite: Allard Pierson Museum (Amsterdam)
Date: Tuesday 28th of April, 2026
Time of arrival: 10.10

AP1: Wierrookbander met de godin Aphrodite en vier duifjes en inscriptie RAMTHU TEPIA (ca. 325-300 BCE, bronze)
Inventory number: 1734

AP2: One of the Twee drinkbekers (ca. 600 BCE, ceramics)
Inventory number: 6260

AP3: Een Perzische koning (Artaxerexes III Ochos) in Egypte (ca. 500-400 BCE, Mephis, Egypt, terracotta)
Inventory number: 7199

AP4: Een Feniciër in Egypte (ca. 600-550 BCE, made in Phoenicia, found in Saft el-Henna, Egypt, glass)
Inventory number: 7714

AP5: Horseman with geometric painting (ca. 550 BCE, Boeotia, Greece, terracotta)
Inventory number: 1318

AP6: Ballenvaas voor vloeistof in kalouraz stijl (ca. 800-600 BCE, Iran)
Inventory number: 11.878

AP7: Wine Jugs, Roman Earthenware from Northern Africa, “terra sigillata chiara”/African Red Slip Ware

AP8: Roman decanter

AP9: Parthische ketting met gekleurde stenen en glas (ca. 2nc century BCE-2nd century BC, Iran, gold)
Inventory number: 9317

AP10: Oorhangers met filigraan en lotusbloem (ca. 1st-3rd century BC, Roman Empire (Egypt?), gold)
Inventory number: 9317

AP11: Bolle fles gedecoreerd met de horens van een bok (ca. 1400-1300 BCE, Cyprus)
Inventory number: 14.237

Reflections:

I got to the Allard Pierson bright and early. It’s weird coming back after the Museum After Dark party, since that was my first visit. Generally quite quiet and there wasn’t that many people when I arrived. There were a lot more attendants and guards though, especially compared to the Wereldmuseums. The one patrolling the first bit of the exhibit I entered into walked really forcefully, and that made me uncomfortable because I was just waiting for a telling off. Maybe he was just bored, but he walked super quick and very heavily, like he was a police officer or a teacher in a film hurrying off to tell someone off. It was wasn’t maybe that surprising, but VERY noticeable how much that changed my view and attitude!
I was a bit confused about how to get around, the signs point one way but then I sort of lost the end of the trail, so I didn’t really catch the first bit of the exhibition.
They had a lot of videos and stuff which was nice, but they also had all these interactive tablets that got me excited, a bit like the ones in Wereldmuseum Amsterdam just with a special program that was supposed to create some kind of map and let you explore objects? I thought it would be perfect to play with for this project, but either I’m just dumb and can’t figure out how they work, and they’re a bit broken, or third, maybe they just weren’t that interesting. There were some timelines and places, but when I clicked on things nothing really changed, so I don’t understand what the point was. They had a very cool and fun animated film about animal/pet mummies though, downstairs in the Egypt section. The animations were cool, but I was also sort of proud that I managed to understand at least 75% of it even though it was in Dutch (aimed at kids though, probably, so that’s why).

One of the exhibit spaces, that face outwards towards the canal and the houses on the other side, was SO visible in the reflection of the glass displays! It was really bad on camera, but also in real life. You could see the houses and also the H&M they’re fixing up very, very well. But at least that let me test a new thing! I tried drawing one of the items (the horse) from an angle I COULD see well (right hand side), to standing and looking at it right on, where my vision was disrupted. So then I could try to fill in the gaps from what I learned looking at the angle my vision was “clearer”, to describe it like that.

I noticed that I’ve been going on with this for a while now, because I got tired super quick, and I think so many of my drawings came out really bad.
I also started working in the sketchbook I made myself! I made one because I finished the bought ones I had, but they were from Van der Linde, and even though I did spend longer on making the sketchbook than I wanted/thought I would, it would have still taken me some time to go there both in terms of walking (especially now that they’re doing a lot of roadwork with the bridges that way) and because I don’t really go that way everyday. It’s nice, but the paper is much paler - although I keep being grateful for my A5 clipboard.
The exchanged the copic markers with some Windsor and Newt ones, because I thought they would bleed less, but at least with this paper they still did. I thought drawing on top of a bleed through page would be fine, but I sort of regret it. It turned out nicer than I thought. I didn’t keep with [my old print instructor] saying to “print every print as if it’s your final”, and also the teachers basically telling us the same thing, but oh well. I guess it’s fine, overall, though.