Why Sketch in a Gallery or Museum?

Whether you are into urban sketching, travel sketching, or a student, sketching a few objects at a museum will enhance your visit in many ways.

Taking a few minutes to sketch something causes you to look carefully for a longer time and requires you to translate looking into doing. That translation from passive looking to active drawing causes you to notice more and more things about your subject and make connections to other observations.

If you are an urban sketcher, you will find a vast array of subject matter in museums and galleries for your sketchbook.

If you are a student of art, sketching someone else’s work can help you understand composition, value, and technique.

If you visit a gallery for enjoyment, sketching the art deepens your enjoyment and appreciation of the art-making process.

If you are a traveler, sketching in a local museum adds historical context to your travel journal.

If you love natural history or archeology, you can fill your sketchbook with studies of artifacts.

If you are a people-sketcher, galleries are a great place to sketch groups of figures within an interesting environment.

Many treasures lie in museums and galleries, waiting to be discovered. Why not sketch them?

Get out there and try it!