Natural History Museum sketching

I decided to visit the Natural History Museum while in London, for a sketching trip. I have mixed feelings about drawing here - there's not a lot of taxidermy examples that grab my interest, and for those that do it's difficult to find a position to sketch from. As the museum is free to visit, it's always busy, and busy with many doing a 'look left look right photograph everything in 30 minutes' tour.

These 'drive by' visitors are so busy trying to photograph everything without actually stopping that they never look ahead - and I am constantly walked in to. At one stage I was moved ten feet down the room by a class of Japanese students who just ploughed into me!

I do my best to tuck myself out of the stream, but still get constantly buffeted. Usually sketching is a relaxing, zoned out thing for me, but here it eventually just becomes frustrating and I start fantasising impaling the next person to bump me, with my pencil. Which is when I leave, wondering again why I bothered.

I did manage to get a few sketches out though, and amazingly without any big bump lines across the page!

I need to seek out other museums for drawing on my next visit - with less 'driveby' tourists!

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