The Menil

The Throwdown

How do you capture a trip to a museum in sketches? Do you draw the people? Do you draw the art? Do you focus on the architecture of the building? This was the question in front of Urban Sketchers Houston as we visited the Menil on Saturday. As you can see from the throwdown, everyone chose a different solution.

Carlos Chua

 

Judith Butler Dollar

Carlos and Judith chose broad, overall views of the galleries with museum patrons in view. Carlos's spare use of color and firm line work gives a different feell than Judith's colorful and more whimsical sketch.

Peter Norris

Peter's choices, on the other hand, put the emphasis on the art. His inclusion of the harsh, gallery-lit shadows anchors the people to the ground.

Amy's sketch

Amy's soft tonal sketch, with no people included, gives a sense of space and depth. Even the sharp angles of the walls and display cases are softened by her use of pencil.

Michael

Michael told the story of a family fascinated by the plants in the atrium. The sculpture and people are in grays and blacks, the plants in vivid greens.

Fahmi

Fahmi chose to document an object from the collection and provided text to describe everything in the sketch. Her layout and placement make this an interesting page to look at.

The African art was a favorite subject for the group; far easier to do justice to the masks and objects than paintings on the wall.

Linda

                                        

Linda also chose ink pen for her media and African objects for her subjects. We see severall sculptures and a mask 

Kathy F

Kathy explored the African objects, then caught a view of the plants in the atrium. 

Cathi Bruhn

Cathi Bruhn found two pieces of art and a museum patron who interested her.  Interesting to note that people in masks will firmly establish all these sketches in time when we look back  at our sketchbooks in the future.

The colorful weaving feels almost animated in this sketch.

Jeff

Jeff took a break from the heat and the people to visit the Rothko Chapel. (also part of the Menil complex) The ghostly images of the spectators leaves the emphasis on Rothko's monumental paintings.

We gathered for the throwdown and went somewhere local for a lunch. It was a nice break from the heat, and the dozen or so people who turned out were a nice group. Next sketchout will be in the Arts District near the Silos. Again, it will be an indoor venuue. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for the particulars.