Observational Sketching at the Ruskin Collection
A Surprise Observational Drawing Session
A few months ago while on a day out I accidentally stumbled upon a gem of a sketching spot. It's times like that which make me so glad I formed the habit of always carrying a sketchbook!
On our search for interesting spots (with me gathering all the reference that inspired me) we wandered through streets, gardens, and museum galleries. One of the latter's doorways led into a rather interesting museum collection. One designed entirely for art making. That's right, not a gallery just of art already made but a gallery of things for people to make art. This was the Ruskin Collection.
On-site observational drawing in my sketchbook using the crystals from the Ruskin Collection.
What Is the Ruskin Collection?
As we found out that day, the Victorian artist and writer John Ruskin amassed a collection of natural and man-made oddities for the working class of Sheffield. He opened a museum to display this collection to the public, as a place for them to be surrounded by the creative inspiration of nature, and to appreciate it through observational sketching.
"I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love Nature, than teach the looking at Nature that they may learn to draw" - John Ruskin
The collection is now shown at Millennium Gallery in Sheffield, where we stumbled across it. There were shelves and tables filled with gemstones, fossils, and rocks. Walls and cabinets covered in sculptures, metalwork, and fabric. Dotted throughout were drawings and paintings made by people observing the collection. How can you not pull out your sketchbook at all that?
What Are the Benefits of Observational Sketching?
Observational drawing and sketching from life are so beneficial to creative practices. It’s widely recommended for a reason, and for me it is an essential component of my own self studying of art. The act of drawing what you see helps to hone multiple skills at once, making it a comprehensive exercise to add into a studying routine. You learn to both notice aspects of your subject (through observation), and improve your technical abilities to represent what you notice (through sketching). Beyond the many mileage benefits it can bestow such as building a visual library or practicing values and colour (which are all wonderful!), it also helps you train your eye to really see the world around you. Over time you see the world in a different way, notice things you never even thought to notice, and have a whole new appreciation for it. That appreciation was Ruskin’s original drive behind the collection, rather than the perhaps more “mundane” benefits of improving one’s drawing ability. Which aren't really mundane at all to me, but a wonder of their own.
We All Have Our Own Oddities & Curiosities
There are things all around you ready to be drawn from observation. Like this lichen covered branch!
At the Ruskin Collection I spent time with the crystals and rocks (I have a confession: I love rocks) and sketched a gorgeous smoky grey crystal. Alas, we had not planned such a trip to only visit this exhibit and didn't have hours to spare there. I could easily plan an entire sketching trip there for an afternoon… or day… or weekend. Though honestly, the idea of such a still life collection made me have a new awareness of the objects I already own and how I can integrate them into my art studies. In a way we all have our own little collections of curiosities and oddities curated by our tastes. Or those among humanity that like to squirrel things away on a little shelf of random objects do anyway haha.
