Old Man’s Head, British Museum

Old Man’s Head, (possibly the poet Hesiod), British Museum © Peter Gander

’Tis the season to be sketching indoors a bit more now, especially on a dull day like today so back I went to a favourite Rainy Day haunt, The British Museum. I’m lucky enough to work only ten minutes walk away from this free-to-enter Aladdin’s cave of drawing subjects. Though the museum does lend out free stools for sketching/studying purposes, I did this sketch from a standing position. Using a Daler-Rowney Murano Pastel Pad (Neutral colours) and both a Sanguine Oil pencil and Soft White Sketching pencil, I drew this ‘Marble head of an old man, possibly the post Hesiod’ according to the plaque. Like my recent post, Ship in a bottle, the speckled, stony texture of the pastel paper works especially well for studies like this, adding much character. © Peter Gander