Gruesome Museum

Here in lovely Los Angeles it never rains.  Being a native I know this is not true.  Yet many people act like cat's in water when it does rain, you know a little prickly.  This past Monday, Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, it was pouring.  We were going to go sledding but it was too wet and I was determined not to stay home because I knew all my son would want to do is play with one of his electronic devices.  The Science Center was out as we had already seen all the exhibits and Connor, my son, was not interested.  I went on line and discovered that LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) was free for the holiday (thank you Dr. King).  I threw that out to Connor and he was luke warm, to say the least.  I knew I needed to make this more appealing.   I went to their website and there was a painting of a naked man in very rough seas (with his leg strategically placed for coverage) and a great white shark about ready to eat him while a small boat of men looked on in horror.  I called out to Connor to come take a look and he did and he was delighted-he is 10 and gruesome is really in.  That was all I needed. We grabbed our rain gear and took off to the museum.

Once at the museum we discover that the shark painting is in a new show that wasn't opened yet.  It is opening the end of February.  Not to be deterred, Connor and I make a pact; we will look for the most gruesome thing in the museum and draw it.  I had brought 2 sketch books and colored pencils.  This turned out to be a very fun exercise.  Georgia O'Keefe's cow skull almost won.  Then we went to the 3rd floor to the Latin American Art exhibit and low and behold we found the winner.

Isn't it wonderful! A skull decorated with turquoise AND it's missing two teeth.  We got out the sketch books and went to town. Know this, I am by no means an artist but I love to draw and so does my son. I think our sketches were even more gruesome than the actual skull. There was a tour going on at the same time so I got to learn a little whilst sketching away.

Next time at the museum look for the skull and give it our best.  Connor and I can't wait to see the shark painting at the end of February.  That will be a tougher one to draw.