Blogmas Day 20: Studio Ghibli Museum

I loved every minute of my time at the Studio Ghibli Museum - this is a must visit for every Studio Ghibli fan.  It was simply magical, like going to Disneyland or Harry Potter world.  I was giddy like a little school girl!

If you don't fancy a little wander to the museum you can get the Neko bus from Mitaka Station.

You have to book your tickets months in advance, the official website will point you to an official ticket seller for foreigners.  This was a Sunday though but I suspect it does normally get this busy on a weekday too.  I would have loved to explore this place on a quiet day, it would be such a lovely museum to relax in!

There are sooooo many little details to this museum, really take the time to absorb it all in, especially because there is a very strict no-picture policy within the museum grounds, even in the cafe we could only take pictures of our table.

Quick sketch of the Laputa Robot on the roof.  I would have loved to doodle some more inside but it really was just too busy.  There were so many incredible displays inside and plenty of artwork from the movies.  There was an incredible life size cat bus to sit in, I think that it is only there for a limited time, and the wonderful thing about the museum is that they have exclusive short films created just for the museum.  The film we got to watch was about a lovable dog called 'Koro'.

Of course the museum shop carries all sorts of exclusive souvenirs, it was so hard not going crazy in there!

We had to wait at least an hour to get into the cafe but again, I'm glad we did, the interior is so charming! I could happily spend an afternoon sitting there drawing or reading a book.

If you are a tea lover then don't get the milk tea!  Thankfully they don't serve it to you with sugar but they frothed up the milk, a big no no in my books.

Omurice

Honestly the cake wasn't the best sponge cake either but it looked so darn cute!

Any trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum should include a little wander in the park that encloses the museum - Inokashira park.  Perfect around Autumn and I imagine it would be lovely during cherry blossom season.

Other Posts:

- Blogmas Day 19: Odaiba

- Blogmas Day 18: Ichiran Ramen

- Blogmas Intro: Japan Trip

I HEART NYC

Went on holiday last week to fabulous New York City.  I was in full-on tourist mode and did all the big main sites! I'm still very much exhausted and slightly jet-lagged but of course I took a sketchbook with me and doodled whenever I could.  I never bothered to take any water-colours with me because my shoulder bag was already so heavy with travel junk so my sketches are definitely lacking some colour and the one main advantage to drawing in cold weather are the several pockets in your jacket you can use to hold drawing tools, so summer in New York meant no jacket so an A5 sketchbook in one hand, a brush pen and graphite stick in the other, a heavy bag on my shoulder and a big SLR camera around my neck :3

 

View from a window at the MOMA, you weren't even allowed to draw with pens at this museum and most of these places were incredibly overcrowded but I managed to find this sweet spot at the MOMA to draw this view because this window hid behind a wall where most people thought the exhibition ended not realizing that there was another display behind it! :)

 

Rodin's Adam at the Metropolitan Art Museum

I bought these brush pens in Kinokuniya, a big Japanese book/stationary by Bryant park and they're meant for Japanese/Chinese calligraphy.  I'd tried different ones before but this shop had 'testers' of all their different pens, which was how I found this one and I think I've finally found a brush pen that I love and love drawing with! I've tried every available brush pen at my local art shops but all their nibs crap-out on me after not much use.  I wish I bought more from the shop in New York so hopefully I'll be able to get them online.

 

Leopards at the American Natural History Museum.  Great displays of wild animals that you would rarely get to see, at least not still and in a great pose! :)

 

Spider Monkey at the American Natural History Museum.

 

View from a window on the fourth floor at the American Natural History Museum.

 

People sitting outside Macy's.  Didn't do too much drawing of people but this was me experimenting with drawing figures with that brush pen really.

 

Spent our last day at Central Park.  It was a perfect day for it and I were so tired from the week that it meant after a little exploring around the park, I could just sit for a couple hours and draw.  Real bummed that I didn't have water-colours with me though! 

 

Highlights for me was definitely walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, we walked across from Brooklyn to Manhattan, just as the sun was disappearing, it was really a magical way to view the Manhattan skyline and then watching Polina Semionova dance with the American Ballet Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera House was a dream come true.

 

Kelvingrove Art Gallery Sketches

This one actually started off as a double page sketch but I was just too cold to finish it off, next time I'm going to sit in the cafe across the road to draw to outside of the gallery!