We went to the Brighton Toy and Model Museum which is underneath Brighton station. It has a large collection of models, mostly from before the widespread use of plastic and short-lived consumer products. The time period captured is The Golden Age of British and European toymaking. There are so many toys everywhere creating a world of toys.

I really liked the quirkiness of the circus figurines. The way they are set up is immersive and captivating, and the circus theme reminded me of Bestival 2018. The androgyny of the figurines made them even more fun to draw. I was inspired to add a bit of coloured pencil to my line drawings too which brought the characters to life.

The soft toy section was the most popular location to draw, everyone was drawn to it. I reckon this is because they are very playful characters, and you can feel that they are full of life with long histories where they were well-loved and therefore have been well preserved. Each toy has its own charm, expression and history.

toy museum 1

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email