Sketches, not selfies, encouraged at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum

The entrance to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam currently has an unusual flourish to its entrance.

A large banner shows an image of a camera ... with a foreboding red X across it.

The museum is encouraging its patrons to put down the smartphone and pick up a pencil and paper instead - to engage the art displayed with sketches, not selfies.

Don't worry, though - your phones aren't actually banned from the premises. But as Jacobien Schneider of the Reijksmuseum's educational department and art history professor Michael Lewis explain, the initiative hopes to spark a deeper connection with the visual arts that you might not be able to achieve with digital megapixels alone.

The museum has also been promoting the initiative on its social media channels with the hashtag #StartDrawing.