Sidewalk repair

A lunchtime sketch of a work truck at the scene of a widening of a sidewalk. I assumed that since it was lunchtime, the workmen were having lunch as well.

Cloudy days in New Plymouth

It's about to rain. It's overcast with cloud and no wind. A calm before the storm. Maybe the last chance to sketch outside for a few days.
Going into spring, the weather is generally getting better but it will be getting wetter before it gets dryer. Almost half a year ago I did this next one when the skies were quite dark during the day. But I was out of the rain at a cafe - drinking and sketching.

Of note:
- The car in that first picture was parked and also drove away before I finished the drawing. Don't people know they are ruining our compositions? So rude!
- In that second sketch, there is a wheat paste of a face on the building. This one is a collaborative work but the main artist did a good number of them (pastes) and wall paintings by himself at the time. He was 'notorious' and in the newspapers often which opened the debate, "Is this art?" It turned out that he was identified as someone who worked for the city council and that caused a bit of awkwardness since they technically have to remove it. Afterwards he also had some solo shows (inside the galleries this time) that were successful. I've met him and he seems to be a pretty cool guy which probably helped him turn the publicity into something positive. As of today, It's starting to peel like the rest and some of his large works have been painted over. You can see this one and others at his website.

New Plymouth buildings

The White Hart Hotel would easily be one of the oldest buildings in New Plymouth (New Zealand) and in recent years has been reasonably derelict. People have started to restore/renovate it to make it offices shops and a restaurant. It wanted to capture it while it still was in progress with scaffolding and construction signs. (On writing this, I noticed that the building peeking in from the left is scheduled to be taken down to make room for an extension to the art gallery.)
This next one was done on the same day after a snack.

TOPEC footbridge

This is a reasonably quick sketch for me. I often spend ages refining the overall image. This day I was late meeting a bunch of other sketchers and some of them were already on their seconds or thirds. We agreed to meet near the TOPEC grounds (Taranaki Outdoor Pursuits and Education Centre). We were just coming out of winter at the time and even though it was a nice day, you really wanted to be in the sun. So I thought that I would skip sketches of cabins and things and I found a sunny picnic table by the river. Upstream was a footbridge to another wooded area. As I sat there, trying to make up lost drawing time, a fantail did actually land on the wire fence long enough to pose in that spot that I sketched it. (I later received comments of disbelief from fellow sketchers regarding the bird's ability to not spoil the composition of my drawing.)

David Brown 950 Implematic

There was a display of tractors and farm equipment as part of a local garden show. I drew this one since I liked the name.
(This tractor was labelled as a 1956 although a quick search on the internet said that this model started production in 1958.)

Viking re-enactment

We met up with some people with Viking blood who keep the spirit alive. They have their own weapons and armour and nearly every weekend, give each other a few knocks while working themselves up into a slight berserker rage. These guys are serious about the history but I think that the biggest draw is the social aspect of the society. They all like to have a drink now and then and they were laughing the whole time that we were with them.
(They were also featured in the local newspaper.)