Americarna 2024

A sketch of the crowd viewing the cars running down the length of Devon Street in New Plymouth during Americarna.

Tapapakanga

Hi Class! On my summer holiday, we went to the beach.

Tempt

I was tempted to attempt this sketch of Tempt.

Te Henui Cemetery

The Te Henui Cemetery is on our local garden trail every year since it is maintained by a bunch of volunteers. As a result, it actually is a pretty nice garden and not really that creepy at all.

End of 2023 - Bonus Sketches

 I was going through the year's sketches and noticed a few sketches that didn't get uploaded as I went.

Here's a fish & chip shop that still has a retro light-up sign and even retro branded Air New Zealand carpet on the inside.

I did a quick sketch in my mini-book of this old house in the park. I came back in better weather for a colour version.

This is a view from the cricket ground in Pukekura Park. It looks out towards the Tasman Sea and you can see it on the horizon.

If I am sketching out in the garden, I will try to include weird bugs that might be around. Usually, it's just bees when I have my sketchbook. The really freaky stuff only comes out when I'm not drawing.

Whanganui Saturday

Saturday in Whanganui is a pretty happening place!

Arcade Games

 

Arcade games in the Top Town Arcade - Saying it like that makes it seem like the perfect place for Play2Win to be in town. As I was drawing and painting, people seemed to come in waves. I'd say it was before and after the times at the movies, which in New Plymouth is just an escalator ride upstairs.

View from Puke Ariki

Here's a view of the city from Puke Ariki (museum) showing the people moving around the hodgepodge architecture of New Plymouth. At the bottom, is the reverse side of part of the Festival of Lights Pop-up that was very popular with tons of people.

Corner of Devon & Gover

I was actually amazed that these trees still had their leaves.

Taranaki Aviation Technology and Transport Museum

From the Taranaki Aviation Technology and Transport Museum. The inside of an old Fire Truck and a wall of radios. It was pouring rain for a while and the roof started to leak. I climbed in to the back of the firetruck and sketched the front seats. I also made a wall of radios from some that were actually on shelves.

Peggy Gordons

 

If you've ever been to Peggy Gordons and thought that you may have had too many, don't worry. It's the building... NOT YOU! The toilet is in what used to be a vault. That door really IS that heavy. So have another.

Moturoa

 

Even though I'm sketching at the Moturoa shops, this really is just a sketch of this awesome tree on the top of the hill.

Taranaki Sunflower Meadow

It seems that everyone from Taranaki that is on Instagram was at the Sunflower Meadow in the last few weeks. Since I also had those qualifications, I grabbed my sketchbook and checked it out too. While I was there I hammered out a pen sketch. It seemed like a good idea to colour it on the weekend that the rain flooded Auckland. It actually was pretty cool to see a field of sunflowers (and bees).

New Zealand Holiday Camping

 

Last sketch of 2022.

Taranaki Garden Festival 2022 (2 of 2)

 

Here's the second one that I did on the garden festival weekend but only just decided to watercolour it too. It was a breezy day and I found myself at this picnic area overlooking a stream that was out of the wind. After sketching this one, I noticed that this garden had a place where you could get scones with jam and cream. Will draw for food!

Taranaki Garden Festival 2022 (1 of 2)

I had seen that Theory Food was setting up a pop-up cafe in one of the gardens for the GardenFest. Of course I had to go and try all the cakes. While I was there, I hammered out a sketch too. I just used a pen, on location. Later, after it was sitting in my sketchbook for a while, I decided to give it the watercolour treatment on a rainy weekend.

Whanganui Street Corner

This one was done a couple of months ago on a weekend in Whanganui. I used my fountain pen and I thought the drawing was okay but didn't post it. On a rainy weekend at home, I remembered I had some grey markers. I gave them a try and it seems more finished now.

IQ9

Here's another drawing of this robot that I love from this 1970's. I also draw it the way I want to; it's not quite the same in the cartoon. I like his feet to be a little more exposed and dangerous. Bonus School Holiday Activity: Spot 5 differences!

Fish

I'm not really sure what kind of fish these are supposed to be. I was looking at photos of different types and was choosing things I like from different species. I just felt like drawing fish. Two other things of note here is that I actually roughly used a pencil here first. I usually don't since it seems to me that I'm drawing it twice. The other thing is that I didn't use my usual ballpoint pen. This was done using a fountain pen with waterproof ink.

Fountain Lake

When I drew this lake before, I didn't draw the fountain since I didn't really know how to tackle it. The water jets change as it does its cycle. When it stops, you have to wait for some kid to push the button again. (It goes for about 2 minutes each time.) The mist goes everywhere and it just 'looks like white'. So I sort of just tried to not really draw that area, and hint a little at what was behind the water, as the trees behind it appeared through it.