Americarna 2021

We were lucky to enjoy Americarna again. Even people that hate cars loved it this year. Sandwiched between lockdowns in Auckland, it fell on a perfect window for even the very uninterested to want to get out and enjoy the events.

WW2 Dodge Command Car

Last weekend, we went to a car show. It was the kind that had all types of clubs showing off their best. By far, our favourites were the ones that were in the shade. This happened to be the New Zealand Military Vehicle Club so there were several trucks and jeeps. (We found out later that some members even have small tanks!) It was quite hot that day and after many minutes at the Sausage Sizzle and the bake sale we decided to sit in the shade. I pulled out my book and sketched this officer's World War 2 deluxe jeep (actually a Dodge). Since it's not as tall and wider than other jeeps of the time it seemed more modern with it's Hummer-like proportions.

 

Unloading a Windfarm

A ship in Port Taranaki, New Zealand, unloads parts for a windfarm. I think that the parts were made in Italy but I'm not sure.

Fitzroy intersection

Fitzroy has a weird intersection that isn't straight through and the main traffic flow bends around an angle. On one of the corners is a bench. If you sit there and sketch, it gives the impression that you sat in the middle of the road.

Americarna 2020 - More Bel Airs

At this year's Americarna, I ignored the new cars and went with a classic car to sketch. This is a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. A great car in a design variant before they started to get very ugly in the 60's and 70's. I also did this one standing up so it gives it a slightly different angle than usual. There is another quick drawing from a couple days before when they stopped in Waitara. I've never gone out to see the cars when they stop at the smaller towns. I'm not sure if each of the small stops get ALL the cars, there were still tons and it's quite a nice vibe to see Americarna outside New Plymouth.

Mitsubishi 4x4 van

This awesome van was for sale on the side of the road. I like how it's just a normal small van with a bunch of outdoorsy optional extras. It's over a quarter century old and has over a quarter million kilometres on it. It's also way overpriced, but I'm sure someone will buy it.

Standard 10 and the Harvard

Some more winter sketching in the Taranaki Aviation Technology & Transport Museum. There's so much stuff in here. Most things are grouped into sections but there's always the odd specimen randomly inserted. A toy-sized 1950's car is snuggled under the wing of a Harvard (T-6 Texan) fighter plane. I drew the plane a few years ago and I think it was damaged on a landing. That's why it lives in here with the cute cars and why its current propeller is too small. (It looks tons better than with no propeller though!)

Holdens

I was sketching the people checking out some down-under cars that were driven here from all over New Zealand on the weekend.

Two cars down was a blue Holden that had a sign that featured a sketch by Murray Dewhurst.

45 Tonne Crane (for hire!)

At the Taranaki Truck Show: Sitting in the shade drawing a crane, drinking L&P and overhearing the truck drivers talk shop on their day off.

Good & Bad Parking

Even though these racks are for bicycles, the scooter beside the upright rack shows an example of good parking. The bent over one adjacent to the parallel car park area shows a past-tense example of bad parking.

Rover 3500

I was talking to the owner of this car as I drew this. He said that he bought the Rover 3.5 brand-new in 1972. He's also had several cars since then, but always kept this one. I really liked it too.

NZ Army Truck

There's a New Zealand Army recruitment office in New Plymouth. Sometimes, it will have a cool truck parked around the back. It's a type of older 1980's Mercedes-Benz Unimog with big tires and awesome tread.

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby

The American car festival, AmeriCARna, came around again. I ended up chatting with people, got distracted and mucked up a few sketches. That's the bad side to using a pen. I did get one sketch from the 2018 show though: a 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby.

ORD

After the Global 24-hour Sketchwalk, I gave a presentation and lead a sketchcrawl in the afternoon. It was an event tied to the 'Homework' art show at Puke Ariki, here in Taranaki. I went out looking for something to sketch and looked at the display house that Habitat for Humanity was constructing. The group uses an old Bedford truck to move supplies and gear around. It was missing a wheel, on a jack, and was waiting for its tire to be repaired. I also noticed that it was missing the letters "B-E-D-F" so it was now an "ORD". Yesterday, on the way home from work, I went by the house to see how far along it is now. The truck was there again and another flat tire. I stopped to chat with the guys that I met on the weekend. It turns out it was the same tire. They were happy with the result of the finished sketch and I got them to hold my drawing in front of the Ord.

Motorama 2017 (and 2016)

Went to Taranaki Motorama again this year and ended up looking at a 1980 Pontiac Trans-AM. The sketch on the right is the one that I did last year at the same show at East End Reserve but haven't uploaded it until now.

Colourize Project: Tugboat

Colorized version from two years ago of a tugboat between the two breakwaters heading out from Port Taranaki.

Roulette 63824

Here's a set of three sketches of a fishing boat out of water getting some kind of work done on it. (In the August sketch, it's not the boat in front on the left.) I've done one per month so it's been there for a while now.

Ponsonby, Auckland and Airports

We've had a couple of trips to Auckland lately. There wasn't really much time for sketching other than at the airport. One morning though, I decided to get up just before dawn to get another drawing in. The previous evening, I noticed this one building had a nice glow from the signs, lights and interior lighting that disappeared during the day.

Americarna 2017

The 10th year of the popular Americarna festival was still popular. After a very rainy Taranaki summer, the weather in New Plymouth was perfect for the multi-day event. I just sat in the shade and sketched the people looking at the classic cars.

Below is an Impala and a Belair from two years ago, and I've coloured last year's sketch too.

Spitfire

I was at the Stratford Aero Club's Open Day in central Taranaki on the weekend. Just after we got there, a Spitfire arrived from just off the horizon. The pilot did some close fly-bys and tilted the wings for the cameras. I've heard fighter planes before and this one didn't have a usual deep rumble that a grunty aircraft engine would make. It sounded like there was still a lot of power there but not as loud as I expected. I've read about the Spitfires and they were quite renowned for their performance in the skies. It seemed very classy (and stealthy?) to be 'that kind of fighter plane' and yet have this nice purring engine. These are great planes!

After it landed, and parked on the airfield I started to sketch. I overheard someone say to another enthusiast that this particular Spitfire was a seven-eighth size replica with a V8 engine. 

Oh. 

I just kept drawing...