Boat Launch

It was early morning down at the port and there were non-stop boats being launched. These crusty sailors have serious skills. I was watching them back a trailer into the water, dump the boat with a pilot on board and go park... all in one motion. It was like scrambling a squadron from the deck of an aircraft carrier. I drew the dock first and then was going to draw a launching in behind it, since they were mostly going in the water on that side. When it came time to sketch the boat, I started to notice how little time I had for each one. The good news (for me) was that this one boat had engine trouble. They had to put it back on the trailer and have a look at it. Without a motor it actually took quite a while to get back on to land. When I finished the dock after that, the same guys put the boat back in the salt water and they were away. All's well that ends well.

SketchCrawl 50

New Plymouth seems to have a reasonable amount of public art around the place. For this sketchcrawl, we tried to have a theme of the art that is around but to also try to show it in it's context. Try to visually describe where it is. I also brought some paints out this weekend. I'm a bit of a watercolour noob, but it turned out okay. I did a second quick one with a pen from the other direction.

The alley that I was in is on the left of this photo:

Christmas Eve Shopping

It was Christmas Eve. I didn't have any more shopping to do (that's why I was drawing). It seemed like tons of people still had a ways to go. The stressed, hurried pace made it hard to capture the last-minute shoppers. Looking down this passageway between some shops I could see the 25% off signs in the shop across the street. I was standing there holding a book and using a ballpoint pen. People were nervously walking by me as I sketched. An older woman even admitted to me that she was quite relieved when she realized that I was drawing and not soliciting or taking a survey. It was Christmas Eve and there was no patience to deal with that.

Old Railway Line

This is an old railway line with a pretty cool stone wall that runs between two busy streets in New Plymouth. Now it's just for people. On each side of this thin park is crazy traffic caused by crazy people, desperate to finish their year-end chores. Everyone is so rushed here in New Zealand at this time of year. A Christmas / Summer combo holiday makes people insane, irrational and very tired. The big solid rock walls insulated against the noise and was a nice lunch hour time-out from the frenzied late-December pace.

James Lane

This tall and thin building forms half of James Lane and two sides have street art on it. You can see a biplane on top and the bottom has a intricately painted wooden fence alley scene. I thought that the alley scene is a pretty good job but a friend said that maybe the artists did too good of a job. The fact that it's painted very well may give it a bit of resistance to being painted over with something new and prevent the natural image rotation that usually comes with urban art. Of course, the buildings making up the lane might not be that earthquake safe. If they end up needing replacement, it sort of makes the artwork time limit argument irrelevant. It's unlikely that any new building will have wall space put aside for spray cans. 

(Here's roughly the same scene, but from a slightly different angle done in 2012. Spot the differences between these two pictures.)

Fire Trucks

Just some fire trucks because that's what I felt like drawing lately

Metro Plaza

I've drawn the Metro Plaza three times now. This time it was from the top of the Kings Building across the street. The hustle and bustle of the people is really happening from up there, moving in and out of the shadows on the sidewalk.
I like the building because it's a bit weird. It's a bit rough in parts but it has character. If you walk through the arcade with different shops in it, you get to a parking building which is great for rainy days. I feel that this is a way better location than a Subway deserves. Of course maybe I just think there's too many Subways and I'd just rather have a pie.
The top floor is the JD Reid Gallery. He's a pretty cool guy who really knows how to paint. Check out what he's got up there; the space is open most days.
The bottom two sketches are from 2013, one month apart. I've posted the left one before but second one hadn't made it to the internet until now.

Hockey Practice

Here's a quick sketch of inline hockey practice. The local team is called the the Ravens. There aren't any actual ravens in New Zealand, but there can't be many native Penguins in Pittsburgh either. Pretty normal types of drills - passing, skating and taking shots. This scene could be anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere but then they spoil the illusion by opening the large side door and you can see the sea. You can also look across the rink at the row of flags. India, Australia, Taiwan, South Africa and New Zealand - all the hockey 3rd rate hockey nations are represented. But this is how they roll down under and the kids seem to be having fun.

Taranaki Cathedral

The Taranaki Cathedral was forced to close indefinitely. After the Christchurch earthquakes, older buildings in New Zealand have a certain amount of time to be assessed and upgraded. This stone building is rated at something like 15%, which is pretty low. People aren't sure what can be done to make it safe while keeping the same style of architecture preserved. The price tag will also keep this place closed for quite a while.
There's quite a few buildings on the New Plymouth main shopping street that are likely going to need expensive retrofitting or replacing. Nobody knows what the downtown will look like in the future. Just like this place.

King Tugboat

The tide was super low this week - a king tide. The floating docks were barely above the bottom when I drew this. I was watching a couple of tugs guiding a large ship in to port. When the tide was in, it was very in. It washes up rocks, driftwood and plastic debris on to the shore and the coastal walkway.

4 Palms

A row of four palm trees in front of a church, alongside a busy New Plymouth intersection. I had a few people shout from the cars during the red lights that my drawing was starting to come along. If you're one of those in traffic, checking out the finished version here, this one's for you.

Exocet

Here's a fishing boat that is double parked to the main launching dock. I'm not sure why since there were other places to berth to. The sailors had to climb to the larger diving ship and then to the dock to get supplies loaded. Important things like fuel and hot lunches from a nearby restaurant. About halfway through this one the ropes were untied and it sailed away. This is a bit worse than when cars do this.
The name Exocet has the same as an anti-ship missile and is French for 'flying fish'. I guess this is a good name although this doesn't seem to be a particularly fast vessel.