AmeriCARna

Even with a bit of rain, the final day of the Americarna festival was still popular. I had a prime position on a bench with a view of a massive 1959 Cadillac with huge fins and rocket engine tail lights. When it started to look like it was going to start getting wet, that all went out the window. I didn't wait for a clear path and just drew everything. What you see is a Star Destroyer sized Cadillac with three people and four cars in front of it. (For the enthusiast, a 2008 Mustang Shelby, 1934 Chevrolet, a 1970 Rambler Hornet, and like last year, a 1956 Chevy Belair.) A special shout-out to the several people I met from Wanganui who are waiting for the final version of this one.

Below: Last year's Belair

Taranaki Flying Boat

We were invited to draw a Catalina flying boat in one of the hangars at the New Plymouth airport. It was a pretty crazy old plane. It had quite a few things that looked weird but then became normal when you remembered that this is also a boat! Those little T-shaped bits near the nose where you would throw a rope around... Boat! Landing Gear folds up on the side... Boat! Door opens on the top of the plane and then you climb down into it... Boat! 

The inside was really cool too. When you climbed in, you found yourself in between 2 sets of 2 facing seats. Across a mini hallway in the middle of the plane was another cabin with 4 facing seats. In this hallway you could either climb a few stairs and be in the cockpit or go into another room where the landing gear indentations were. You could climb up to the wing area and there was a window up there. Lots of hydraulic pipes here too. Past that was two more cabins of 4 seats. After that was one last room near the tail. It had 2 sideways bench seats that allowed you to look out these bubble shaped canopies. We all agreed that this must be the first-class lounge.

The older guy sweeping in my sketch joked that when he was an apprentice, he started out by sweeping, and look where he is now! 

Below: A progress pic from about half-way done... The large wingspan wouldn't fit entirely in the hangar.

CC Ward

There's this building on the main street here in New Plymouth that has this large white box on top of it. I'm guessing that it's supposed to be part of it but I don't know what the deal is really. Weird. Beside it, is an old department store with plaster fancy plaster ceilings. I think it was a family owned business for nearly 100 years but it wrapped not too long ago. Now it's empty and I wonder if it's going to get another chance. It's an E Grade (Earthquake Survival) building which is as low and as expensive as it gets.

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.