What do I do with an enormous sketchbook?

My daughter gave me this very large sketchbook which she got from an art shop in Dunedin, (sadly they've gone out of supplying these now, and I find it difficult to source sketchbooks which have high gsm papers suitable for watercolour). It is quite large, a bit too big to take out sketching, so I decided to use it for watercolour paintings instead. This was then a little intimidating, especially the first page as you want it to look good!

Here is the result: 

 Shell Study. Watercolour. The first page in my large watercolour sketchbook.

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.)

Kite surfers from East End Surf Club.

On a fine, but very windy day, I sat outside the East End Surf Club and had another try at sketching the kite surfers. They are certainly not easy as they are always on the move. I'm not sure how many there were. Definitely more than 10. The sea was quite rough and Port Taranaki was a bit hazy in the background. The wind was whipping up quite a bit of sea spray.

I think this is my best kite surfer sketch yet.

Aussie Car Muster

1957 Vauxhall Velox wagon at the Aussie Car Muster - not exactly a 'Muscle Car' as billed on the advertising but still very much admired by passers by.

Police

(Sketched by Patricia)   Police & Fire at Car demo, with the jaws of life

Motonui Epa

Forty years ago these Motonui Epa (back panels of a storehouse) found in a swamp were spirited out of the country to a Bolivian collector for USD65.000.  The government bought them back for 4.5 million this year, and they were returned to Taranaki.  Distinctively our style with serpentine bodies, the pointed heads and pu-werewere (spider web) decoration.

A challenge to draw as the display was slowly rotating, so we had much exercise over the hour's drawing. 

Brian suggested trying a dark background to 'pop' them out.

Maori Carvings

Sketched by Patricia

Pukekura Park entrance, Rogan Street, New Plymouth.

Today while the others sketched at The Traveller's Fair, I sat and sketched the Rogan Street entrance to Pukekura Park.
There is the usual red Pukekura Park gate, and a pleasant shady path to walk down. In front of that was an enormous power-pole interrupting my view. This is what caught my eye.

I decided to try a different technique today and used a medium black calligraphy pen and watercolour. I limited my palate to five colours. Surprisingly I finished the whole thing in an hour.

Gypsy Travellers Fair

You invariably find interesting characters at Gypsy Fairs.

Here are two good sports who didn't mind modelling.  (And I'm not talking about the Bedford and Ford)

Fire Trucks

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

St Mark's Church, Lepperton.

On Saturday, for the tail end of the garden festival, we went to St Mark's Church in Lepperton. It was a beautiful afternoon,  just right for spending the afternoon sketching. The church was dressed for a country wedding.

This Anglican church in Lepperton is thought to have opened in May 1900 with a dedication service on the 18th of January 1901.
It is likely that the church was designed by the architect Frank Messenger and built by a Mr Mannix. Church records have been located showing a £5.00 payment to "Mr Messenger". Tenders for the construction of a church in Lepperton closed on the 11th of October 1899 - the tenders to be submitted to Frank Messenger.

Here is my sketch:

 And here are some photos:

Inside, there was a handmade wedding dress that had been made for a wedding in the 1950's:

They also laid on the most wonderful afternoon tea! Here are a few photos taken by Sarah Davison.

49th Sketchcrawl Day

Here is another sketch from Trevor for the 49th Sketchcrawl Day:

Tree Church

Just south of Hamilton at Ohaupu a former farmer has created a tree church.  Growth is trained over framing to create this intriguing spot.

http://treechurch.co.nz/

St Andrew's Church. Exhibition of sketches.

This week it is the Taranaki Garden Festival. It runs from the 31st October to the 8th November. During the festival we have a series of sketches on display at St Andrew's Church. We went and sketched at the church about five different times, and tried to capture many different aspects of it inside and out.

There is also a display there by the orchid Society. So last Saturday we went and sketched among the orchids and our sketches.

Here is my sketch:

And some photos:

Alan, Andrea, Trevor, Liz and Maurice's sketches.

Scott, Julie and Maurice's sketches.

Scott

Jackie

Trevor

Brian, Patricia and Maurice's sketches.

Brian

Angela

Andrea's sketch.

Liz's sketch.

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.