Potpourri

Nice Hotel today above, Nice hotel below 11 years ago.

Peggy Gordon's Pub corner

East End

Sketching at our place this time

Braveheart

So I'm in this Irish pub in New Zealand. I've always thought that this place does a pretty good job of being an authentic pub that could be in Britain somewhere. Yes, I know... probably Ireland, but the decor of the inside is for the most part catering to Britain as a whole. When I was there I asked the guy next to me if he was from the UK and he gave me an "Aye'. I asked him, "does this place seem like a pub that could exist on the other side of the world?" He though about it but decided that it didn't. It turns out that even though the look inside isn't bad, it's just the fact that it is in New Zealand that prevents him from accepting the illusion.
When I was having a pint, I kept looking at this poster. It's been a while since the movie came out and it's now regarded as one of the least historically accurate movies out there. Also, it's an Australian actor playing a Scottish character in an American movie on a poster in an Irish pub in New Zealand. Does that make this object tacky and cliche? Now that the Scotland independence vote is about a week away, it's probably more relevant than it's been in years.

Peggy Gordons Celtic Bar

Sitting next to Maurice I drew a similar perspective.  T'was a bit nippy sitting there.

Peggy Gordon's Celtic Bar

Sketching on a winters day- Peggy Gordon's Celtic Bar looked very inviting ....MLB

Inside Peggy Gordon's

This weeks target was the Irish pub, Peggy Gordon's in New Plymouth. With everyone choosing their perfect angle to draw the outside, I figured that someone needed to draw the inside too. I 'bravely' volunteered.

Peggy Gordon's

Whilst it had the Irish flag fluttering, it had both the shamrock and the Scottish thistle emblazoned on either side of the entrance - presumably to broaden the clientele.

I was intrigued to see I had drawn this same view two years earlier.  Have I made any progress?

Not happy with the green rendering but a better overall profile.

Peggy Gordon's Celtic Bar

This is the last sketch I did for our old Taranaki Sketchers website with Springnote. I haven't done any more since and I'm at work today so I thought I'll start my first post with this one. It was a cool cloudy day to be out sketching, and this sketch took over an hour to get the penwork done. I coloured this from memory later, which took me about two weeks to do. Hopefully I got the colours right!

Peggy Gordon's Celtic Bar opened in November 1993. Bertie Burleigh is New Plymouth's famous publican known for pushing boundaries since 1993. Peggy Gordons effectively know as Peggy's or The Irish Bar, the home of good guiness and good Criac in New Plymouth.

I was happy with the finished sketch and it was fun to do. I might do another one on a sunny day once summer comes around and a few more people are out. The only person I found sitting outside on this day was Brian, and I didn't realise he was there until I started drawing the tables! Luckily for him he was sitting outside my sketch area.