Port Taranaki on a Grey Day.

Today we sketched overlooking Port Taranaki. There was so much to see and so much going on it was difficult to know what to sketch. I tried to capture the beautiful view across New Plymouth which is marred by the garish port in front.

Here is a photo:

Some of us went to extremes:

Scott doing binocular sketching.

It was quite fun sitting sketching in a group.

Binocular Sketching

Since 9/11 access to the ports has become very limited.   Whilst our view of Port Taranaki today from behind the Magogs Motor Cycle Club was scenic, it was still distant.
So this is an attempt at binocular sketching.

My only problem came near the end of the drawing when I discovered by viewing detailed sections, I'd missed a crane.  With some judicious squeezing and use of colour, I managed to bolt the missing No 3 crane on.

The Spinnaker SW Bulk Carrier - Panama registered was loading logs for Lanqiao, China.  It is 176m long, gross tonnage - 20,000, built in Japan two years ago.

Te Rewa Rewa Bridge Waiwhakaiho.

Today Eileen and I decided to get outside and paint outdoors. At the start of the day the weather didn't look promising, but our luck held out. The colours in the clouds and the sea were spectacular!
I decided to try a sky painting. We sat looking towards Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, painting and watching the world go by.

Here is my effort:

The clouds were changing constantly, so it was hard work!

Here is photo I took that I was particularly pleased with:

Taken from Paris Plage at East End Beach.

Raglan Surf Break

Paddling on the Miranda Coast

Indian Jeep

This Willy's Jeep with roll bars is an Indian made Mahindra C-4.  There was only one real prototype Willys Overland CJ-4 ever built.  Consequently dubbed the 'Forgotten Jeep'. This 1979 model was spotted at the Lepperton School country fundraiser.

Mahindra started life in 1945 as a steel trading company and won the contract to produe the Willys in 1947.  Based in Mumbai, they now have 180,000 employees world wide and are the biggest tractor producer globally and have fingers in many pies including aerospace.

CJ = civilian jeep
Jeep was said to have been coined by slurring the initials GP (General Purpose or Government Purposes).  Another theory was that it came from comic character Popeye's jungle pet, 'Eugene the Jeep', which was small and able to solve seemingly impossible problems.

Lepperton Fundraiser

A country town's fundraiser - in all its sunny glory

(Sketched by Patricia)

Tunnel to the Sea

This is a view through a pedestrian underpass connecting the sea to downtown New Plymouth. It's like a tunnel under a series of 3 bridges: a 4-lane road, a train bridge and a pedestrian bridge for a walkway that hugs the coastline. One direction opens to the centre of town and I drew this view first (The bottom sketch). The way the pavement takes a right curve, a lone gate pole, and terraced seating beside a stream that flows under another road makes this a pretty weird drawing. When I finished this one, I took a look and if I had never been there, I'm not sure if I would be able to tell what this was a sketch of. So I didn't blog it right away. A few weeks later, I wondered if drawing another one towards the water would help illustrate this area. It turns out that the seaside one is pretty weird as a drawing too. At high tide the waves were crashing at the mouth of a stream that empties into the salt water.

I invite people who haven't been to New Plymouth to let me know what they think of these two. If you didn't read my description, would these, visually, make any sense at all?

Hamilton Excursion

New Zealand's only tea plantation is located just north in Gordonton- Zealong olong teas.

This is part of a bronze fountain of a teapot dragon.

Mokau Cream Boat - Cygnet

Jay our B&B guard just south of Hamilton

Get Up Urban Street Art Festival, Huatoki Plaza.

All I can say is WOW! What a fantastic festival. This is New Plymouth's first Urban Street Art event. The organisers chose the Huatoki Plaza as it is an under utilised and dull area in the centre of the CBD. Artists have come from all over New Zealand to take part. Forty I think. They are using a variety of mediums which include - aerosol, house paint, marker, paint, pens and stensils. Some are painted on the walls and sides of buildings, others are painted on temporary boards set up especially for the festival.

Here is my sketch:

The Artist:

Owen Dippie - is an internationally recognised artist from New Zealand. He endeavours to leave his mark on the world, rather than just exist in it.