Ngamotu Engine

It's been a while since I'd been to the Taranaki Aviation Technology and Transport Museum. While I was there, they fired up an engine from a ship used to dredge sand from the seaport. The sign said that it ran at about 100rpm on the ship but when I was there, in the museum, it was much slower than that. (Maybe 10-20%?) At that speed, it was making this sound that was like it was breathing. It was so hypnotic that I ended up sitting down and sketching it.

I made a 60-second video, if you want to hear the breathing sound:

I'm looking for a winter sketching venue so maybe I'll be back periodically.

Meat dreams are made of these...

Social Kitchen is an unashamedly meat oriented eating place - not for the faint hearted.  The meals melt in your mouth.

Downtown New Plymouth

It's starting to feel like the beginning of winter sketching in New Zealand.

Police Line-up

Couldn't go past this colourful line-up - at today's sketching.  

Several of our sketching group attended the Mokau Easter Bone Carving weekend with 30 others.  Master Carver Owen Mapp presided and Mike Brown did the magnificent organising. Owen was recently in the New Years Honours List

Even bone carving needs some sort of sketching skills, here were my attempts

A wonderful event and a big shout out to the whole town who came out on the communal meal and fed us hot cross buns.

Till Henderson

Colourful lawyers with clocktower and the ripple of Len Lye behind

Heaven's Pizza into the gates of hell!  The pizzas were heavenly.

Fitzroy Dairy

A bit of a return to form. Although it used to be common, I haven't used a red pen on a sketch for at least five years. I drew this convenience store seven years ago and included picture of the CookieTime cookie monster on the top. This time I tried to show a glow that emanates from the actual chocolate-chunked beauties themselves.

Traffic Lights

I wasn't going to draw this. I planned on taking a few minutes of my day to get out of email debt or maybe network socially. I checked my messages but then put it away. I reached for my sketchbook instead and drew what was in front of me. I guess that is the nature of the process. I don't have a drawing ability that I was born with. Any skill that I have, has been practiced for years. I suppose that I draw as much as some other people use their phones, and that, really could be the secret.

Hibiscus

Yeah, I know we need to finish building that fence! When we were buying some more nails though, we decided to hide for a while in the garden section of the hardware store. It had coffee and cake!