A year ago I waved goodbye to Southampton Urban Sketchers (UK) and packed up my sketching gear for an adventure in New Zealand. My husband and I had offers of work in Auckland for a year and we were excited to travel to the other side of the world for a great adventure!
I didn't know what kind of art materials I would be able to buy in New Zealand and I'd heard that internet shopping could be expensive (everything has to be shipped a long way!) so I carefully packed my bottle of De Atramentis ink, my Lamy fountain pen and my Schmincke watercolours. On arrival I was very happy to find that Gordon Harris Art Stores sell my favourite Fabriano Venezia sketchbooks.
We left a warm UK summer and arrived in cold, wet Auckland. After a couple of weeks of jet lag and disorientation I picked up my sketchbook and started to draw the unfamiliar buildings and scenes I discovered. The intensity of colour in nature here is quite staggering. In particular I remember being amazed by the turquoise colours in the sea and sky. I've got through a great deal of cobalt turquoise over the last year! It has also been exciting to include palms and tree ferns in my sketches, having been accustomed to English oaks and beech trees.
I made it to my first sketch crawl with BIG DRAW (Urban Sketchers in Auckland) in August 2016 and it was such a joy to find like-minded sketchers at a time when I was feeling uprooted and far from home. I've really enjoyed seeing parts of the city I might not have visited if it weren't for the group.
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| Auckland CBD skyline |
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| Sketching in Auckland city centre with BIG DRAW |
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| Sketching inside Ponsonby International Food Court |
Over the course of the year I have tried to capture
some of the heritage buildings in Auckland. I was fascinated to read the story
of the Birdcage pub, formerly the Rob Roy
Hotel. Built in 1885-1886, the building was moved 40m down the road and
then back again (using huge hydraulic rams and a teflon-coated track) in order
to facilitate the building of the Victoria Park Tunnel in 2010. The time lapse
video of the building being moved back into place can be seen here: The Move Back
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| Devonport, Auckland - a great place to sketch! |
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| Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland |
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| Auckland Town Hall during Auckland Arts Festival week |
During our year in New Zealand we've managed to fit in a few weeks of travelling, around both the North and South Islands. Drawing has allowed me to preserve memories of our travels in a way that photographs cannot. Looking back through my sketchbook brings back vivid memories of the places we've been and the views we've admired.
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| A Christmas break beside Lake Tarawera, North Island |
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| Some quintessentially Kiwi specimens! |
We will shortly be leaving New Zealand to return back to the UK. I have loved every moment of being in this amazing place and I very much hope to come back in the future. Ka kite anō, Aotearoa!
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| The lighthouse at Waipapa Point, South Island |
Tabitha works as a GP and has been sketching for about 2 years. She loves to draw buildings and urban scenes using pen and ink with watercolour wash. Her 'big project' is to draw all the cathedrals in England. She collects her sketches online here.
