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 through the binoculars, I'd missed a crane.  Through judicious squeezing and use of colour, I managed to bolt the missing No 3 crane on.

High walls on the Magog's million dollar property behind me.  A couple of large dogs hung around the gate to make sure we weren't up to no good.

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.

Buddhist temple an enlightening sketch destination

This place is a real surprise. I had no idea it existed, so when Eric posted that the monthly sketch meet would be held at a Buddhist temple in Flat Bush - not far from East Tamaki, a part of Auckland better known for commercial factories and warehouses, I wasn't expecting much. A small shrine in a nice garden perhaps?

Well was I wrong or what. Entering the Fo Guang Shan temple is like being transported to another continent, and it's big, I felt like I was entering somewhere exotic like the Lama Temple in Beijing (never been, but you get the idea) so definitely a new experience for me.

I particularly enjoyed sketching the view through these big doors to the buddhas when this little girl ran through, she was obviously very excited to be in such a big fun playground, and appeared to bring a smile to the buddhas faces.

Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple



An amazing temple with plenty of detail or expansive views to draw.
The gorgeous weather and the serene meditative mood of the place made for a perfect sketching afternoon 



Did Jeep come from slurring GP?

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.

I like to drink coffee and sketch in cafes

Hello, I'm new to this blog and I'd like to introduce myself - I'm Mr Black. I have recently moved back to Wellington after living in London for several years. I'm a keen urban sketcher and look forward to contributing to Urban Sketchers NZ. Here is the last sketch I drew in London and the first one I drew after returning to Wellington - Coffee Works in Islington and Peoples Coffee in Newtown.

Wunder bar

The Wunderbar is a place where I feel good. I like the freak/cosy decoration and the live music but I especially like the view to the Lyttleton harbour. It has an amazing skyline, the big tanks of fuel, the smell of timber on the atmosphere coming from the piles of trunks on the port, the containers going in and out of the ships and nice beers with popcorns on the counter. 

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?

Hagley Park

 Since I arrived to Christchurch this "dancing" pine trees on the Hagley Park always fascinated me, now finally I got them.

The Oolong Dragon

The mouth of the Zealong bronze dragon fountain, the head of a row of tea pots at NZ's only oolong tea plantation located at Gordonton, just north of Hamilton. http://zealong.com/
Our $20 1 1/2 hour tour was value for money- complete with tea ceremony.

The way camellia bushes grew so well in New Zealand, sparked the idea for the founder.  (Tea comes from the camellia family.)

The visit was a diversion whilst awaiting for an outdoor wedding at a nearby manor house by the river.

 

 

Jay, a clever little guard dog at our B&B, who happily shook hands and rolled over when asked.

Dear New Zealanders

Here is my sketch story to your beautiful beautiful country. Oh my, do I miss it!
My husband and I did an extensive honeymoon trip to New Zealand in December 2012 and we absolutely loved it - still dreaming about it. He is a writer from Seattle and I am an illustrator from Germany, so most of the time we enjoyed sitting in your cafes, sipping your flat whites and enjoying some awesome breakfast creations.

I was searching for new book ideas and found the theme "window" very appealing, so I did a lot of sketches out of your windows...

left: in Rotorua // right: in Napier

left: look out of our favourite beer bar in Auckland // right Napier again

fire station cafe in Auckland

We absolutely loved your country, feel every time home sick, if I think about this trip. Are you lucky to live there or what? :)

If your further more interest in our New Zealand experiences, both in writing (my husband is a funny writer) and sketching - that here was our little travel blog: http://daybles.com, the best sketches of our trip here: http://illustration.antjeherzog.de/Daybles

We hope to come back soon!
<3
Antje

Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am

 People in New Zealand really seem to like American cars. There's a festival called Americarna, that as a finale, has about 500 cars in a night parade and then the next day a show. This year they decided to close down the main shopping street (and some side streets) and just have it in the centre of town. It seemed pretty ambitious but I think it was a good idea. It was very popular. You can see in the photo that these parked classics take of a good number of city blocks. The good weather also helped.

As always, my favourite is the Pontiac Trans-Am (as long as there is a firebird on the hood). When I was a little kid, I had a friend who had a cousin who had an older cousin who had one of these. It was the fastest trip to McDonald's that I ever had. As a result, I can still remember the fear of the acceleration and respect for what this thing can do.

AmeriCARna

Over the past few days, 500 American muscle cars descended on Taranaki to fill the roads with chrome, US flags and the roar of engines.

What attracted me to John's retro Detroit car (from the Auckland Corvette Club), was the flashy teeth.
Although flagged as 5th generation, it has a 1st generation 1953 grill.

This 1965 Ford Mustang class was known as the pony car.  This was one of the very first Mustangs which were produced through till 1973 and proved wildly popular.

Peggy Gordon's Cetlic Bar, which last night was host to the Magog Motor Cycle Club's 40th anniversary concert.

Sketching at the Chelsea Sugar factory