Drawing downtown

The results from this month's Big Draw on a chilly mid winter Saturday afternoon.

We sketched a steady stream of well wrapped tourists in Queen's Arcade,
near the bottom of Queen Street. Plenty of scarves, heavy coats, fur hoodies
and even a decidedly thermal looking orange turban...

 

Then we headed down to the waterfront to draw this view of the harbour - one of those views you've always wanted to take a crack at only to find there's so much to take in you couldn't possibly fit it all on one page. Here's Eric with his sketch, he managed to capture the scale of the view really well...

Grey Lynn's 'Little free libraries'

Well this is a interesting new addition to Grey Lynn – these Little libraries as they are apparently called in the US are appearing. There are three that I'm aware of so far, this one on Sackville Street and below on Richmond Road - apparently there is one on Vermont Street as well.

They're free for anyone to use, so why don't you 'take one out - and put one in' as the note on the glass says?

Bubblecar blastoff!

Check out this wild Waiuku bubble car creation — that's right it's actually

a real car — dubbed the 'Little Menace' and a really fun commission.

I couldn't help give it a bit of an Ed Roth-esque treatment, it brings back memories

of drooling over hot rods and collecting bubble gum cards as a school boy in the 70's.

Dad! I'm doing my homework... or not?

Definitely doing homework...

Possibly not doing homework...

Definitely not doing any homework!

Two Pairs from $169

I'm not a big fan of malls, but they're actually an untapped resource for sketching. Taking along a small A6 sketchbook and sketching unsuspecting shoppers while you wait for your bargain hunting partner is a total lifesaver.

Studio One open day

Studio One is the reincarnation of the old Artstation on Ponsonby Road. Apparently they've chucked everything out; tutors, programmes etc and rejigged rooms for exhibitions on the ground floor. Looked pretty good and the scene in the pottery house seems to be the same as usual - lots of people moulding clay into various organic looking vessels and the odd feline animal too thanks to my kids having a go.

Crank up the fire, it's movie night!

What better way to spend a cold winters night?

Construction City

Is it just me or is central Auckland one big construction site at the moment?
Sketched in Graham Street just around the corner from work...

Noel McKenna at Two Rooms

I really enjoyed this show by Australian artist Noel McKenna showing at Two Rooms in Arch Hill.

Unlike a lot of gallery art, it's neither large painted works or installation art, instead small personal sized paintings and drawings that you have to get up close and personal with and follow a narrative sequence. They remind me of sketchbook paintings or urban sketches in that way.

The works are the result of a 1 month Auckland residency, where McKenna has recorded his daily progress across Auckland from One Tree hill to Half Moon bay in his own unique style with wry and often hilarious notations added.

I really enjoyed his ironic deadpan view of pretty mundane stuff. He's combined a visitors fresh take on the things we take for granted as a local with his own quirky view of the world, including odd-ball suburban gateways and houses, domestic animals, race horses at Ellerslie, signage and even rated the beers he's tried on a daily basis. It's on until the end of the month and well worth a look.