Having drawn 1 or 2 disappointing night sketches in Auckland over the years I wasn’t expecting much of this sketch of Our Lady of Dolors, the largest church structure in Asia*. To make the sketch read correctly I decided I needed to capture the basilica in context . It's an impressive structure to record but without placing it into a bustling Indian street scene is a bit 1 dimensional – it could almost be anywhere. I was standing in a continuous stream of cars, motorbikes and people steadily passing by... horns were beeping, it was hot, people were brushing past me constantly and neon lights were glowing, so adding suggestions of these was necessary to add the context that helped to tell a story about the look and feeling of the place. Back to my expectations around night sketching. As I expected I was feeling suitably unimpressed with my effort on the night. I was happy with how elements like telephone wires, neon lights and buildings framed the basilica and even helped le...
The Parnell Rose Gardens were in full bloom late last year. I really enjoyed painting in the sketchbook on a November Sunday with the Auckland Plein Air Group. Particularly observing artists working in a more painterly approach – many of them with easels – a very different approach to my basic sketcher setup!
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