Occasionally Auckland Sketchbook escapes the city to somewhere interesting — and close. This time the sketchbook got a workout in The Bay of Islands . Only 3.5 hours by car and a world away from work. The sketch above was made in down-town Paihia, it doesn't look it, but it is literally behind the main street. The view is the back of an old homestead called Williams House . I was attracted by the orchard of very old fig trees on the left that had me imagining eating juicy ripe figs. Sadly they weren't in season but it must be a fun place at harvest time. Right over the other side of the bay you will find his falling down old house on Matauwhi Bay. For a while there the water had a turquoise glow until the sun went into hiding. This is Pompallier House and Clendon Cottage in Russell sketched with my back to the sea. I may have used a little too much artistic licence in moving them close enough together to fit on my page so don't look too closely. Anyway, I have sketched Po...
The recent trip is quickly becoming a faded memory thanks to the wall of work that awaited my return. Looking back over these sketches helps bring it all back though. Lots of street corners feature the Virgin Mary either in sculptural form or oil paintings that are now covered with perspex or mesh to protect them. They also feature coats of arms as well, this is the enormous Medici coat of arms on a corner by the Duomo Plaza. A work of art in it's own right.
Florence was a lot of fun to draw with so much history to absorb and so much to get down on paper. I reckon you could draw there for weeks and not run out of interesting subjects. They have an interesting selection of electric cars and trucks in the city centre - you can only park in the centre if you are electric, but I ran out of time to draw those. Next time! I had to draw the Duomo though, it's simply amazing. But it's also enormous and packed with
so much marble detail that I decided to play it safe
and bite off just a small portion of it. I had a go at the
whole thing a few days later, will post this sketch soon.
so much marble detail that I decided to play it safe
and bite off just a small portion of it. I had a go at the
whole thing a few days later, will post this sketch soon.
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