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...
I was asked a good question about how I drew the skater - in one go or from a photograph? My answer; definitely drawn on site and the skateboarder is actually an amalgamation of 2 or 3 skaters.
I knew I wouldn't be able to capture the stunt in one go, so I looked for a repetitive action that I could sketch from over a number of passes. These guys were practising the same stunt (grinding?) on that edge again and again, and I thought the backdrop of the Sky Tower and motorway viaduct behind would make an interesting composition. Each time one of them went past I focussed on just one element of their form or posture, it took quite a few goes over about 10 minutes lightly in pencil first, then inked over once I was reasonably happy.
The clothes are a mix and match too, one guy had the orange hat, another the green cargo shorts, and another the 'support your homies' t-shirt, which was actually on his front, for some reason it appealed so I put it on the t-shirt back so it could be included in the sketch (I have no idea why we need to support our homies, but you can buy one from SOUF Skateboards here)
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