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...
My plan was to do a ‘nice’ sketch of Carlile House on Richmond Road in Grey Lynn. Unfortunately it started bucketing down and my watercolour started running off the page! Turns out lots of sloppy half dry watercolour and Posca paint works quite well in a sloppy finger-painting way so it was actually a blast - and - it does actually capture the broken down look of the place. Very impressed with the newer @hahnemuehle_global Greybooks, they must have added more sizing to the sheets because it doesn’t seem to cockle like the early ones did. I’ll be back on a sunny day and have another try at a ‘nice’ version.
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