Why sketch?

posted by Murray Dewhurst
Some time ago I found an old wiro notebook in a drawer. A scruffy wiro bound notebook with a photo of 2 men in a kayak with a bear on the front cover. In that notebook I found terrible sketches drawn in pencil made while travelling in 1991.  One sketch leapt out at me. It was a rough pencil sketch of Mt Ararat from a backpacking trip to eastern Turkey. The sketch really surprised me – it was a very basic pencil sketch, drawn using a .5mm technical pencil on a cheap notepad. The sketch is just black and white… To my surprise the sounds and smells of the day came flooding back. Meeting some Kurdish goat herders and their flock near the base of Mt Ararat, about 10km from the Iranian border on a bright sunny but cool, alpine day. Along with memories of driving across the mountain steppe in an old Renault 19 and the smells of chai and coffee in a Doğubayazıt pasta solunu. It all came back come flooding back! Why did it evoke such vivid memories? I’m not really sure to be honest. Maybe t...
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About & Contact

posted by Murray Dewhurst
Auckland Sketchbook was started in May 2010 by Murray Dewhurst, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Initially conceived as a vehicle to improve my drawing ability by posting regularly, my practice inadvertently became a record of life in Auckland. Almost all of the sketches shown here are sketched quickly on location from direct observation.


I was invited to join Urban Sketchers as New Zealand correspondent in 2011. It has been a huge privilege to contribute to Urban Sketchers over the years, it has made a huge impact on my observational sketching and writing ability and it opened my eyes to the potential of 'reportage drawing' – storytelling through images and words. For a number of years I contributed as an editor to the Urban Sketchers website, helping to bring interesting storytelling content through words and sketches to thousands of readers all over the world.

I recently published Kerala Sketchbook the result of 2 weeks travel in India to the Thrissur Pooram, one of Asia's largest festivals.

In 2022 I published Kōpiko Aotearoa, Quick sketches and slow pedaling across Te-ika-a-Maui the result of an 11 days, 1200km bikepacking trip across the North Island of New Zealand.

My sketches have appeared in The Art of Urban Sketching by Gabi Campanario, Reportage and Documentary Drawing by Veronica Lawlor, Architecture and Cityscapes by Gabi Campanario, Urban Sketching Handbook: Drawing Expressive People by Róisín Curé and 5-Minute Sketching Architecture by Liz Steel.

On the illustration front, I designed and illustrated Bruce wants to go faster an inspirational children's book on the life of Bruce McLaren –from the crippled children's ward to the racetracks of Formula 1 and CanAm. Written by Dreydon Sobanja, the book won a Storylines Notable Book award.

You can read some of my articles at Urban Sketchers here. Sketches are available for sale as prints and I welcome illustration and sketch commissions.

Phone:  +64 21 444 766