NZ people and landscape

As it happened i arrived in NZ the first day of the #oneweek100people2017. Starting in Narita airport, i did sketch a lot of people everywhere in the next few days - some of my favourites here.

Narita airport and Auckland bar dinner

Lava Glass below had a great glass blowing demonstration - with the glass blower doing a double colour glass bauble - it is interesting the repetition of movements, subtlety and slow or fast as needed but precise, very precise.

In Taupo, the place where we had dinner had a live band which was great and also great people watching all those subtle friendly gestures people have, some businesslike, some friendly, others loving, flirty...

Nothing like a queue of people to build up the numbers for the people drawing challenge, this time waiting to board the tourist boat at Taupo. And a quiet portrait of Dean on the boat, with some other passengers.

Below a great cafe in Napier, Chantal, an organic shop as well, with great atmosphere, great coffee!

I couldn't leave NZ without sketching the fern trees, a national symbol, so lush, so green and fresh, i love them!

It was a great time, resting and travelling, exploring new places, beautiful in the rain and the sun. We'll go back sometime!

Tokyo - Japan - Feb 2017

Tokyo was a revelation, huge but ordered, quiet and clean. 

A quick four days visit, for the occasion of the marathon that my mother in law was running. I managed to catch up with Kumi of the local urban sketchers and enjoyed a day drawing the Tsukiji Hongan-ji temple where there was a Sunday ceremony inside (imagine the incense smell and soft chanting) and the view down from the Tokyu Plaza Ginza shopping mall from where the cars and people appear tiny.

Tokyo Marathon - cyclists

Tsukiji Hongan-ji Ceremony

Tsukiji Hongan-ji - Drum

Tsukiji Hongan ji - Exterior

View from Tokyu Plaza Ginza

We also managed to catch up with architecture views that I remember from my student's days, the Tokyo International Forum and some more historical temples, Senso-ji.  

The views from the top of the Tokyo Sky Tree (that appears in the Senso-ji sketch) showed the enormity of the city, no end in sight.   

Tokyo Forum

Senso-ji