New Zealand Travel Sketchbook Tour (+ USK Symposium 2023)!

[@zenlife1200]

😂 Surprise! People keep telling us we're on a small island in the pacific but New Zealand is actually 24,100 km2 bigger than the UK. It just doesn't look like it on the maps. It's probably because the closest island to us of any size is Australia and Australia is about 32 x bigger than the UK so anything looks small next to them. Three weeks isn't really long enough for a sketching holiday here. Not when you allow for distance and traveling times and energy levels. Glad you had fun. I was a little worried you might get caught up with the ferry troubles. Looks like you were lucky though. You went to some interesting places. Your sketchbook looks great. I've never tried an accordion type sketchbook before, it looks great when you lay it out. I'm tempted to try one now 😀

[@annepercival7814]

Look forward to seeing the other side. Rob Sketchman is a real sweetie!

[@jennyyipcy]

Hi Taria, So happy meeting you at the USk Auckland Symposium. I have been following your vlogs for a couple of years and they are so inspiring. Thanks for the sticker, it is permanently stuck on my sketchbook and I am loving it. All the best to you and hope to see you at the next Symposium in Buenos Aires! 😊

[@LindySellsHomes]

Thank you for sharing!

[@yellowbicycleartstudio8974]

Loved your sketchbook flip thru! Thanks for sharing with us!

[@kristinaperinot7544]

I LOVE this so much….I want so much to have the guts to do a sketchbook like this. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing work 😊

[@melitalyell6915]

Good on you Lauren and Jody for being such great Aussie ambassadors! 😂

[@jaclynbaerart]

This is amazing!!! I'm still getting used to painting outdoors, and love this idea of a z-fold/accordion type sketchbook for your travels. Brilliant!

[@christina.sotiropoulou]

lovely notebook, great artwork

[@junemaguire5053]

Awesome sketch book.

[@hennybrunner8939]

I enjoy your sketchbook tour video and the story behind every sketch you made during the trip, it is telling everything, I could feel it as if I am there.

[@o0mew0o]

I've been waiting for your video from NZ!! Thank you for sharing and can't wait to hear more about the symposium.

[@poppys575]

Thank you I really enjoyed this, you did an amazing amount in the time you had.

[@adriennepriceart]

What fun! I was really jealous watching your IG stories as you traveled and sketched. Glad you made it back home safely.

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Thanks Adrienne. I was trying my best to share the experience as I went. I hope you enjoyed seeing it.

[@Zenica204]

The tall building on Wellesley Street in Auckland is called Elam tower because it’s full of students from UoA Elam school of Fine Arts. I studied there and at least 20 of my classmates were in that building. I lived on the North Shore. The little Japanese food shop in the bottom floor was a favourite place to eat. Coffee Culture on the other side of Symonds Street was a second and of course Gordon Harris was right there too.

[@christinegelormino5594]

I really enjoyed this video and seeing all your scenes. Beautiful work and a great memory of a special time. I was looking for you in Teoh's videos.

[@billwesterman4583]

Lovely. Travel with sketchbook is a wonderful adventure

[@Coco-ne5ix]

I’m so impressed with your sketchbook. You have really captured the scenes ens and made interesting art.

[@SonyaBatten]

Thanks for sharing ! I’m off on a cruise to NZ in 3 days and can’t wait to get sketching! Some great inspiration here

[@mmatheson4951]

Yay Taria, ,I love your sketches and videos, and so happy that you enjoyed my home town Dunedin! :)

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Dunedin is incredible. I am so envious its your home town. I could have spent the entire 3 weeks there sketching I think!! :D

[@cindyhorton6980]

WOW, New Zealand is beautiful!! And your sketchbook is so cool! What a trip, huh?? Thank you!!❤❤❤

[@Slotzzzz]

Hi TSA.. nice talk about 😎

[@nancyleigh-smith2796]

Great sketches from a great trip. Brings back memories from my trip to NZ

[@canllaith]

That is amazing - you are so prolific and the sketches are so detailed and beautifully done. I am glad you enjoyed New Zealand.

[@AndreeaEremiaArt]

Nice video 😊

[@sagepremoe1565]

What a trip! Your sketches are amazing. I keep drawing and hope some day I too can draw like you, How did you start sketching? Did you sketch still-life first then graduate onto buildings? I'm having a hard time with perspective and I haven't even attempted color yet. About people on their phones even though there is amazing scenery around them...I was walking in nature and came upon a family walking together. The scenery was beautiful but the father and two boys (all the males) faces were glued to their phones. Only the mother pushing a stroller was enjoying the scenery however.

[@clarewilson8225]

Come and paint in Australia! I love your work and I'm about to share the link with folk I've just been in Vietnam/Cambodia with, on a painting/sketching tour. Thanks so much.

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Clare, I am coming soon!! My husbands family all live on Australia and we haven't been since 2019...so maybe next year, fingers crossed! Got to save some $$$ - I spent it ALL in NZ - eek!

[@ok53935]

The train station is amazing. Please do the video.

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Thank you for your feedback - I shall put on my list to make as soon as I can!

[@christineriley1295]

Great video Taria, looked an amazing trip! I've subscribed to your channel, I'm really interested in urban sketching and I'm sure I'll learn so much from you!

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Yay, thank you Christine! :)

[@katynorgate7135]

Great trip. You packed so much in!! Heading there next year, and hope to sketch my way around. Thanks for sharing

[@bethcrane5780]

Amazing! Good stories, great sketches!

[@deborahbloom4624]

It felt like a REALLY long time for us, too, Taria! Welcome back!

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Thank you Deborah!!

[@MrsBarnabas]

Taria, I'm about 2/3 of the way through this and am truly impressed with what you achieved. I thought you were mad when I watched you paint your itinerary map, and now am convinced you were, but it's a trip you'll never, ever forget, and I am deeply envious!!!! 😄 I think the problem is that NZ looks so small on the world map that it looks doable, like tourists visiting the UK. What isn't taken into account is the physical geography - if I recall rightly, to get from east to west you have to go round by the south or the north if you want to avoid the mountains? Becky Tregear would put me right on that, if needed , I think, as I _think_ she talked about travel logistics in her video on their last visit home to NZ... About that sketch you want to improve ... Please, please, please, don't!!!! It's a part of your trip, and to try to 'improve it' will inevitably spoil it, not necessarily from the art point of view, but from the memories of your trip. When we try to change things like this, it's just never the same when we look at it later, and we really regret it. (Can you tell yet that I'm speaking from experience?) If you really want to do something about it, why not use the sketch and your photos as a reference, and maybe do a video as you explain your process as you paint a studio version? I think we'd all learn a great deal from that - including you. I'd love to see it!!! 😊 Anyway, I'll watch the last ten minutes over breakfast tomorrow, as it's after midnight now and I need my bed... 🛌

[@ramonawickstrom8562]

How fun! Thanks for taking us with you through your sketches! 💖

[@melissamartin5506]

Love this so much!!! I definitely will be going on one of these trips within the next three years. Truly awesome. What a wonderful sketch journal you have created! Beautiful!!

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Thank you so much Melissa. 🙏

[@HiccupGirl234]

Incredible paintings. I’ve been to NZ a few time and it takes me right back there (and makes me want to go again!)

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Yay! Thanks Mel! I would love to go back one day...maybe on a slower more considered trip 😂😂

[@ok53935]

Great trip. It looks like you enjoyed your trip. Regarding the symposium, I'm wondering if it's in a different location every year? Can anyone apply? And of course the price.

[@cindyhorton6980]

Hello! I reached out to Teoh Yi with the same question! His plane trip cost him $1,800. His hotel was $$225 a night! And he was coming from Singapore. You have to figure in for food too. He didn't say how much the pass for the symposium was. And it is somewhere different every year. Next year Buenos Aires! Oh, and you have to pay for the different art workshops if you want to attend them. But they do have sketchwalks that they do daily that you don't pay extra for. The symposium pass covers that. I asked because I really wanted to see if it would be a possibility for me, sadly it's not... But it sure looks like lots of fun!! Hope this helps explain some of it for you!❤

[@cindyhorton6980]

I forgot to say anyone can apply!!

[@rosemarshall1219]

A massive thank you taria. This sketchbook tour was really interesting and beautiful. The fact that you travelled in NZ places and towns and not only in Auckland makes it a real adventure. I was frustated on the symposium videos with teoh (did you meet him ?) again thank you. A beautiful island. ❤

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Thanks Rose! I did my best in the time I had. I just wanted to see so much but I realise I should have cut back a bit but I don't regret it. Unforuntately, alot of people only have a small amount of time or money so travelling outside of Auckland may not have been possible. It was an incredibly expensive trip and not one I could really afford but as it took me 32 hours one way to get there, I knew I had to try and make the most of it! And yes, I did get to meet Teoh finally, a wonderful person and he worked so so hard at the event I was shocked at how much sketching he managed to do while he was there! Legend!

[@rosemarshall1219]

@@tarias_sketchy_adventures of course, it takes a lot of energy and money to be able to go in different places. So glad you did it! I heard that airplanes tickets were also very expensive. Nice to have met teoh, yeah he managed to do an great amount of sketches despite the sympsosium videos coverage. He seems a really great man for sure. Thanks for taking time to answer 🤘💚

[@scabpatch]

Why isn't your paper all rumpled after watercolor? No matter what I do my paper bucles even though I use the same materials as you. Is there a secret?

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

Hi Alexandra - this accordion book is pretty heavyweight paper (230 gsm I think) and 100% cotton so its quite thick. And I guess now I think about it I didn't use very heavy amounts of watercolour on it. Paper like this shouldn't wrinkle up. The other sketchbook I showed throughout, the S&B Alpha, that definitely wrinkles a bit as the paper is cellulose (I think) and only 150 gsm - it's not something that bothers me too much to be honest.

[@judymcgimpsey787]

You raced passed some of nz best sencery.

[@tarias_sketchy_adventures]

I may not have sketched every single place I went to as it would have been impossible. I only had 3 weeks so I just did the best I could. I'll go back one day!