Drawing by Neil Huggett
21 cm (w) x 29.5 cm (h), blue biro on grey bond paper.
Date produced: 1984-1986

This old boat was part of the Maritime Museum at Port Adelaide. Its details and appearance spoke of years of productive working life on the sea. I wondered about the people who had worked on it, and wondered what stories the boat had been part of.

This drawing was done completely on-site (“en plein air”). I drew the boat as a form, trying to capture its presence as a large steel object, gently rocking on the Port River. I have applied imaginary grids over the surface of the water and various objects in the drawing, to help express their orientation and general form.