Big Island, Hawaii, The classic Hawaiian side

This flower stall is at the Kona Farmers Market. I have never seen a flower stall so packed with gigantic blooms.

The Lifeguard Hut at Kahalu’u Beach Park. How could I NOT draw something that is such a vivid shade of orange? 

My big regret at Kahalu’u Beach is that there’s no way to sketch while you snorkel. What an incredible sketch the giant corals and tropical fish would have made! So I sketched the snorkellers instead. With their funny-looking, bright colored breathing tubes, they almost look like bright little fish bobbing in the bay.

Traditional double-hulled Hawaiian boats on a beach near Kona.

And finally, a classic hawaiian beach: long stretches of white sand and loads of beachgoers at Spencer Beach.
Houses built on stilts remind you that you are in Tsunami country. I had to race against the afternoon rain clouds that came down from the mountains to get this sketch done. The bright splashes in the foreground are bougainvillea in every shade possible.

I saved my favorite bit for last. I love the unbelievably bright color and the intricately layered effect of the vegetation in Hawaii. We stayed at John and Jae’s Sugar Shack in Kona. Their amazing gardens are where I made the sketches below. To be in their garden is to land right in the middle of a Henri Rousseau painting.

To see ALL my sketches from Big Island, Hawaii, go to this complete flickr set.