Hi all! Just adding another event to =Arkillian's list of upcoming things.

Here in Wellington, Au Contraire 2013 is approaching! Au Contraire, for those of you not familiar with it, is the name given to the NZ National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. It's an event organized and run by sci-fi/fantasy fans, and offers a more fandom-friendly, less commercial experience than larger expo-type events like Armageddon. It's held from the 12th to the 14th of July (which overlaps Uni holidays, I'm told) at the Quality Hotel, down the south end of Cuba Street. It doesn't have an entry cost; however, to attend, you need to be a member of Au Contraire. Membership details/fees can be found here.

The organizers have invited Drawfest to this year's event, so we're going to be running some drawing workshops and competitions, all with a sci-fi/fantasy theme! Here are the planned events so far, although subject to change and/or audience suggestions!

Workshops
A life-drawing session with cosplayers as models, which will be great practice for drawing complicated outfits!
An "Imaginary Anatomy" workshop, for learning to draw plausible aliens/monsters/mutants!
A "drawing hands" session, for everyone who's ever screamed in anguish while trying to draw hands!

Competitions
A "Trope Fight", where artists compete to outdo each other at subverting heavily cliched subject matter in interesting ways - or play it straight the hardest.
A 48 Hour Comic challenge! You'll be given a starting topic and a few other conditions - then try to make a comic over the course of the convention! May the best comicker win!

Speaking of competitions, Au Contraire is running its own art competition this year!
The first prize is $500, which is rather a lot, and there's prizes for the runners-up too. It is members-only, but there's still time to join up if you'd like to enter. The deadline for entry forms is the 7th of July, and the deadline to hand in the completed work for judging is the morning of the first day of the convention, Friday 12 July. Give it a go, folks!

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And here's the upcoming June events.


BIG Draw- Mangere bridge
Date:- Saturday 29th June
Location:- Mangere Bridge
Time:- 1pm to 4pm

BIG Draw is a urban sketch meet up where artists get together and do drawings on location of buildings, people, landscapes etc... This is a free event and suitable for all ages. Locations change every month, and it's run by Eric, who also co-ordinates with events going on in Auckland. This event is great for those of you want to just sit down and draw in the sun.

Please bring drawing stuff- bringing an easy to move chair is a great idea for comfort, but not essential as you'll be moving around every 15 minutes or so.

Facebook event:- [link]



Dr Sketchy- Starwars

Date:- Thursday 20th June
Location:- Arkham City Comics, Shop 45A/691 Manukau Rd, Royal Oak.
Time:- 6pm

Dr Sketchies is an international event dubbed as "Anti-art school". The idea behind this gathering is to provide life drawing lessons at an affordable price so that ANYONE can afford it. This is an AWESOME event, and I strongly suggest anyone that can come along does. I've been to one Dr Sketchy event and they're very fun and relaxed. The models are fun, they're all clothed in interesting outfits, and there's prizes /competitions for drawing cooky art.

Arkham Comics haven't mentioned a door charge for this event so I believe it's free. This is Arkham Comics first time hosting this event- Please support this Dr Sketchie so that we can have many more hosted at this location! Arkham Comics- previously known as Gotham comics has done a lot in the past to support New Zealand comic artists, so I'd love for us to show our support in return



Auckland Drawfest is on Facebook!

Just a reminder that Auckland Drawfest is on Facebook! Keep up to date with events on Deviantart and Facebook easily! Pimp your meetups and get to know your fellow Auckland artists!

Click here to go to the Drawfest group on Facebook!