Sketches by Peter Arnold - original artworks or prints?

For many years New Zealand Fine Prints along with many other galleries and picture framers stocked prints of pencil sketches by NZ artist Peter Arnold.  Arnold's drawings of popular places and buildings around NZ were originally published as prints in the 1980s. The different titles have gradually sold out over the past few years and are now completely out of print (sold out).

"One Tree Hill, Auckland"
Print of a sketch by NZ artist Peter Arnold

However as a consequence of advertising Peter Arnold prints for sale at prints.co.nz until we sold out of the very last one just a few weeks ago we received a fairly steady stream of enquiries about whether a sketch by Peter Arnold was an original artwork or not - and also enquiries as to the value of what looks at first glance like an original pencil sketch by this artist.  So if you are looking for information about this artist's work - perhaps having inherited a framed print/sketch - the perhaps unwelcome news is that you are almost certainly the owner of a reproduction print rather than an original artwork.

Confusingly these prints were sold both as black and white images and hand coloured (by the publisher, not the artist). Either coloured or uncoloured they are reproduction prints, not original (i.e. handmade - for example an etching) prints or sketches.  Their value is decorative rather than investment, nicely framed they are worth around $NZ50 each.

An example of the artists' style is the print of Auckland's One Tree Hill illustrated here - there were at least a couple of dozen scenes published in this technique and of similar appearance.

If you are still convinced that you may have an original sketch rather than a reproduction we'd recommend getting an expert in paintings and drawings to take a look at the artwork in real life, try contacting an auctioneer of fine art near you or your local city council run art gallery.