I sketched this at a family gathering of a friend, for their father’s 90th birthday celebration at the University Hotel in UP. At 90 he is still walking every day, has no glasses, no hearing aid and no dentures…so I could still have another 90 good years to go. But maybe not as I ate for too much food!
Sun-25-Jan-2026
The day I drew this I spent some of my evening glueing back together various broken fridge magnets. That includes one from Jordan that has been broken so many times I have lost count and one made from a coke can. Not all of them are magnets though – the mask, which I sketched back in November 2020 (see Sketch No. 1570), often gets broken and the cat is made from two painted stones (by our daughter), glued together.
Sat-24-Jan-2026
The other day the nib on my Sailor Fude fountain pen broke! Maybe I have done too much sketching…I did drop it a while back but the cap was on. Anyway it’s given me excellent service since July 2018, when my first sketch using it was of fruit (No.780). As I use it so much I quickly got a replacement from scribe.ph – a 30th anniversary version with a sparkly blue colour (Sailor have been making them since 1995).
Thu-22-Jan-2026
This was my sketch at the PLM (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, also known as the University of the City of Manila) CASBE (College of Architecture and Sustainable Built Environment) event I participated in on 21 January with UskMnl (Urban Sketchers Manila)…lots of acronyms there! I made a little presentation about the rules I try to remind myself of when sketching – but promptly broke several doing this. I tried to draw too much (I could have just focussed on the bus, given that we only had about 45 minutes to sketch); I sat in an area that was only briefly shady (with noon approaching the shade disappeared and it was not comfortable); and lastly I added a little colour from a photo later (which I try to avoid doing). Never mind though – I had fun meeting with the architecture students…even while I waited afterwards for the lunch they kindly provided (they didn’t know I am a vegetarian but still ordered me a solo pizza, which took a while to arrive). After all, for me, having fun is a key part of sketching. I also got completely lost on the way there and arrived late but they hadn’t yet started…so that was to my advantage!
Wed-21-Jan-2026
Finally, here are the last of my sketches done at the PensNBrushes life drawing session back in January. These poses are a mix of the male and female model, in 10, 15 and 20 minute poses, including couples poses. I did these using a mix of watercolour, watercolour pencil and ink.
Sun-18-Jan-2026
Here are yet more sketches done at the PensNBrushes life drawing session back in January. These are of the female model (sorry I didn’t get her name and although I saw her account on Instagram, I have now lost it!). Each of these poses was for 5 minutes and I used Noodlers ink and watercolour pencils.
Sun-18-Jan-2026
Here are my first sketches of the female model done at the PensNBrushes life drawing session a few weeks ago. Each pose was about 2 minutes and I used a mixture of Sailor and Noodlers ink.
Sun-18-Jan-2026
Here are some more of my sketches done at the PensNBrushes life drawing session a few weeks ago. The first two of these poses were 5 minutes and the last one 10 minutes – again the model took some pretty dynamic poses! For these I used a mixture of ink and Derwent watercolour pencils.
Sun-18-Jan-2026
Here is the first batch of my sketches done at the PensNBrushes life drawing session a few weeks ago. Each pose was about 2 minutes and I used some Sailor ink. The model took some pretty dynamic (and difficult) poses!
Sun-18-Jan-2026