Here is a long forgotten sketch from my trip to Turkey last year (for work). This sketch was done on a visit to Anitkabir on my day off. I think this sculpture is supposed to represent three Turkish women mourning Ataturk’s death. I wasn’t able to work on this sketch for long, as I was told to move along by some security officials – so I added the colour at home.
Sun-11-Jun-2023
This sketch was done when we went for a walk down the beach on New Year’s Eve. After walking for quite a while (and not reaching the fishing boats I had hoped to sketch), we stopped at a random spot and I drew this. I tried using my lovely new #RosemanyAndCo dagger brush to paint the overhanging palm tree.
Sun-31-Dec-2023
This sketch was done while we had lunch on Kota beach. It was so blisteringly hot that sitting out on the sand (there was very little shade on the part of the beach that is public) was not an option, so we had lunch at the “The Hungry Beach Co.”. This little restaurant had some veggie options, so that suited us fine….it was still Christmas!
Sat-30-Dec-2023
We spent most of our Bantayan Island holiday visiting different beaches. This beach is another popular one, but as I and my daughters are lazy to get up in the morning, we arrived late…during the hottest part of the day. Boy was it hot. After lunch (I did another sketch before this one but it’s not finished yet) we had to go back to the port to collect one of our bags that was not loaded on our way to Cebu…thanks Cebu Pacific! Then we came back to Kota beach and found a shady spot in front of a resort to chill out, where I sketched this.
Sat-30-Dec-2023
On our first full day in Bantayan we walked a few hundred yards up the beach to the Baigad lagoon, which is a popular attraction. We weren’t particularly impressed …it’s a bit crowded and people were playing intrusive music – certainly the photos on-line make it look much more picturesque. Although there was a bar with food, we found better veggie choices at a tiny little beachside cafe nearer our AirBnb. Anyway, we did find somewhere to sit in the shade, so I managed this sketch.
Fri-29-Dec-2023
Here is the first sketch I did when we arrived in Bantayan Island. It’s a pretty terrible reproduction as the scanner app on my phone didn’t get the colours right – I’ll replace it on my WordPress blog with a proper scan when I get home. We are staying at a quiet and secluded little AirBnb cottage – apparently a converted boat house – the owners of which live in one of two houses, which are directly on the beach front (one of them is in my sketch).
Fri-29-Dec-2023
Here is the second sketch I did on the way to Bantayan Island. After our flight to Cebu, we hired a car and drove north for a few hours to Hagnaya Port where we were to catch a ferry. While we waited for a fixer to sort out tickets (should have done it ourselves as we were ripped off a bit), we found this spot for lunch. Being a vegetarian, pizza is often the only option I can have from a menu…after this trip I think I’ll have a pizza free month.
Thu-28-Dec-2023
Here is my first sketch done on our little New Year holiday to Bantayan Island. Naturally I took the opportunity to sketch in the airport on departure – with three of the four people in this sketch trying different ways of sleeping (either laid out on the seats, with your head tipped back or by hugging your backpack and using it as a pillow). You can tell by the windows at the back, that it was still dark outside by the time we caught our flight.
Thu-28-Dec-2023
Here is the second sketch I did at Sa Kamay Ni Maria Resthouse, on Boxing Day morning. This one illustrates why I love to sketch – until I started observing carefully through doing this drawing, I hadn’t noticed that there is a faced carved into the saddle of this horse. I also noticed that hidden in the bushes (to the left in my sketch) is another horse…standing on a pedestal with a large saddle. I wouldn’t have noticed any of this, unless I had been sketching. Happy New Year everyone!
Tue-26-Dec-2023