These are the pencils and crayons I bought from Fred Aldous (the fantastic art shop in Manchester, which we said goodbye to, for now, because our daughter is moving). Of course I tried them out immediately afterwards.
Tue-25-Aug-2026
Here is a sketch I did when my wife and I had breakfast in the local coffee shop after a morning walk.
Sun-23-Aug-2026
Here is a sketch of the new paper I bought from my favourite shops in the UK. I’ve already started using the Cass art paper (300gsm cold press not)…but so far I don’t think I’ll be trying it again.
Sat-22-Aug-2026
These are the paints that I bought in the UK from Jackson’s in Hove and Cass Art in Brighton. The colours (from the left) are Aureoline (Rosa), Sap Green (Cass), undersea green (Daniel Smith), Opera pink (DS) and Lemon Yellow (Cass). From the label I thought the Aureoline was going to be browner…turns out it is just another yellow. I should have googled it beforehand.
Fri-21-Aug-2026
Finally I have finished posting all my sketches from our holiday. This is the first sketch I did when we got back home and spent a good long week adjusting to the different time zone… in more ways than one. Having busted my watch in Kotor I am back to using my old analogue Pulsar watch!
Thu-20-Aug-2026
This is the last sketch I did before we left the Philippines for our holiday trip to the UK and Montenegro. I spent a lot of the day packing and was left with this pile of things to try and cram into my hand-carry (which has to be small so that it can fit under a seat on our EasyJet leg to Montenegro). This is also the beginning of a new sketchbook made using CassArt smooth watercolour paper.
Sat-18-Jul-2026
On 16 July I joined Urban Sketchers Manila for a meet up and to join in the Centennial Trails event at the National Museum of the Philippines, which celebrated 100 years of the Old Legislative Building (which is now the museum). My first sketch was done during the introductory talks, which was followed by a guided tour with a researcher who explained the architectural history.
We then went outside and sketched the front of the building from nearby the Gomburza monument – which I sketched back in Feb 2024 (see sketches No.2590-91).
Thu-16-Jul-2026
Here is a sketch of something random from the fridge – fresh ginger. It is inexpensive and plentiful in the Philippines and we always have some. Apart from using it in cooking, I like to have small slices crushed, along with honey and calamansi juice, in a hot drink.
Tue-14-Jul-2026
Somehow I still had the energy to sketch this on the day I got back to the Philippines. As soon as I arrived we went straight to the mall and I picked up my new glasses and bought this too – as my old blue one finally gave up (with the lid not tightening up anymore).
Sat-11-Jul-2026