I was still suffering from jet lag when I sketched this when I got back to the Philippines – so I chose to do a simple sketch of the paints I bought in Jacksons – this was all I could manage. I restrained myself and bought only paint I actually need (replacing stuff that has run out).
Wed-23-Sep-2026
These ceramic cockerels used to belong to my parents (my sister kept them when she cleared out their house). Apparently my mum and dad bought them on one of our first holidays to L’Estartit on the Costa Brava coast of Spain.
Thu-17-Sep-2026
This is a sketch of one of my sisters Garfield “toys” (the first that I did in the UK after a long journey from Iraq, arriving in Gatwick, crossing London and taking a train up to Manningtree the day before). She has been trying unsuccessfully to sell this on eBay. I spent my first day relaxing and visiting my mum.
Mon-14-Sep-2026
Here is another “pantry sketch” of something we bought in Montenegro. Ajvar domaći is a traditional, homemade roasted red pepper spread and relish from the Balkan region. We saw this for sale in all the supermarkets so decided to try some – it has a delicious smoky, tangy flavour (apparently from slow-roasting the vegetables over a charcoal grill).
Sat-5-Sep-2026
These are one of my wife’s birthday gifts. They seem to be filled with heavy pellets in a squishy base. I couldn’t resist sketching them of course.
Fri-4-Sep-2026
After a long day the simplest thing to sketch I could find on this day, was an apple. I used no ink in this one – using only watercolour pencils and watercolour.
Thu-3-Sep-2026
We have started using our daughters Moka Pot because our bean to cup machine has been leaking into the coffee grounds tray (and needs some new O-rings apparently). I gather people swear by Moka pots – saying that they make the best coffee – it certainly works well and is good to sketch too! I did this one with watercolour pencils and watercolour only – no ink!
Wed-2-Sep-2026
This is some catnip spray that we bought in the UK to try and revive a few cat toys and attract our cats to scratch something other than our couch (which is looking hairy and battered). However they seem totally uninterested in the smell! We also bought some cat “off” – to deter them from scratching everything – we haven’t tried that yet.
Fri-28-Aug-2026
These flippers are one of my wife’s birthday presents that we brought back from the UK.
Thu-27-Aug-2026