I did this sketch at about 3am, having got up at 1am (after a short doze) for my flight leaving at 4:40 am. I was pretty tired but wanted to capture at least one sketch before I left. One person came over and said “nice work” which was very kind of him.
Fri-10-Jul-2026
Here are the sketches I did on the way to Erbil, Iraq for work. The first is at the PAGS (Philippine Airport and Ground Services) lounge. I was surprised to be bumped up to business class – the travel agent had offered an upgrade with a hefty extra cost and I said no thanks, but somehow I ended up in business class anyway. So although I always feel a little uncomfortable with luxury and being waited on, I took advantage of the free coffee and breakfast before leaving Manila.
The second sketch is of the Al-Mourjan business lounge in Doha. The PAGS lounge was much better – here there was only free coffee and no food. This sketch ended up almost abstract. By this point I was pretty tired, so that’s my excuse.
Tue-7-Jul-2026
Here is a quick sketch I did at the airport in Puerto Princesa before heading back to Manila. It’s quite a fancy airport but we sat right at the front, so I just sketched one of the waiting planes.
Mon-17-Nov-2025
Here are a couple of sketches I did while I had hours to kill in Erbil Airport. I was sketching to stay awake. Sleepiness is my excuse for struggling with the white on grey ceiling pattern, in the first one, which I fought to correct after I mucked it up. One sketch was not enough for the hours I had to kill, so I did the second one at the gate.
Fri-22-Aug-2025
Here is another sketch done on the way to Erbil – my four hour stop in Doha gave me plenty of time to sketch. I did this one while I talked to my wife on the phone.
Sat-16-Aug-2025
Here is a sketch done on my way to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq – at the airport in Manila. As always I am a little trepidatious about visiting a new country with only limited understanding of the culture and situation – so sketching is a good way to take my mind off it and relax. When choosing a subject to sketch my eye is always attracted to bright colours…this little noodle shop being no exception!
Sat-16-Aug-2025
I had just enough time to do a quick sketch on our way back home – and I could’t help but think what a pleasant clean and spacious airport it was in South Korea – we certainly experienced the opposite when we arrived at NAIA terminal 1.
Sun-15-Jun-2025
Here is my last sketch in Canada – and the first sketch in a new Sketchbook (still using Umae hot press paper). I missed sketching the day before this as we were too busy with shopping, visiting the Esker Gallery and packing. With a midday flight it was an easy start to the day, but WestJet still insist that each bag weighs 23k or less, despite us having far less weight overall…so again we were those unfortunate people you see frantically repackaging in front of the check-in desk! That grey blob on the plane, splashed onto my painting from another sketch!
Sat-14-Jun-2025
Here is my last sketch done on our UK trip for this year. They day started with getting up at 5am and driving 4 hours from Manchester to Heathrow through dreadful drizzly rain. We arrived in the nick of time to drop off the hire car and then had to repack our bags at check-in counter as one was over 23k (even though the other was well under!). Otherwise the flight was uneventful and we got food despite being told when we checked with a phone call the day before, that there would be none provided (so I ate both sandwiches and airline food). On the flight I watched “The Mercy” movie …which was much more depressing than I thought it would be!
Tue-3-Jun-2025