Here is the first sketch I did with #UskManila when I joined a #Sketchwalk which included a free demonstration on how to approach drawing architecture from a friend and fellow sketcher, @arlegui. I missed the talk, as we were late, but looked at his sketch and then did this one.
Sat-28-Sep-2024
Here is another sketch of our cat, Captain Haddock. Recently I reassembled our cat condo and we fixed this cushion onto the highest spot (my wife added a drawstring to the cushion made by our daughter). This makes it more stable and it has now become Haddock’s favourite snoozing spot. According to animal behaviour experts, many cats prefer to sleep in places that have good vantage points, as this gives them an aerial advantage for spotting any potential dangers (or watch potential prey) without being seen.
Tue-17-Sep-2024
Here is an evening sketch of a view I have drawn many times before. The (minor) difference is that our doors are now painted a more cheery colour that the dark brown of before. The day I sketched this we finally persuaded the contractor (after much nagging), to come back and correct some defects… to be honest they still did the work in a rather slapdash way.
Mon-16-Sep-2024
This sketch was done on the BGC (Bonifacio Global City) high-street, after we had done our weekly shop at Market Market! (the nearest big shopping mall to us)…boy was it crowded in the supermarket. After shopping we went for wander to find a place to have a coffee and do a sketch. I actually had a green tea smoothie – mostly sugar and not much tea I think – but yummy!
Sun-15-Sep-2024
Taguig City (where we live) is definitely not a walkable green city by any stretch of the imagination. The day I sketched this we wanted to go for a nice walk in a park…but it seems there are no parks at all in the city. We ended up driving to the McKinley Hill area, only to find that “McKinley Park” is actually a tiny leftover strip of land – a road reservation. Nevertheless we had a wander around the area and eventually went into Venice Grand Canal Mall for a coffee at Cibo (how you pronounce that I don’t know), where I sketched this view out of the window.
Sun-8-Sep-2024
When I sketched this I had just watched a “draw tip Tuesday” video which focussed on contrast – I always find these videos inspiring. Meanwhile my wife has been making cushion covers for her office kneeling stool from some old fabric we bought in Syria. In this sketch I tried to get the cosy atmosphere and light from the small strip-light above her desk, but struggled with keeping the brush (an unbranded water-brush given to me by a friend) clean – my Faber Castell one is definitely the best…if only the nylon tip wasn’t so ragged.
Sat-7-Sep-2024
These are the last two sketches I did on the Kawit Heritage Tour with #UskManila – at the ancestral home of Emilio Aguinaldo. In the museum on the ground floor they have an exhibition of Terno’s (in Spain ‘terno’ refers to a matching set of blouse and skirt, but in the Philippines this has come to mean a more of a gown with big rigid butterfly sleeves). The second sketch is of the ‘independence balcony’ added to the house in the 1920’s. The Carabao supporting the balcony is the national animal of the Philippines and we were told by the guide that it symbolises the Filipino character – calm, patient and hardworking but strong and fierce when provoked.
Sat-31-Aug-2024
My next sketch on the Kawit Heritage Tour with #UskManila was of the bell tower at the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Mary Magdalene. This Roman Catholic church is one of the oldest in the Philippines, with construction started in 1737. Our guide told us that when the Spanish arrived in the area in 1624, Kawit became a red-light district and to counter this reputation, the Archbishop of Manila dedicated the church to Saint Mary Magdalene (supposedly a prostitute turned repentant sinner – although these days the idea of her being a prostitute is considered untrue and just served to disempower women).
Sat-31-Aug-2024
These two half-page sketches were done with #UskManila during the Kawit Heritage Tour in celebration of the 15th Kawit Day and History Month. Kawit is a municipality of the Province of Cavite and is the birthplace of the revolution against the Spanish. We started at the house of Emilio Aguinaldo (the first president of the Philippines) where I sketched the monument outside while we waited for the tour to start. The second sketch was done that the house of Baldomero Aguinaldo (cousin of Emilio and another revolutionary leader). Somehow my sketch of his bust makes him look like a young boy!
Sat-31-Aug-2024