Here is the second sketch I did of San Augustin done with Urban Sketchers Manila at the Manila Art Sihan event last month. I was surrounded by viewers as I sketched this, which is always fun.
Sat-26-Sep-2026
125-3625 – Shadow on the bell tower
ChurchSketch
125-3624 – San Augustin
After lunch with some Urban Sketchers Manila friends at Mitre (a rather expensive restaurant right next to San Augustin), we sat in front of the church and sketched. I’ve drawn here multiple times before of course – see sketch No.84-2617, when I noted that this is the oldest stone church in the Philippines.
Sat-26-Sep-2026
124-3592 – Church of Saint John the Baptist, Budva
After we made another trip to the airport in Tivat to drop off our youngest daughter we decided to chill in Budva before going to Podgorica and our flight home. The day before this before we did boat ride (which turned out to be a bit disappointing and expensive), followed by some souvenir shopping and overheating in the old town. We enjoyed the old town in Budva more than in Kotor (less crowded and less touristy) and we sat in a little square listening to a busker while I sketched this. According to one website this church was built in the 7th century.
Mon-17-Aug-2026
124-3590 – At the cat park
On this day we walked into Kotor Old City centre, while my wife caught up on some work. Our first stop in the city was the Cat Museum! Later we all met up at the cat park (where volunteers provide food and water for the cats of the city) and where I sketched this. Apparently there are many cats in Kotor because historically, they served as the city’s primary line of defence against vermin.
Fri-14-Aug-2026
124-3580 – Salford Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
While our daughter was working we went to look at the nearby Cathedral – which is newly refurbished. It threatened to rain repeatedly as we sat and sketched…windy and cold then suddenly sunny and hot.
Wed-5-Aug-2026
104-3136 – St. Laurence’s church
This sketch was done after we had had breakfast in York and then drove to Chorley for my daughter to have an interview and trial shift at a café (unfortunately she didn’t get the job). I napped in the car when we arrived as we had got up at 2:30 am to drive to York Racecourse where our hot air balloon took off. I then sketched this church while we waited. This tower was built in the 15th Century – but there is a documentary record of a church existing here since 1362! There is so much history in the UK.
Wed-28-May-2025
102-3081 – Holy Cross Parish, Sta. Cruz
This sketch was done on the last full day we had in Marinduque – which started with a visit to Bagumbungan Cave, which took us 3 hours of crawling, stumbling and rappelling to get through the 1.9km. We were told that we were slow to make it through but it was well worth it because of the fantastic rock formations. After this we had lunch in Sta. Cruz (amazingly enough we found some veggie burgers at “Mac Burgers”…being sold as a Lenten option). Then we paused at the church for a sketch before heading home.
Sun-20-Apr-2025
102-3073 – Herald at St. Joseph Spouse of Mary Catholic Church, Gasan
After our island hopping we had lunch in Gasan (when I had “chop suey”, and ham was suggested a couple of times even though we told the waitress that I don’t eat meat!), also spending some time fiddling about to find a new spare tyre (which my wife ordered and was due to be delivered from the mainland after 2 days). We then visited the church in Gasan which is quite high up and has great views over the sea. Although a church on this site was first established in 1609 the current structure is quite new (I found one site saying the church was destroyed several times including most recently in 1986 when it was rebuilt in concrete), but is tastefully done and was decorated (I assume) for the Moriones Festival.
Mon-14-Apr-2025
102-3071 – Bell tower at Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Boac
After lunch (yummy miso soup) on our first day in Marinduque we went into Boac for a wander and visited the cathedral. It looks ancient on the outside but is modernised inside. According to the internet the cathedral was built in 1792 and served as a refuge against pirate attacks and during times of conflict like Moro raids in the Spanish colonial period. Several websites say the tower is built of “Adobe Stones” – i.e sun dried mud bricks, but to me it looked more like sandstone. While I sketched this, people came out of mass and looked at what I was doing, making friendly remarks, while my wife wandered about testing out the settings on her camera.
Sun-13-Apr-2025