I picked this blossom up near our apartment and thought that the colours are so beautiful that I had to try and sketch it. I used watercolour pencils, watercolour, a tiny touch of ink and a yellow Posca pen to do this one. According to Wikipedia the tree has been nominated as among 100 of the “World’s Worst” invaders – it is not native to the Philippines but is widely planted as an ornamental tree.
Tue-28-Jan-2025
I was a bit stuck for a subject to sketch, the day I drew this, so I looked on Instagram to see what some of my favourite sketchers were up to. Seeing that @everydaylizmc had sketched some pencils, I thought I would give that a go too (also because that day I had sorted out all my sketching materials). If I am stuck for something to sketch I find that just looking at what some of your favourite artists have done, is a good way to get an idea.
Mon-27-Jan-2025
I usually sketch the presents I got at Christmas to say thank you. These are some of them – two different types of coffee, chocolate and shaving cream from Human Nature. I wasn’t sure where I was going with this sketch…I started with simple shapes and then used Watercolour Pencils to add texture and detail.
Sat-25-Jan-2025
Sometimes just a very simple sketch is enough to keep my eye in. I did this with one with watercolour pencils and a few touches of ink. For me the tea I drink most often is not a traditional cup of British-style tea, but green tea in this glass flask. At the moment we are drinking some lovely Taiwanese oolong green tea…delicious.
Fri-24-Jan-2025
It might seem like there has been a gap in my sketching habit, but I’ve been spending my evenings finishing off partly done sketches, instead of doing new ones. It’s not a great habit to leave them partly done – painting from photos afterwards doesn’t work for me and the colours never seem right. I looked at the #DrawTipTuesday video of @KoosjeKoene on YouTube to get the inspiration for this – she suggested experimenting with some unused materials. So I picked up some old coloured pencils (not water soluble) and drew our yoghurt maker (it was my wife’s excellent idea to get one – it was quite cheap and makes lots of little pots from a starter).
Wed-22-Jan-2025
I have been meaning to post these sketches ever since I conducted a small workshop (with #UskQuezonCity) on binding your own sketchbook, way back in December 2023! I have posted a few of these sketches before, but here are all of them along with notes on what you need and how to do it. I have been binding my own sketchbooks since 2019, motivated by the high cost of sketchbooks with good quality paper (and even a few expensive ones with poor quality paper!). I have learnt how to do this by following the videos of @SeaLemonDIY on YouTube. If you prefer video tutorials she has plenty of great ones.
Fri-7-Feb-2025
While I was in Quezon City when my daughter got her tattoo, I couldn’t resist visiting #ArtWhale along Maginhawa street. I have often bought things fom them online but I think this may have been the first time I’ve been in their actual store. I do like #DanielSmith paints but I find these #HolbeinWaterColors perfectly fine (and they are bit more affordable)…so I stocked up. I also bought a pad of ready-cut Strathmore hot press watercolour paper…which is super expensive! I’ve used Strathmore once before (see sketch number 463 done in August 2017)…let’s see how satisfied I am with paper this time.
Fri-17-Jan-2025
I have myself set a resolution to read more this year and I plan sketch the books as I finish reading them (why not after all). This is the first I have finished – I actually bought it in the UK last summer, so that shows my pace of reading these days! This one was not bad – kind of a long build up to a surprise (no spoilers)…which was unexpected but not really that exciting.
Tue-14-Jan-2025
On Sunday 12 January we joined our first #SketchWalk of the year with #UskQuezonCity at the University of the Philippines sunken garden. The sunken garden is a large green basin-shaped area at the Diliman campus, surrounded by large trees and is popular as a venue for sports and outside events. I did this first sketch of a group of young guys quite quickly…after 15 minutes they all got up and left together, so I had to be fast.
Sun-12-Jan-2025