Heritage

96-2899 – Not super

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This sketch was done during our sketch-walk with #UskManila in the Paco district of Manila. This is the Bellevue Theatre on Pedro Gil Street (I am counting this as my sketch for Day 27 of #Inktober2024 following the subject of “road”). The theatre was built in 1933 in an art deco style and was originally a cinema. Sadly these days it is used as a supermarket and looks a bit forlorn. The scan of my sketch is a bit grainy as I just took a photo and submitted the original to the “SketchPod 2024: Concrete Pulse” exhibition at the Arte Pintura Gallery, who are celebrating 9 years. The exhibition is on until 30 November.

Sat-16-Nov-2024

Update…unsold sketch collected from Arte Pintura and scanned properly!

96-2898 – Paco Park

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After sketching the Masonic Temple we joined the rest of the #UskManila sketchers in Paco Park and I sat on one of the walls to very quickly sketch this view. Some of the huge trees there are as old as the park – several hundred years. Paco Park was Manila’s municipal cemetery built by the Dominicans during the Spanish colonial period. We were given a little history background and were told it was the first cemetery built (in the Philippines) outside of the grounds of a church. It was built to cope with a cholera epidemic and was initially for the affluent Spanish families living in Intramuros. I am counting this as my sketch following the #Inktober2024 prompt of “jumbo” for Day 28.

Sat-16-Nov-2024

96-2897 – Plaridel Masonic Temple

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On Saturday 16th November we joined #UskManila for a sketch walk in the Paco district of Manila. We started by sketching at the Plaridel Masonic Temple. According to Wikipedia the building was originally built as a clubhouse for German migrants in 1914 and then sold to the masons in 1919 – but I am not sure if they are referencing the building we sketched or the one on the main road. I am counting this as my sketch for Day 31 of #Inktober2024 following the prompt of “landmark”…this huge building is certainly one.

Sat-16-Nov-2024

93-2837 – White cap

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As I sketched this my nose was running and I was sneezing repeatedly – yes I caught a cold again. Goodness knows from where or whom I got it from. My colds are always exacerbated by my dust mite allergy …so it’s not a fun time. But at least I had the energy to draw this – I was given this cap when we joined the Kawit heritage tour.

Mon-9-Sep-2024

93-2832 – The Lilith Reyes-Perez collection

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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

93-2831 – St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit

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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

93-2830 – Emilio Aguinaldo Monument

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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

93-2829 – Documentation and narrative

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This is the third sketch I did with #UskQuezonCity at the Gateway Mall 2, for the launch of #HistoEX (History to Experience). While I was sketching this I was listening to my fellow sketcher Ysa Peñas (@theonechitect) give a talk on urban sketching…which reminded me of some key strands of #UrbanSketching like documenting change and events, day to day streetscapes, urban fabric and tangible heritage (hence my notes around the sketch).

Sun-25-Aug-2024