Here is the first sketch I did with #UskMnl at Gota de Leche towards the end of November. I found a shady spot away from too many huge red ants…but could barely see the building. Gota de leche means ‘drop of milk’ in Spanish. It’s a charity founded in 1906 that provides milk and other nutritional supplements to indigent Filipino children and their mothers.
Sat-22-Nov-2025
I arrived early at the Guhit Cavite Exhibition event (at De La Salle University Dasmariñas). Waze first told me it would take 2 hours to get there, but then it took only just over an hour, so I took the opportunity to sketch in the little garden opposite the conference centre. I had to fight off an army of mozzies as I drew this. A plaque at the bottom of this statue says “in Memoriam Dra. Encarnacion Mangubat-Reyes” …I guess she was a doctor who worked at the university, but I couldn’t find anything on the internet about her.
Mon-15-Sep-2025
I thought this fighter plane was a concrete sculpture when I first saw it (after all, all the other sculptures dotted around Villa Escudero are). However a plaque told me that this fighter plane was used in 1973 by the Philippine Air Force against secessionist rebels in Mindanao…I am not sure what I feel about that. It is certainly not something I would like in my garden.
Thu-4-Sep-2025
Here is my first sketch done on a little outing with friends to celebrate my wife’s 60th (again). This house (dismantled and relocated to this site) houses an overflow of the main museum on the site – and contains the collections of the family – mostly what I would call historical bric-a-brac. Apparently the pink colour has something to do with the use of coral in the original decoration of the house – but somehow I imagine it was never this garish.
Thu-4-Sep-2025
After going to Bahay Modernismo with #UskQuezonCityI spend a nice long while sketching at the Presidential Car Museum. I have sketched there many times before (see sketches No. 1030 and No. 2587 to start with), but it’s always a bit of a struggle because the lighting is low – so you are never sure what colours or what values you are using until you step outside! This car is a 1960 Rolls-Royce Phantom V used by Imelda Marcos (mother of the current president of the Philippines and wife of Ferdinand the 10th president, who’s dictatorship was marked by cronyism, corruption, and human rights abuses – while his family amassed great personal wealth at the expense of the country).
Sun-3-Aug-2025
Here is the first sketch that I did with #UskQuezonCity at Bahay Modernismo. This is a recently opened heritage museum at Quezon Memorial Circle which “aims to safeguard mid-century Filipino architecture and culture”, with the rooms filled with vintage furniture and classic products. We had 45 minutes inside but 30 minutes of what was the tour. This was sketched in the living room space.
Sun-3-Aug-2025
My sister disinterred these pencils when packing up my parents house. I guess they belonged to my mum? I had thought they were just ordinary pencils but it turns out they are water soluble and changed from grey to mauve when I added water. A Wikipedia page tells me they are indelible pencils with dye added to the lead (hence the dominant colour in my sketch) so that a copy could be made of a handwritten document. It seems people stopped using these in the 1930’s …so in fact they probably belonged to my grandparents!
Wed-23-Jul-2025
Here is the second sketch I did (immediately after the previous one) at Lyme park and Gardens, choosing to draw this instead of going round the gardens. I started off sketching fast and loose as rain repeatedly threatened…then the sun came out so I had more time to add detail. Someone sat next to me and took a picture. Afterwards we walked to the “cage” (a tower that was probably built as a hunting lodge in 1737). The three statues you can see in my sketch are of Neptune, Venus and Pan.
Sat-31-May-2025
Here is the first sketch I did when we visited Lyme Park and Gardens – a stately home managed by the National Trust. After visiting the house (which dates from the latter part of the 16th century and is famous for appearing as Mr. Darcy’s estate, in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice), we found a spot to sit and have our packed lunch. The house has massive ornate rooms, crusty paintings, elaborate carvings, tapestries and chandeliers. I stopped this sketch (which includes a little kiosk selling ice creams, hence the title) part way through (finishing it later) to walk around the garden but then immediately realised the view from the other side was more interesting.
Sat-31-May-2025