After spending ages on a complicated first sketch, I picked something much simpler for my second attempt with #UskQuezonCity at #MiraNilaHeritageHouse last Sunday. There are two of these (concrete) fish, one either side of the main entrance to the house. They are fairly large (about a metre high) and hollow…maybe meant for putting plants in?
Sun-24-Sep-2023
I had a lovely busy sketching session last weekend because after sketching at PICC on Saturday, I went on to sketch at Miranila House with #UskQuezonCity on Sunday. This house was built in 1929 and we had a nice long tour inside to see some of the treasures the family have accumulated over the years. I think my first choice of subject was a bit over-complicated and it took me ages to complete.
Sun-24-Sep-2023
Here is another sketch from our PICC sketch-walk last weekend. After our first latag (Tagalog for laying out…when the group spreads out their sketches), my sketching friend @Paul Paul and I headed off to sketch at the grand staircase of the Plenary Hall and Reception Hall. This is dominated by a steel sculpture mounted on the wall, by Arturo Luz and called “grid”. This is one of the artworks at the PICC that has been declared a National Cultural Treasure. I did google around a bit to see if I could find any blurb about its meaning…but found nothing.
Sat-23-Sep-2023
Here is the second sketch I on the PICC sketch-walk with #UskManila – in the upper lobby of the east wing. It was raining a lot that day so most of my sketches were done inside. The mural or painting on the left is called Pagdiriwang in Tagalog, meaning celebration. It was painted in 1976 (and was done in-situ according to our guide) is an abstract expressionist work – according to the plaque the artist took inspiration from festive fok traditions in the Philippines.
Sat-23-Sep-2023
Here is another of the sketches I did on my own little #SketchWalk in Makati last week. Having already drunk too much coffee (I start to feel a bit shaky if I have more than two cups), I decided to have a cup of tea at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf inside Glorietta Mall. The slogan painted on the wall at the shop was some BS about “passion for coffee and tea”…but when I was given my English breakfast tea, they didn’t serve it with milk and looked at me like I’d asked for something really strange when I asked for it. Then they gave me hot milk! Yikes.
Fri-18-Sep-2023
Today we got our printer/scanner back (after repairs), so I can scan and post some of my backlog of sketches. It was about a week ago that we went into Makati – my wife attending a (long) meeting and me taking the printer in for repairs. I had quite a bit of free time so took advantage and had my own little #SketchWalk around Makati. This is the first sketch I did sitting outside Starbucks along Legazpi Street. Despite being in the ‘central business district’, there is so much greenery around.
Fri-8-Sep-2023
Here is my last sketch from the sketch-walk a few weekends ago with #UskManila in Kawit, Cavite. This is where the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain was declared. Emilio Aguinaldo was the first President of the Philippines. The house – which is pretty huge – was originally built in 1845 and was reconstructed in 1849. This is a view from the back, which I started from inside as most of the time we were there, it was raining.
Sat-26-Aug-2023
Here is another sketch done of my fellow sketchers during our #UskManila sketch-walk last weekend. This one was done very quickly and roughly (using a continuous line method) during our lunch at Cafe 506.
Sat-26-Aug-2023
Here is the second sketch I did on our sketch-walk with #UskManila at the Baldomero Aguinaldo Shrine. It was quite a rainy day so we had to take shelter in the new annex next door (where we also saw a video presentation). This was a very quick sketch while we waited for the rain to stop – I added the colour later.
Sat-26-Aug-2023