After our long walk into Brighton we stopped at the little cafe in the Pavilion gardens for lunch and I sketched these random people. I think this sketch works better than most of my usual efforts, because I restrained my urge to colour everything and left some parts white!
Tue-28-Jul-2026
On this day we timed our visit to my mum a bit more carefully – arriving earlier and leaving later. I sketched this while we chatted to her. Afterwards our daughter worked at my sisters house while we reminisced.
Wed-22-Jul-2026
Here is the sketch I did on our first full day in the UK (in Suffolk), which started with a visit to my mum. Usually she sits in this huge chair (which can be wheeled about) but for some reason on this day she was in a wheelchair, so I sketched our daughter sitting on the “throne”. This is not even a close likeness…and we joked that it looks more like Millie Bobby Brown.
Tue-21-Jul-2026
On this day we had our lunch out after having done some shopping (I got some new glasses) in the morning. This elderly couple looked as though they were dressed up for a day out…they probably looked over at us and saw another elderly couple (staring at them, and not dressed up!).
Sat-4-Jul-2026
This quick sketch was done at St Luke’s Medical Center when I went for a consultation on the results of some tests. Thankfully all is as well as can be expected for a man of my age.
Fri-3-Jul-2026
Here are the other sketches I did when I joined Urban Sketchers Manila at the Rosas ng Sampiro festival in Poblacion Barangay of Makati City. This is an annual cultural and street-dancing celebration by local schools, that honours the city’s patroness, the Virgen dela Rosa de Macati (an 18th-century statue at the Saints Peter and Paul Parish, apparently brought from Mexico via galleon in 1718).
I first drew a group of fellow sketchers and then went up to the balcony of the Barangay Hall where I sketched the view and the crowds of people. The costumes and performances were fantastic, but they moved so fast that I couldn’t capture them in a drawing.
Sat-27-Jun-2026
These are the first two sketches I did when I joined Urban Sketchers Manila at the Rosas ng Sampiro festival in the Makati Poblacion Barangay (more about that in the next post). I first met up with my friend @the_uban_sketcher at the Powerplant Mall (it’s built on the site of a former power plant) and did the first sketch where we met up. After that we went for lunch at The Grid – which is a high end (meaning over-priced) foodcourt – but at least I could get some vegetarian food there.
Sat-27-Jun-2026
I decided to just do quick sketches of people when I joined @UskQuezonCity for our sketch-walk. The first one of three separate people was done when I arrived early and went to get coffee. In the skate park perhaps I should have tried more to capture the action?
Anyway, the last one was done from a shady spot below the park, of the sketchers using umbrellas to keep the sun off – it was roasting hot with all the heat radiating off the concrete.
Sun-7-Jun-2026
Here is another sketch of my mum – this time with my sister by her side. She was sitting in a slightly different spot from normal, giving her a view out the window into the garden. I struggled with this one a bit and it took me quite a while to get it to a state that I am ok with.
Sat-6-Jun-2026