One of my sketchbooks wouldn’t be complete without a sketch of our cats. Here they are on their cat condo. Captain Haddock, who seems to get bigger each day (big boned I say, not fat), hangs over the edge of the bit he prefers to sit on. General Tapioca is still small and seems like he is going to be kitten sized forever.
Fri-7-Feb-2025
As part of the #LunetaArtFair on Sunday 2 Feb a group of artists and history enthusiasts (called #Renacimiento) organised a live sketching session featuring historical re-enactors wearing vintage clothing. The event was called “Threads through time” and aimed to deepen understanding of the historical legacy of fashion in the Philippines. Each of these sketches was done in about 15-20 minutes – the models posed in couples, but I wasn’t always able to capture both of them in such a short time.
Sun-2-Feb-2025
After Pasinaya I joined the #LunetaArtFair on Sunday 2 Feb. The art fair is an annual event that takes place in Rizal Park’s Noli Mi Tangere Garden in Manila., that showcases art from local galleries. After helping set up the #UskManila stall I went over to the area of the park with statues depicting Rizal’s last days. These were made by Eduardo Castrillo (1942-2016) from bronze and brass, a famous Filipino sculptor who was the artist behind the People Power monument on EDSA and many other sculptures around the Philippines.
Sun-2-Feb-2025
On Saturday 1 Feb we joined #UskManila as the #Pasinaya2025 arts festival – the launch event for National Arts Month. This is the third time I have joined (see sketches No. 2300 in 2023 and No. 2584 from last year) – it’s an annual festival that celebrates Filipino creativity and culture and is organised by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). This years theme was “Para Sa Lahat” (which means “For Everyone”).
I joined up to do some sketching demonstrations – the first at the Museo de Intramuros, where I sketched the courtyard while we waited for things to start. The second sketch was done in the lobby of the museum. The third sketch was done near the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (also called the Black Box) theatre in the afternoon, as a second sketching demonstration. Pasinaya is free to join by anyone but the majority of participants seemed to be young students. A huge group joined in and it was great fun.
Sat-1-Feb-2025
This is the first sketch in another sketchbook made using 300gsm Baohong Hot Pressed paper. The first of these tall thin sketches was done at J.Co donuts (I always thought they were a Filipino company but it seems they are Indonesian). We went out to the mall firstly for me to post my passport to the UK and secondly to buy some stuff to prepare to join the Luneta Art Fair. The second sketch is the only tall and thin thing I could think of to sketch the following day, which I did while we watched the TV.
Wed-29 and Thu-30-Jan-2025
I was thinking of my daughter when I sketched this as she is doing a barista training course and was practicing her latte art when she was visiting us. They day I sketched this I was in Greenbelt 3 to pick up my replacement iPad which had failed for no reason (but which Apple replaced free of charge). After hiking around the malls for a while looking for a sports shop to buy a new bike pump I sat at Starbucks for a quick snack and coffee. I follow some people (like @caobecky) who do lovely sketches of their food and coffee…but I don’t know how they manage it as I can’t wait to tuck in…the food would get cold to start with. Anyway I did manage to sketch my coffee – and did this one fast enough that the coffee was still hot by the time I finished! I always ask for the coffee in a mug…this should be the default option if you are eating in, to avoid dreadful waste.
Thu-23-Jan-2025
I’ve sketched in this spot before – sitting in Seattle’s Best in the Market Market! Mall (see sketch No. 1773 done in July 2021 and No. 2222 done in November 2022…woah that’s a lot of twos). Anyway this day we were at the mall to do our weekly shopping, and had to start off with a coffee to get our energy up. After this we went to the SM Aura mall to look at rice cookers (we decided not to buy one) and while our younger daughter spent her last day in the Philippines with her mates.
Sun-19-Jan-2025
Instead of joining the #UskManila #SketchWalk in Escolta, Manila on 18 January, we decided to go on a short hike – our first of the year. This trek started at the Kaingin hanging bridge in Maragondon, Cavite and finished at the peak where a sign said that the revolutionaries camped there for one week when they were escaping the Spanish forces. According to some, Mt. Buntis is called such, because the mountain is shaped like the pregnant belly of a woman…can’t say I could see that.
Sat-18-Jan-2025
Each year we have to take our car in to get a roadworthiness and emissions test done and have it registered. Luckily there is a handy little place (called M2-PMVIC) just around the corner from where we live and despite the crowds of people, motorbikes and cars there when I arrived, they processed it quite quickly. Also, despite its age, our car passed the test! I sketched this (a mobile clinic of Associated Medical and Clinical Services, I think) while I waited.
Thu-16-Jan-2025