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
At last I got outside – not far, but at least I got some fresh air. While I sketched this I listened to an Ajahn Brahm Podcast who was saying that when you pause or stop and meditate, the greens are richer. The pool was empty at first but by the time I finished it was full of noisy kids…I haven’t been swimming for ages because of blocked and infected ears.
Wed-3-Sep-2025
I really need to get outside to sketch – but here is another evening sketch of what is in front of me, drawn while I watched a few episodes of Peacemaker (extremely silly, but watchable).
Tue-2-Sep-2025
Late in the day on the weekend I sketched this, I got my wife to leave her desk and go outside to sketch trees (there was a sketch-walk going on to sketch threatened trees in Pampanga…but we opted to sketch some trees closer to home). It rains on and off during the day at the moment, so we sat in one of the cabanas (gazebo). I ended up sketching not only trees but the basketball court (which I’ve sketched many times before (see sketch No.77-2451, 1787, 782…and several others)…I find the reflections and the colours always catch my eye.
Sat-30-Aug-2025
I spend some evenings doing the ironing – when I do, I have Star Trek on in the background (either Voyager or Strange New Worlds at the moment). I find the stories simple, often daft, but harmless and certainly not requiring too much attention…that means I can sketch afterwards too.
Wed-27-Aug-2025
Here are a couple of sketches I did while I had hours to kill in Erbil Airport. I was sketching to stay awake. Sleepiness is my excuse for struggling with the white on grey ceiling pattern, in the first one, which I fought to correct after I mucked it up. One sketch was not enough for the hours I had to kill, so I did the second one at the gate.
Fri-22-Aug-2025
Here are some sketches of brief moments in between hectic days of meetings making trips out with colleagues. As I drew these my head was spinning with all the information gathered but also some fantastic moments. One working day ended with a visit to farmers in Baghera and their vineyard overloaded with beautiful grapes and being fed to bursting with fresh figs. What an honour that was and what wonderful generous people!
It was a pity I didn’t have time on this trip to wander and explore Duhok. Our hotel was in an urban hinterland of highways and car showrooms…so going out to sketch wouldn’t have been fun…never mind the heat!
Tue-19-Thu-21-Aug-2025
Here is another sketch done on the way to Erbil – my four hour stop in Doha gave me plenty of time to sketch. I did this one while I talked to my wife on the phone.
Sat-16-Aug-2025