Here is a sketch I did when I drove my wife to a meeting near the airport. I waited for her at a coffee shop in the Newport World Resorts Mall and was surprised that they have bottles of wine on the table. AI (which, annoyingly, you can’t seem to avoid these days, even when you just google something) says that this is “to highlight luxurious dining experiences” – I guess because the mall is pretty fancy and they have a casino there.
Tue-28-Apr-2026
After a long hiatus we finally went for a hike at the end of April. It was very hot and sunny but it was a relatively short walk and we were home by late afternoon. This is the sketch I did when we got to the top. I think I made the greens in the background too dark or too bright because the tree in the foreground should be standing out more.
Sun-26-Apr-2026
Here is my second batch of sketches done with UskManila at Dia del Libro. After lunch I decided to go and sketch in the children’s play area of the Ayala Triangle gardens. These playground animals, which you can climb inside of, appear to be sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund and each has some information about the animal. The sign for the carabao says it is “a symbol of hard work, perseverance and teamwork in Filipino culture”. The sign next to the hornbill says that this (endangered) species “lives only in Mindanao and nowhere else in the world! It helps the forest by spreading seeds, which grow into new trees”. These sketches were done in a new sketchbook made the Umae hot press watercolour paper.
Sat-25-Apr-2026
I have joined UskManila at Dia del Libro for several years now (see sketches 103-3088, 86-2677 and 1079 – the latter from 2019 – for example). Here are my first two sketches from this year – the second one being done at lunch time when a group of us ate at Bacolod Chicken Inasal (which surprisingly has quite a few veggie options). Dia del Libro is World Book day (which was actually April 23), as declared by UNESCO in 1995. It also marks the death of Cervantes and Shakespeare, and is a cultural festival celebrating literature and language.
Sat-25-Apr-2026
With this sketch I was getting in my morning greens and testing out my limited (mini) palette of colours. It’s definitely OK with the greens – in my next post I will try a scene with more blues and greys, which may be harder.
Tue-21-Apr-2026
This sketch was done at the Spotlight Blackbox Theater, in Ayala Malls Circuit, where we went to watch a play called “Miranda & Yolanda”. According to some blurb the play (in two parts) explores “the insidious ways power corrupts people”. The first part (Miranda) was in English so no interpreting was needed. In the second part my wife kindly whispered in my ear to explain what was going on (to my shame my Tagalog is still hopeless). I sketched this while we were waiting for the play to start.
Sun-19-Apr-2026
I did this sketch on my way back from the life drawing session with Kyusi Sunday Sketchers, when I stopped to fill up with petrol. The queue was quite long and of course the cost has doubled since the start of this stupid, illegal and disastrous war with Iran.
Sun-12-Apr-2026
On this Saturday we began our day visiting one of the sponsors of our wedding and an old friend of my father-in-law. Sadly he is terminally ill and slept through our visit. Afterwards we stopped by memorial park then had lunch at SM BF homes. When I started this sketch there were four people at the table – then they all got up and left!
Sat-4-Apr-2026
To sketch this family celebrating a birthday by the swimming pool, I sat with my wife in the little cafe in the clubhouse where we live. I used my new blue ink (Sailor Sei Boku pigment ink, a birthday present from my daughters) in my Platinum Preppy pen and kept it simple by only colouring the greens and the people – helping to make the people the focus…and make the process faster. I find that sketching helps build up your Chi (vital energy), if you are feeling a bit exhausted, and that was one of our objectives this day.
Sun-29-Mar-2026