These walking poles need another scrub to get the mud from our last hike off them. I sketched this while (half) watching some dreadful movie (Soulm8te) and enjoying maximising the textural benefits of watercolour pencils.
Tue-3-Nov-2026
On this day we hiked up an inactive volcano through a forest reserve administered by UP Los Baños. The mountain has a 1,090 m elevation and the hike up was fine, apart from the occasional leech latching on. I sketched this at the top where it was misty and very damp…the colours all washed out with the moisture in the air and I could have added more later, but thought I quite liked the look.
By the time we hiked down hoards of other (much younger) hikers had been up and down the trail and with the rainforest dampness and drizzly rain, the trail was super-muddy and very slippery. The soles of my wife’s boots came off and we were plastered in mud from a few minor tumbles and knackered by the time we made it back. We needed several days of groaning and aches to recover afterwards!
Sun-18-Oct-2026
Here are the last two sketches I did with @usk_manila at @DesignWeekPH. The first one is of people watching a movie called “cleaners”, which I partly watched too. Wikipedia describes the film as an “experimental adult animated coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Glenn Barit” and apparently it has a cult following. What I saw of it looked really interesting.
The second sketch is of the fruit at the Made Market Ready stand, this project showcased how design interventions can elevate homegrown micro, small, and medium enterprises…but I just sketched the veggies and coconuts!
Sat-17-Oct-2026
Here is the second sketch I did when I joined @usk_manila for @DesignWeekPH. The event was held at the Likhang Filipino Exhibition Halls in Pasay City, and was focussed on making design accessible to everyone using the theme #SamaAll (which means “all included”). I sketched this from the space outside the exhibition hall where Urban Sketchers Manila had it’s little booth. This building is Sunset View towers – on google maps it appears to be a nice clean creamy yellow colour, but now due to urban pollution it looks really gloomy.
Sat-17-Oct-2026
Here is the first sketch I did when I joined @usk_manila for @DesignWeekPH. I decided to meet up with fellow sketchers Ray and @maggielikestodraw at the Harbour Square first…thinking (mistakenly) that it was a short walk to the Likhang Filipino Exhibition Halls in Pasay City where design week took place. I’ve sketched in this spot several times before (see Sketch No.82-2586).
Sat-17-Oct-2026
After getting overheated in the courtyard of San Augustin we went into their little coffee shop to cool down in the AC and chat. Naturally, as we chatted, we sketched – my sketch is of some random guy enjoying his coke. My last sketch at Manila Art Sihan was a very quick one done in the tented event space of some dancers getting ready to perform on stage. I left this sketch at the Urban Sketchers Manila booth and told the dancers they could come and collect it if they wanted.
Sat-26-Sep-2026
Here is the second sketch I did of San Augustin done with Urban Sketchers Manila at the Manila Art Sihan event last month. I was surrounded by viewers as I sketched this, which is always fun.
Sat-26-Sep-2026
After lunch with some Urban Sketchers Manila friends at Mitre (a rather expensive restaurant right next to San Augustin), we sat in front of the church and sketched. I’ve drawn here multiple times before of course – see sketch No.84-2617, when I noted that this is the oldest stone church in the Philippines.
Sat-26-Sep-2026
This is the first sketch I did when we joined Urban Sketchers Manila for the Manila Art Sihan event last month. When we arrived in Intramuros at Foro de Manila we found it so noisy in the tented event space, that we went to the Plazuela de Santa Isobel instead, to sketch this memorial sculpture by Peter de Guzman. This depicts the horror of the battle to liberate Manila in 1945. The write up on the panels nearby make for some really sombre reading – but sadly very few of the hundreds of students queuing up for group photos, seemed interested in reading any of the history. You can read more about it here.
Sat-26-Sep-2026