usk

116-3405-6 – Cafe Dionysus and who is this sculpture by, at the Pintô Art Museum

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin
Cafe Dionysus at Pintô Art Museum

In February we made a visit to the Pintô Art Museum. Our first stop was lunch (at Cafe Dionysus (Dionysus is the ancient Greek god of wine, fertility, theatre etc., known as Bacchus in Roman mythology), where I had panini with queso puti (local white cheese made from carabao’s milk) that was actually three pieces of pan de sal (local bread rolls). A lot has changed since we visited years ago. These sketches was done in a new sketchbook made with Cass Art hot pressed 300 gsm watercolour paper.

Who is this sculpture by

After a few hours of wandering around the galleries we stopped at another cafe (it seems there are three at the museum these days), for a cold drink and I did a second sketch. Despite a long time searching I cannot find the name of this piece or the artist. I should have looked more carefully when I was there.

Tue-24-Feb-2026

115-3402-3 – Street in Taal and water bottles at Lomi House

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin
Street in Taal

Here are my last two sketches done with Urban Sketchers QC in Taal. The first of these was done in a random street – with the Basilica still visible in the background. The second of these was done at the end of the day after the Latag (show and tell or throw down – when the Mayor came!) while we waited for our Pancit Lomi before heading home.

Water bottles at Lomi House

Sat-21-Feb-2026

115-3401 – Minor Basilica and Parish of St. Martin of Tours

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

Here is the second sketch I did with Urban Sketchers QC on the “Banaag Sketching Heritage Tour” in Taal. After breakfast we wandered up to the huge church in the town and sat in the shelter of a gazebo near the town hall to sketch out of the sun. I’ve sketched a similar view before in 2023 – see sketch No.2371) For a change I made a video of myself sketching this…just but holding up my phone and filming a few clips then joining them together. It’s a bit shaky and was distracting me a bit while I sketched, but it was fun to do.

Sat-21-Feb-2026

115-3400 – But first breakfast

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

Here is the first sketch I did with Urban Sketchers QC on the “Banaag Sketching Heritage Tour” in Taal. A friend kindly drove a group of us and we arrived just in time to register, get a goody bag and for the opening talks. We then went to straight to breakfast at @GalleriaTaal (where there is also a camera museum though we didn’t go and see that).

Sat-21-Feb-2026

115-3396-9 – Household of St. Joseph and Lunar New Year

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin
Household of St. Jospeh

Here are the sketches I did in Binondo on Chinese New Year with Urban Sketchers Manila. I first met my friend Reuel in SM Manila and walked into Binondo. On the way we stopped for breakfast at Jollibee on Quintin Parades Road and met this group of people who said that they gather every Tuesday. This would turn out to be the enduring memory of the day. They were so friendly and happy to be sketched. We took group photos and they gave us rice cakes and crackers. Fr. Joaquin (who is from Goa and appears in my first sketch) said we were breaking down barriers by sketching – it was such a heartwarming start to the day.

Horses and tranvias de Filipinas

My second sketch was of the fibreglass horses hitched up to the a streetcar in the Chinese Museum next to Lucky Chinatown Mall. The Tranvía was a streetcar system that served Manila during the late 19th century. The horse-drawn tranvías (or tranvía de sangre—literally “blood tram”) were an animal powered version of the system.

Chinese New Year

My third sketch was done in a rush on the bridge overlooking Lucky Chinatown Walk – I think that’s a multi-storey car park in the background. I had to rush as it rained – you can see splashes on the paper.

Junk

Finally I sketched the receptionist or concierge in the museum, standing behind a desk shaped like a junk (a Chinese sailing ship). On the wall there were lots of phrases in English and Chinese (and maybe Tagalog?) – in relief. That was difficult to sketch and I am not sure if I captured that very well.

Tue-17-Feb-2026

115-3388 – Tree in the garden

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

I finally got outside to sketch…around this time I was busy with work and had been doing too many evening/indoor sketches. Many of the trees in the communal garden look like they are about to fall over with their roots lifting out of the ground. I am dreading the next big typhoon to hit Metro Manila.

Fri-13-Feb-2026

115-3382-4 – E-bike at admin, Luneta art fair and Chinese garden

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin
Ebike at admin

Here are the sketches I did with my friends and Urban Sketchers Manila at the Luneta Art Fair earlier this month. I arrived at Rizal Park a little late with my bike on the back of our car in preparation for riding home. I first met up with my friend Reuel and we sat in the park to sketch this building – which maybe the admin building of the park – before it began raining. Reuel commented that I will probably not post the sketches until 15 days later and he was exactly right!

Luneta art fair

We then met up with other friends to drink coffee and eat breakfast (I had Lugaw – rice porridge) – Ronnier, Al and Luke. In the background is the UskManila tent which included on the sales rack a few oddments and rejects of my printed postcards from a long time ago.

Chinese garden

After this we went to sketch at the Chinese garden on the other side of the park. All in all a lovely day out – and a nice cycle home all the way back to Taguig (which took me about an hour).

Sun-8-Feb-2026

114-3377 – House and tree on Lake Lumot

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

Here is another sketch done during our camping trip to Lumot Lake. I had a relatively good nights sleep – I rarely sleep well when we are camping – and after a big breakfast we all walked out on to the peninsular to sketch again. This house is on the other side of the lake and not part of where we are staying. All the trees on the island have beautiful deep yellow and cobalt green lichen on them, so I had to try and capture one.

Mon-2-Feb-2026

114-3376 – A-frame house

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

For this sketch I walked out onto the little peninsula on Lumot Lake just as it was getting cooler in the afternoon. The lake is a man-made reservoir in the Sierra Madre Mountains, created when Lumot Dam was built. According to Wikipedia the lake serves as an auxiliary reservoir for the Kalayaan Hydroelectric plant which I visited with Urban Sketchers Manila in 2024 (see Sketches No.2748-56). This is the view back towards the resort we stayed at – which is dotted with A-frame cottages for visitors. Next to it you can see the little boat we were taken in, from the parking lot, across the lake..

Sun-1-Feb-2026