Here is the first sketch that I did with #UskQuezonCity at Bahay Modernismo. This is a recently opened heritage museum at Quezon Memorial Circle which “aims to safeguard mid-century Filipino architecture and culture”, with the rooms filled with vintage furniture and classic products. We had 45 minutes inside but 30 minutes of what was the tour. This was sketched in the living room space.
Sun-3-Aug-2025
Finally I am getting round to posting my sketches done with #UskQuezonCity at the corner house. This building was designed (by Thai architects, the Department of Architecture, in collaboration with the BAAD Studio in the Philippines) as an “aesthetic community mall”, following an open air concept along the lines of “The Commons” in Bangkok. It houses a lot of small eateries and features an atrium circumnavigated by a ramp which is supposed to be a safe jogging path for residents of the area. The building is interesting, though maybe a bit over-designed with a forest of white steel columns, but we chose to sketch the view of San Juan you can see from one of the ramps. In my first sketch I started with a simple outline of the shapes and then filled in some details.
My second sketch (of my wife) was a bit messy and full of errors. I keep forgetting that my first rule in sketching is “don’t rush even if you have only a little time – take your time to see the scene instead of jumping in”.
Sun-16-Mar-2025
Here is the last sketch I did on Sunday 16th Feb with #UskQuezonCity at the Quezon City Hall M.I.C.E building. This statue is one of many dotted around the compound…but it was the first one I saw when I realised I only had 10 minutes before the latag (show and tell)…though I did do a little more work on it later. The plaque notes that Andres Bonifacio led the Philippine revolution against Spain, founding the Katipunan, a secret revolutionary organisation. On the back of the statue it notes that the “Redevelopment of Plaza Bonifacio” was a project of Mayor Belmonte. It’s a pity that the artist of the statue is not mentioned and I couldn’t find the artist searching the internet either (although the City does have a picture of the statue on their website).
Sun-16-Feb-2025
Here is the second sketch I did on Sunday 16th Feb with #UskQuezonCity at the Quezon City Hall M.I.C.E building. I called this “An engineer’s dream”, but equally a structural engineer might consider this a headache! Clearly the architects wanted to include lots of elements – a soaring pointy roof, a huge cantilevered canopy, a sloping glass atrium-like space and just on the edge of my sketch a domed roof. It was certainly interesting to sketch anyway.
Sun-16-Feb-2025
On Sunday 16th Feb I went to the #UskQuezonCity 6th anniversary sketch-walk at the Quezon City Hall M.I.C.E building (meaning Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibits…not the cute little furry things). For my first sketch I went up to the first floor and (being an architect) chose to sketch the building and the shadows of the massive cantilevered structure. The building has a modern and elaborate design. During the sketch-walk we got free snacks and lunch and a huge number of first-timers joined the event.
Sun-16-Feb-2025
On Sunday 12 January we joined our first #SketchWalk of the year with #UskQuezonCity at the University of the Philippines sunken garden. The sunken garden is a large green basin-shaped area at the Diliman campus, surrounded by large trees and is popular as a venue for sports and outside events. I did this first sketch of a group of young guys quite quickly…after 15 minutes they all got up and left together, so I had to be fast.
Sun-12-Jan-2025
After doing two postcard sketches on Sunday 5th May with #UrbanSketchersQuezonCity at the Maginhawa Food Festival. I managed to find time to do another sketch. We were sitting at the back of all the food tents, so this one captures the jumble of all the boxes, water jugs and ephemera that each food stand had. I also managed to get in a few people, so I think I captured the feel of the event in this one. I only had time to do the ink work on the spot so added the colour at home…deciding to leave some areas white and focus on the contrast with the dark green trees in the background.
Sun-5-May-2024
Here is the second postcard sketch I did on Sunday 5th May when we joined #UrbanSketchersQuezonCity at the Maginhawa Food Festival. Like the previous sketch this was part of our postcard exchange with #UskSaoPaulo, Brazil and I wrote a short message on the back to my “secret sketcher”.
Sun-5-May-2024
In the afternoon on Sunday 5th we joined #UrbanSketchersQuezonCity at the Maginhawa Food Festival. This event was part of National Heritage Month and for the group, International Urban Sketchers Week. To celebrate this we did a postcard exchange with São Paulo, Brazil. Each of us received postcard-size watercolour papers provided by #Hahnemühle through @DeovirArts and then we sketched a scene from the Food Festival. On the back we each wrote a message to our “secret sketcher” from the #USkSaoPaulo group. All our cards were sent off to Brazil and, assuming the postal service works, sometime later this year we will each receive a card from our fellow sketchers. I wonder who my secret sketcher will be?
Sun-5-May-2024