July Sketchwalk at the 98B Saturday Market

For our July sketchwalk, the Philippine Urban Sketchers went to the historic street of Escolta in Manila, particularly to the Saturday Market of the 98B Collaboratory at the ground floor of the First United Building. The Saturday Market is one of the many activities held in the area to revive and enliven what was once the premiere shopping and entertainment hub of Manila.

The monthly Saturday Market offers vintage, pre-loved, and handmade items from local artists.

Photo courtesy of 98B Collaboratory

Photo courtesy of 98B Collaboratory

Photo courtesy of 98B Collaboratory

Photo courtesy of 98B Collaboratory

Aside from drawing in and around the market area, the sketchers also drew along the stretch of the Escolta.

Escolta street sign drawn by Cynthia Feliciano

Abbie Mendoza sketches with a background of what Escolta used to look like
before the Second World War.

Part of the Regina Building, by Carlo Martinez

Cesar Ramirez sketches one of the windows of the Regina Building.

Cherisse Aguilon's street view drawing, with the bell tower of the Sta. Cruz church in the background.

Sketch by Erwin Balines of a booth selling handmade trinkets.

Ige Trinidad's sketches of people he observed at the market.

Janne Soriano made two contrasting drawings. One was this drawing of the facade of the market,

...and the other one was this sketch of the interiors.

I sketched the same booth Erwin did. It was really colorful!

Man Marbella's drawing of the interesting structures he found along Escolta.

Mike Baluarte sketched some quirky signs printed on wood.

NiceNice Rodriguez's street view drawing.

The sketchers putting finishing touches to their work before show & tell.

It wasn't all arts and crafts at the market; it had music too. Blues musician Hoochie Coochie Mikkie graced the event and sang his heart out. 

Ige's sketch of Mikkie

My own drawing of Mikkie, with a small flyer about the Urban Sketchers Philippines.
We gave a number of these away to let people know about the group
and encourage them to join in our sketchwalks.

NiceNice drawing Mikkie

A great photo of NiceNice with her subject, blues musician
Hoochie Coochie Mikkie, who was thrilled to be sketched.

The sketches, all laid out for show & tell.

Another great turnout for Urban Sketchers Philippines! 

We'd like to thank everyone who attended the sketchwalk. See you again next month! The tentative date is August 23. No venue yet, but we're open to suggestions. :)


Do you like to draw on location or would like to? Everyone's welcome to sketch with us! Join our Facebook group for updates and see the works made by our members. Search "Urban Sketchers Philippines", join, and we'll add you to our members list. 

Sketching Result of the Escolta: Part 2 last February 4, 2012

Very much similar to our first visit to Escolta, Manila in July 2011, the weather was a bit unpredictable. It was all gloomy the whole session but with moments of sunshine peeking throughout our stay. Present to sketch that day are Janeil, Buz, Carlo, Tancho, Muffy, Ampao, Me, and Niña, our newest active member. It was a special session for it was a historic district in the 1900s and our second time for this venue. As sketching required observation of the surrounding, or in the case of Escolta, the built-environment, one couldn’t deny that the used-to-be bustling commercial area is still a neglected place of heritage. Maybe the gloomy climate whenever we are at Escolta contributes to that remark but the sketches you’ll see as you continue your reading will further support the idea that the place needs intensive help and attention. But nonetheless, we got to connect with this familiar place again; our drawings serving as the language of expressing how the place feels like. Like every sketching session, you’ll enjoy the diversity of the outputs of each sketcher, making you view the place from a whole lot different perspective. We've got at the end of our session a panoramic sketch of the streetscape which I'm still experimenting on, spot drawings and perspectives of significant buildings, details of the facade of the Capitol theater, perspectives from different vantage points, and illustrations of some of the usual scenery in the area that are still of great interest.

We enjoyed a feast after our session at Meisun Tea House (former MXT) at Ongpin St.in Binondo which is a 2-min. walk from Escolta. Luckily, the rain has stopped by the time we left the resto. Maybe we could make this a regular part of our sketching sessions. Time really flies when you are enjoying so we ended up finishing at around past 2PM in the afternoon.

Feel free to check the rest of the photos in my flickr account! :)

The outputs for the Escolta: Part 2 sketching session

Compilation of the 3 sketches I did for the Escolta session

The sketchers in action

Niña while sketching a spot in Escolta Street

Discussions

Wrap-up photos

And it all ends with a lunch at Ongpin St.

Sketching Result of July 23, 2011

With the sun blazing half the time and the other half raining, we could say the sketchcrawl at Escolta street in Manila was a success.  Sketching or drawing on location offers a more direct and personal way of recording what you see, feel and think. The level of artistry does not bare importance and the result does not matter much. What is given emphasis is the experience of the place captured on paper. Heritage places offer an interesting theme for sketching as you get a glimpse of the cultural and artistic richness they emanate. You notice things more, taking in the place more intimately than merely taking pictures. In this case, you would be making the picture, instead of taking it. The process of making utilizes a deeper brain procedure, which in turn makes everything more memorable and personalized. This is what we recently experienced during our sketching session we had at Escolta street. The façade of the Capitol Theatre was particularly interesting since we noticed the details of the two ladies relief, otherwise unnoticed looking or taking a picture. Street children started to flock to us, curious of what we were doing. We wished we had extra pads and pencils to give away for their chance to sketch along. It's the first time we've encountered curious street kids and with Ryan suggestion of carrying sketchbooks and pencils next time, we could make a point of encouraging anyone to join us impromptu and notice our city. Adults who stop would strike conversations with us, and it makes the whole experience of being there richer that what we’ve expected. 8 of us had a blast. We hope a lot more be encouraged to join us. Next theme will be a museum. Details to follow soon.