Urban Sketchers Philippines 4th Anniversary Events in Old Manila

Urban Sketchers Philippines has come a long way from when it was formed in May 2011 with 3 initial members. Four years later, we now have more than 40 active members joining the monthly sketch sessions around Metro Manila.

Happy 4th birthday, Urban Sketchers Philippines!

For our 4th anniversary, we celebrated by holding two major events: our official monthly sketchwalk on May 16, and an exhibit and workshop on May 17, an activity that was held in line with the first Manila Urban Design Festival.

For our official monthly sketchwalk, we went to Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila. Fort Santiago, located at the mouth of the Pasig River, is a citadel that was built by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi when Manila was first established and is part of the defensive structure of Intramuros, Manila’s walled city.

Philippine sketchers in action!

National hero Jose Rizal was imprisoned at the fort before his execution in 1896; the fort features the steps Rizal took from his holding cell on the way out to in Bagumbayan (now Luneta), where he bravely faced his death.

The sketchers scattered around the fort, drawing everything from the tourist tram and horse-drawn carriages to the iconic gate adorned by a relief of Saint James the Great, the patron saint of Spain and after whom the fort was named.

Some of the sketches we made that day. 

USk PH also participated in the first Manila Urban Design Festival with an exhibit of works done on location and a lecture-workshop on sketching in one of the chambers of the Maestranza, part of the foundry of the armory located near Fort Santiago. It also served as a warehouse of the armaments and cannons during the Spanish colonial period. The Maestranza was destroyed during World War II and was rebuilt The workshop was led by Janeil Arlegui, one of the founding members of the group. Ryan Sumo also gave some pointers on sketching.

Lecture-workshop by Janeil Arlegui

Sketching at the Maestranza Plaza

  

Works on display.

Sketch of the workshop by Aurelio Castro III

After the workshop, some of the sketchers went out to the plaza to draw the festival goings-on: a demo by the members of Parkour Philippines, a demo-performance on Philippine martial arts, people buying food and browsing through crafts sold at colorful tents, families and friends walking around. All in all it was an enjoyable weekend of urban sketching fun!

Workshop participants trying out contour sketching.

Sketch by Manuel Jiongco

Sketch by Irma Lara

Sketch by Ryan Sumo

It's a wrap! Urban Sketchers Philippines with Julia Nebrija, Festival Director

More photos of the festival (and sketchers having fun on bicycles!) in Solo Galura's photoset on Flickr here.

Photos in this post by Ian Ulpindo, Ige Trinidad, Ched de Gala, and Irma Lara.

Urban Sketchers PH 4th Anniversary Events in Old Manila

Hello! Urban Sketchers Philippines turns 4 years old this month!

To celebrate, we will have two events. First, we will be having our official monthly sketchwalk at the historic citadel of Fort Santiago in Intramuros on Saturday, May 16, 2015. We'll be there from 9am to 12nn, so do sketch with us! Everyone is welcome to join the sketchwalk. Joining is always free. :)

You can sketch around Fort Santiago, the view of the Pasig River, the passing tourists, and whatever catches your interest in the area. We meet for show & tell and our 'class picture' at 11:45 sharp by the iconic main gate.

Aside from it being our anniversary sketchwalk, it's also a great opportunity for us to create works that can be exhibited the following day, May 17 (Sunday) during the Urban Design Festival.

Please bring loose sheets of drawing/watercolor paper for the sketchwalk. After our activity, the sketches will be collected for display the following day. We promise to take care of the sketches! :)

The second event is an Urban Sketching Workshop and Exhibit, which is part of the Manila Urban Design Festival that will be held at the Maestranza Plaza (near Plaza Mexico) in Intramuros. This will be on May 17, 2015 (Sunday). The exhibit will run from 1pm-6pm and will feature location drawings made by the members of Urban Sketchers Philippines.

The workshop/talk on location sketching will be from 3pm-5pm and will be facilitated by one of the founders of Urban Sketchers Philippines, Janeil Arlegui. The workshop on sketching will show some of the simplest techniques anyone can learn easily in capturing what you observe onto paper or a sketchbook. With practice, sketching becomes a common skill as learning to ride a bicycle or reading and writing! Sketching can make a big difference in seeing and realizing our city's environments, people, and imagination for it becoming a better place to live in.

The workshop will have two parts: a lecture and a sketchwalk. Participants are asked to bring their own paper, sketchpads/sketchbooks, and drawing materials. Handouts will be provided. Anyone can join this free workshop.

For updates and announcements, please go to our Facebook event page. Thanks and see you on May 16-17! Invite your friends!