Monday, May 21, 2012

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sketch Walk On May 19 2012

We celebrate our first year as the official USk group in the Philippines in this month of May at the Quezon Memorial Circle Park. Come join us as we record what we see, feel and think about with our sketchpads.

Friday, May 4, 2012

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USk Philippines Shares What is On-location Sketching On the Art 2 Art Show








The invitation to talk about on-location sketching for the Manila Broadcasting Corporation's show, Art 2 Art was too good not to pass. Susan de Guzman, a production assisstant for the show wrote to invite us for the taping, and 4 members of USk Philippines namely, Carlo Martinez, Cesar Ramirez, Ampao Roxas and myself were able to share our thoughts and encouragement on sketching. The host, prima ballerina of the Philippines, Ms. Lisa Macuja-Eliszalde, was most accommodating and adored Ampao's enthusiasm in sketching.

This episode will be aired on the MBC channel on Sunday, May 20, 2012, 3:30pm. We will update this post with a video of the aired show.

Update:
A paper clip of the Daily Inquirer newspaper published last May 14, 2012 promoting the episode

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Monday, April 30, 2012

Digital On-Location Sketching

The Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone is so far the only available mobile unit that has an active Wacom digitizer system with a pen stylus, and it was this feature that I got it with an unlimited data subscription. I've always imagined something like this would come out a decade ago. Creating pictures with it skips the paper process, and thereby you can share it instantly.

Although I still believe that creating art in traditional mediums cannot be replaced by the digital medium. Sketching on paper is a sort of instant print where mistakes can happen. Those mistakes has humbled me and kept me learning to doing it right the first try of whatever it is I'm sketching. In one of the sketching application I use on the Note, layers can be implemented, and of course erasures and "digital paper" are virtually unlimited. Not happy with the first try? You can easily switch to a bank sheet. Somehow, this is the trap you can find yourself in if you have not been working with sketching "on paper". Format is currently limited to a 3:4 or 3:5 ratio, and I can't do a long panoramic format that I've learned to love doing with a Japanese Fold sketchbook.

Here are some of my sketches using the Galaxy Note on mostly food, preferably when I eat alone since 10 minutes of waiting before eating what's in front of you is pretty long for a companion.

The Galaxy Note is about 1/4 of an A4 paper, and 10mm thick. It comes with a Wacom S Pen  that slides inside the  Galaxy Note. Here though, I managed to get the S Pen holder accessory which makes it weigh and feel like a full metal pen 
The discipline of just sketching fast without erasures (much) from the medium pen on paper has taught me to get it done fast the first time.

The S Memo default app for sketching come with simulated brush, pen, pencil and translucent marker tools, and you can adjust the sizes of the tips. You can also have virtually any color hue you can pick on its palette  
It helps that the Note has a hi-res 800 by 1280 screen pixel so that you can do finer sketches

The Wacom S Pen that comes with the Note has levels of sensitivity that translates for pen width variance just like a pencil. This makes it quite a likable natural tool.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Quezon Circle sketch walk has been moved.

IMPORTANT: The Quezon Circle sketch walk has been moved to a later date, please wait as we will post the announcement for this Saturday's (April 21, 2012) new venue soon. Sorry for the inconvenience and we hope you could still come with us this Saturday!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Power Plant at Rockwell Sketching this coming March 17(also 16th & 18th), and Lectures


Our sketching session for this month takes us to the Rockwell area, particularly at the Power Plant Mall. This is line with an invitation for us to show what is on-location sketching is all about at the Travel Bazaar hosted by the Rockwell marketing group. We have been given a booth at the big white tent (see the map) to stay and promote sketching when you travel trough an exhibit and demonstration/lecture. Here are the schedules for the 3 days there:

March 16 (Friday):
11am to 9pm - Booth exhibit and entertaining queries
3pm to 4 pm - On-Stage lecture on Sketching basics

March 17 (Saturday):
8am to 11am - REGULAR MONTHLY SKETCH WALK, meeting place at Starbucks Power Plant
8:30am - You find us at the riverside of Pasig river, refer to map
11am to 9pm - Booth exhibit and entertaining queries
1:30pm to 3:00pm - Lecture on Quick Watercolor Sketching Techniques
3pm to 4 pm - On-Stage lecture on Sketching basics

March 18 (Sunday):
11am to 9pm - Booth exhibit and entertaining queries
1:30pm to 3:00pm - More Lecture on Quick Watercolor Sketching Techniques
3pm to 4 pm - On-Stage lecture on Sketching basics

Please do bring your own sketching materials, and you are asked to spend a few hours with us and to show your sketches at our booth. This is a great opportunity for those having trouble with Saturdays and therefore have a chance to have impromptu sketches with us on Friday or Sunday. Janeil Arlegui will also be showing some watercolor techniques as per request of some of the members who are will to learn to control this medium.