May 25 2013 Sketching at the Rizal Park, Manila

It was a clear day, and May's sketch theme was parks. It's also our 2nd anniversary for USk Philippines.

Hictorically, the part of Rizal Park we were sketching was planned to be the new Capitol of Manila, designed by American urban planner Daniel Burnham before World War II.Only 2 buildings got built - the Department of Tourism and Finance Building in the Neo-Classical style similar to the Washington D.C.and Chicago government buildings of USA. About 3 more government buildings never saw light, and it the planned reflective pool became a relief map of the Philippines, and in the 70s & 80s with a skating rink and a gigantic globe in the middle. The globe disappeared and presently has been replaced with the site of Datu Lapu-Lapu who killed Spanish Explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, who claimed the Philippines for Spain in the 16th Century.

Sketching at the University of Santo Tomas last March 23, 2013

March is the start of Summer in the Philippines. It's now scorching to above 35°C! We decided to push through with visiting the oldest existing learning institution, the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. The 400 year old university has a museum. We had planned to sketch some of the collections in the morning, but had to postponed it to layer that afternoon due to a closed poetry recital. Naturally, we sketched what interested us at the campus.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants in the campus, and the 5 of us out of the 10 who attended that morning stayed to visit the museum to sketch.

We had a fun time sketching the Natural History section where the collection of animal specimens were found . They weren't moving which made them easier to sketch. 

Sketching Quiapo

Last February saw the cooperation of 4 organizations that to put up a sketch crawl or walk in one of Manila's old prominent district of Quiapo in Manila. Re+Discover Manila, who is currently running a series of arts events to reignite the interest of Manila; with the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista Foundation for the venue; the Heritage Conservation Society Youth who orchestrated the program, brunch and a film show + lecture on old Manila; and Urban Sketchers Philippines who provided a workshop on basic sketching skills, had organized the event with some 30 participants. Times Trading, distributor of Artline, Maped and Colleen Colored Pencils , provided some sketching kits.

The Quiapo district was where the Illustrados built there city mansions away from their farms. They built some of the most beautiful houses during the rule of the Spanish. The event was a chance to see some of the existing structures and capture them on paper.

Most of these are in sad state and rented out to tenants who haphazardly modified some parts of the structures. The private sector has been initiating efforts in the awareness of these old rich cultural heritage sectors of the city. Sketching provides a level of seeing, thinking and feeling of such places. After brunch, we had a short talk down memory lane of how Manila was before the war and a film show. This was one more memorable session. A culminating ceremony organized by Re+Discover Manila will be held around May, and would showcase some of our sketchbooks.

Vigan Sketching last November 17, 2012

As head for the visual communications track of the architecture program of De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde, I had suggested the town of Vigan as part of the main destination for the 151 freshmen to freehand sketch this historic Spanish era collection of residential-shop structures. It was declared as World Heritage in 2000 by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The students and 10 faculty members had a blast at sketching what resembles a European-like town in the tropics. 

Lawton Area, Manila Sketching

Last November 24, a small group joined in for the regular monthly session of the Urban Sketchers Philippines at the Lawton area in Manila. We had a chance to sketch the neo-classical Manila Post Office building and surrounding area. Ryan (graphics artist), Rebecca (lawyer), Clairol (my engineer wife) and I (architect) this building that is rumored to be converted into a posh hotel. It was designed by one of Philippines' first master architect, Juan Arellano before the war.