Barcelona and Rome: A Week Of Sketches

Using this Hahnemuhle Cappuccino Sketchbook as my sketch journal, I, together with my mom and dad, went to Barcelona and Rome for a week. It was my second time in Barcelona and first time in Rome but my parents are both first-timers in both cities. Since travelling with the elderly gave us enough time for rest, I took the opportunity to record sketches of places we visited.

Burma: Sketching Colonial Buildings and Temples

Burma, or modernly called as Myanmar, is a country I have been fascinated to come to and in December of 2018, I was able to visit 4 major cities and the outskirts of these cities. Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake. These four places are very unique from each other. Yangon, the colonial capital of Burma boasts with a number of well-maintained and still-in-use colorful colonial buildings. Mandalay, with it's paralleled streets and blocks much like the way New York City's streets and avenues were urban-planned, is a quiet old kingdom and is your gateway to the outskirts that will lead you to Sagain, Innwa and Amarapura. Inle Lake, a very remote tranquil lake city on the highlands of Naungshwe, is paradise and not to forget a local vineyard where you can sip your wine on a hill top over looking the surroundings. Bagan, my favorite of all, is a vast flat lands with droplets of ancient temple all over. One can go around on an electric bike and find your own spot in any of the temples and have your own tranquil time.

Here are some of the works from my sketchbook while travelling in Burma.

Sketches of Ilocos Norte and Vigan

During the trip, I did not get to sketch on the spot as it was a tight schedule. I only managed to find time when I was at home and sketched my favourite spots in Ilocos Norte and the lovely hotel we stayed in Vigan, Escolta Homey Lodge, which is right at the center of Calle Crisologo. A video log at the end of all the pictures is included for you to see the mini sketchbook I personally made.

Trying to get the juice back on sketching. Here is a sketch of Bangui Wind Farm. . . . . . #illustration #illustrations #blackink #inksketches #inksketch #art #artoftheday #dailysketch #dailyart #watercolourchannel #watercolour #watercolor #watercoloursketches #sketch #sketches #aquarela #aquarelle #youtubers #igers #ig #instragram #instagrammers @instagram #bangui #windmills #windfarm #ilocos #ilocosnorte #waterblog #anartfeature

A post shared by Joseph Gerald Legaspi (@sigeraldto) on Jul 5, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT

Sydney and Melbourne, City Sketches and Adele

Australia. A country I never thought I would set my foot in to because I always say that it is too far but Adele changed it all. Ha! When it was announced that Adele will have a series of concert in Australia. I immediately decided to go because I may never get any more chance to see her perform live thus giving me the opportunity to visit Australia, specifically Sydney and Melbourne.

My visit lasted 5 days in Sydney and 6 days in Melbourne ending the trip together with the 77,000 people in Etihad Stadium, Docklands area in Melbourne just to watch Adele's last night in Australia. Can I just say that it is one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life.

During my trip, I have done sketches of some of my favourite spots and scenes both in Sydney and Melbourne. Here are the pictures I have taken during the trip:

Solo Central Java and the Alila Hotel

Solo, in central Java, was a surprise for when I visited it. It was quite town yet still filled with character. I was there for a weekend and stayed at this amazing hotel, The Alila. I think just staying at the hotel was enough for me and lots of Nasi Liwet.

Barcelona: Gaudi's city and its old modern charm.

Barcelona is a place I have dreamed of going ever since I watched the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. That was the very first Olympics I have seen and I was barely 11 years old at that time. But I did not know that there are even more fascinating places to see aside from the Olympic Stadium. Through  years of waiting, I have learned about many places you can visit in Barcelona and up until the last two years, I have met fellow The Little Prince book collectors who live in Barcelona.

This city is one place I would definitely go back to. It is just an amazing mix of art, food and culture. And its people are quite relax and easy going.

Here are photos from my trip in Barcelona from July 3 to 8, 2016.

Marseille and Aix-en-Provence

Marseille, a port city, and Aix, a landlocked town, both in Provence, Southern France are two of the best places I have seen in this country. These two cities are completely different yet it left me with the hope of coming back again.

Here are photos of Marseille.

Sketches and Photographs: An Instagrammed chronicle of my first visit to Japan.

My first trip to Japan and I visited Tokyo and Hakone. I have never been so excited to visit the crazy city of Tokyo and I was also well inspired that I have made a lot of sketches during the trip.

Here are the sketches I have done and some of the photographs I have taken.

City Sketches: Macau

So I spent my Christmas holiday in Macau for 3 days before going to Hong Kong and I have done some sketches while I was there and I also added some more after returning home. Here are the sketches I made.

Review: Five Foot Way Inn, Macau

Macau was a surprise for me and did not expect I would love the place and I did. Given my enduring love for well-preserved old cities, Macau, was never on my list of places to visit. I only decided to go there to meet up some friends who were travelling as well. And from deciding a day visit to an overnight stay ended up to a full 3 days and 2 nights stay in this cosmopolitan gambling and heritage city combined.

Indeed, the place is expensive. The hotel we stayed in, the food, the transportation, the shopping and mostly everything were expensive. But I could say it was worth it since I was surrounded by seemingly well-preserved and re-purposed old Portuguese-style buildings and residential areas, I could say that this place captivated me well.

But I would like to focus on the hotel that I stayed together with my 2 other friends. The hotel, aptly named Five Foot Way Inn, was listed on the hostelworld.com. My friend booked us there and I just joined them in their room. The room was only good enough for two but we managed to squeeze in an extra bed for me. Although I do not understand why it was listed on hostelworld since it's actually a hotel and not a hostel. There is a difference I suppose but apparently, they consider themselves a hostel so let it be then. Overall, it was a good stay but I can't help to get infatuated by the contemporary artworks displayed all over so I took pictures of all that I have access to and here they are:

The Little Prince by Ya-Ong Nero

Here is another great set of illustrations about The Little Prince. This was made by Ya-Ong Nero.

Owls in a Tree

Here are my latest sketches of owls hanging out in trees. I have to say this style of sketching is where I am really comfortable doing.

Aku Diponegoro, Galeri Nasional Indonesia

Sang Pangeran Dalam Ingatan Bangsa. Prince Diponegoro, Indonesia's national hero, who fought for the freedom of Indonesia, whose remaining owned artefacts and contributed artworks by various artist is currently on exhibit at the Galeri Nasional Indonesia. It's a quick walk to see the battle and arrest of Diponegoro during the 19th century with these contributed paintings by different local and foreign artist. Its a must visit for all Indonesians and others.

Exhibit Opening
6 February – 8 March 2015
10 am – 7 pm
(Open for public and entrance is free)

For more information:

Website: www.akudiponegoro.com
Facebook : Goethe-Institut Indonesien
Twitter : AkuDiponegoro

Instagram : akudiponegoro

Le Petit Prince: Illustrations by Philip Giordano

There have been many books published about the different languages and illustration for the Le Petit Prince. As a beginning collector and art enthusiast with about less than 50 books in my collection, I feel the sense of finding differently published books of Le Petit Prince especially those with great illustrations. I definitely like the first illustration did by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, no doubt about that but there are recent works like the Korean Edition and Bilingual Comics (Bahasa Indonesia) where they gave a different touch on the original work of Exupery. (See link to access the other books) I have also tried some sketches myself although not as a complete version of the entire book.

But just recently, I found out about this Italian Illustrator Philip Giordano who created a different yet great artworks of the book. I have not found the actual book and only found the pictures so I am uploading it here. I'm going to have to make an online-wide research to be able to get my hands on this amazing illustrations.

These are some of the original artwork of Philip Giordano for Le Petit Prince:

Jakarta Transportation Sketches

Here are the different transportation you will see in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. These are just some of the vehicles which causes traffic gridlock especially during rush hours.

City Sketches - Jakarta

Here is another set of sketches I did for the past month. I have been quite busy and I only have the chance now to upload these photos.

For your viewing pleasure.

Artworks were done on 8.5 x 11.5 inches sketch pad, water color and ink.

Museum Sejerah Jakarta, Kota Tua

Jeepney Art: Sketches

Jeepneys are one of the most evident contributions of America to the Philippines. The jeepneys that we have now were custom-built to meet the demand for public transport all over the Philippines. Although it maybe one of the major reasons for congested traffic in Metro Manila, I still find them fascinating and useful for the public.

I started this "Jeepney Art Sketches" just last month and here are the recent sketches I just finished.

Philippine Jeepney Art and Sketches: This represents the overcrowded passengers as part of their daily lives taking public transport.

Elephant Sketches

A newly finished series of sketches of elephants. I decided to make these sketches in my effort to spread awareness of the condition of the elephant named Mali that is still in the center of battle between PETA and the Manila City government running the Manila Zoo. For full story about Mali, please click on this link http://www.freemali.com/ and you can also visit their Facebook page at : https://www.facebook.com/FreeMali

Elephant Sketches

Semarang and it's old charm.

Last weekend, I spent three days in Semarang, located in Central Java, Indonesia, and of course the best way to do in a trip to an old city is to do some sketching.

Some facts about Semarang:

1. It's the capital of Central Java, Indonesia.

2. Predominantly Muslim but the presence of Dutch colony was very evident in the city's old town.

3. Travelers often overlook this city because online polls says it does not have the charm that Yogyakarta and Solo has to offer. But they are wrong. It is probably one of the best preserved old towns in Indonesia. 

4. Food is great for a Filipino like me because in general, they are not that spicy and most of the food are sweet and a bit salty.

5. The city is quite clean and has wider roads which gives you less traffic.

6. The famous Borobudur Temples can also be accessed from here although with a much longer travel time compared to Yogyakarta.

7. It's the gate to other must-visit places like Candi Gedong Songo, a hindu temple on the mountainside and the town of Ambarawa, where the largest collection of steam engine trains in Asia are stored and displayed in a museum.

8. Lawang Sewu, literally translated as Thousand Doors, is one of the most magnificent old Dutch building ever built in Indonesia and has been restored for the public to see.

9. The old town is just simply mesmerizing and has different churches within it.

10. Vintage collectors will have a fiesta in several antique stores and sometimes at the flea markets in the old town.

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jigo

07.17.2014

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Nepal Sketches

This sketch was done recently although the trip to Nepal was last December 2013. I took this shot and now I sketched it on watercolor and ink.

Patan Durbar Square, Nepal

Will upload more of sketches of my Nepal trip when I find the time.

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6.24.2014
jigomesiter