Between Two Cities: A collection of watercolour sketches of Manila and Jakarta

Manila, capital of the Philippines, and Jakarta, capital of Indonesia are both massive and densely populated cities which were occupied by European colonisers back in the days. I lived in Manila for 6 years when I started working and when I had the opportunity to work overseas, Jakarta became home since 2013. I have observed many similarities with both cities like the ways and means of life and the influence of its colonisers in food, language and architecture. This inspired me to find places and objects that are comparable and turn it into watercolour sketches. 

Earlier this year, I have been thinking of publishing the sketches into a book to feature a collection of my personal watercolour sketches of places, buildings and landmarks of Manila and Jakarta. Then the pandemic hit and priorities shifted heavily towards staying alive and sane while sheltering at home since March. The sketches on location I have done were from July 2019 to early days of March 2020, pre-lockdown times and I was fortunate to meet members of Urban Sketchers Manila when I was in Manila. I am yet to join the Jakarta chapter of Urban Sketchers when this pandemic ends.

Taman Suropati, Menteng, Jakarta

There are many places I have found and sketched to compare what Manila and Jakarta both have. The Philippine post office in Manila is one of the most recognisable buildings in the city with its neo-classical architecture. In Central Jakarta, the Jakarta Philatelic Building, was built in Dutch-colonial architecture.

Jakarta Philatelic Building

Philippine Post Office Manila

In Escolta, Manila, the old Capitol Theater, which was unfortunately torn down mid of 2020, used to be one of the go-to places when Manila was still the center of entertainment and commerce. In Cikini, Jakarta, the well-preserved Metropole Jakarta still serves as one of the most important cinema houses in the city since it opened its doors in 1952. Both building are Art-deco style and was designed by local architects.

Metropole Jakarta

Capitol Theater Escolta, Manila

Here are some more of places in both cities that I have I thought were similar and share the same history despite being in two different cities.

The Manila Metropolitan Theater

The Jakarta Theater in Taman Izmail marzuki

      

The Jakarta Cathedral

The Manila Cathedral

The dome of Masjid Istiqlal in Central Jakarta

The dome of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in South Jakarta

Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila

Kopaja, a public transport used in Jakarta

Jeepney, a common public transport used all over the Philippines

I have done actually more of these sketches which sums up to about 80+ artworks which I hope to publish one day into a book. Maybe one day, but for now this is what I would consider a preview of the book.

So long 2020. It has been swell.

jgcl

Instagram: @sigeraldto

The trains that never moved: Metro Manila’s aging train system

LRT 1. Trains arriving at Monumento Station

It was 9:15 AM at the North Avenue Station of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT Line 3) and I was bound to meet a friend at 11:00 AM at a mall in Ortigas Center. I thought that by 9:00 AM, the line of passengers to get to the train would be shorter but to my dismay, it seemed endless. I waited in line but after an hour, I haven't even reached the bottom of the stairs that will lead me up to the main entry gates. I dropped it and went for a bus instead but 10 minutes in the bus I realised it was also not a good idea. So I opened a ride-hailing App and booked a motorbike that would pick me up on my pinned location and take me to my Ortigas. I made it 5 minutes early to my appointment time. The distance between North Avenue Station and the mall in Ortigas Center is only 9 kms. A marathon runner could definitely reach my destination ahead of me if I stayed in that line. Nowadays, every hour that the MRT operates is considered rush hour. There is no respite of people lining up. They even have a "Stop/Entry" method. This means lines do not move at all until all passengers in the platform are cleared.

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.

More of San Francisco

Every where I go in San Francisco, there are so many things to see that inspires me to sketch. If I could, I would do an on the spot sketching. I have joined some of the sketchwalks organized by Urban Sketchers San Francisco/Bay Area. I met the very lovely Laurie Wigham, one of the pioneers of urban sketching in San Francisco. I have been to a couple of the sketch walks she organized and it was great to see fellow urban sketching enthusiasts Apart from urban sketching, I also try other ways of illustrations like taking a photo of a place and sketching it and sketching the interior of a coffee shop or restaurant.

Here are more San Francisco sketches I made:

Sketching Los Angeles

I visited Los Angeles for the first time during spring break last month and I had a great time walking the city and finding great places to sketch. Food was great too. I am thankful for my friend for adopting me for 3 days and touring me around L.A.

Here are sketches I did while I was there.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall . . . . #urbansketchers #urbansketch #urbansketches #usk #waltdisney #illustration #illustrations #sketch #sketchdaily #sketches #waltdisneyconcerthall #losangeles #california #disney

A post shared by J. Gerald Legaspi (@sigeraldto) on Apr 2, 2018 at 2:11pm PDT

San Francisco Sketches

In the past months, I have been quite active in making sketches of San Francisco and most of them were done on the spot at places like Mission-Dolores Park, The Ferry Building, The Presidio and at the Marina.

Here are some of my recent sketches. Follow my on Instagram @sigeraldto

Back in SF. This was sketched during a hike at the Presidio yesterday. . . . . . #urbansketchers #urbansketch #urbansketches #usk #waltdisney #illustration #illustrations #sketch #sketchdaily #sketches #art #dailyart #sketchaday #anartfeature #youtubers #igers #instagram #instasketch

A post shared by J. Gerald Legaspi (@sigeraldto) on Apr 6, 2018 at 5:45pm PDT