Starting on April 18, I challenged myself to do a drawing a day from life for the next thirty days. The art was never meant to be finished art, but a snapshot of life wherever I was. By slowing down, even for five minutes, it allows you to see so much more than you would through a lens of the camera. I continued sketching for an additional week because it was just so much fun. I met so many interesting and exciting people as I sketched, and even got invited to a pig roast and peoples’ homes. This series of drawings takes you throughout Myanmar, China and the Great Wall, Shark Dives in the Philippines, and a Sports Day in Japan.
Niña, our young artist friend, did some great sketches while we were all on the beach. Patrick O’Brien joined in on the challenge, and did some nice pencil renderings. Their work follows mine.
All these sketches will be added to Sketches From The Road later on this month. I hope you enjoy sharing a month of my life through my sketch book.
May 25, 2013
Sports day.
Tokyo, Japan
May 24, 2013
A quick sketch for my buddies kid of their killer attack chihuahua.
Tokyo, Japan
May 21, 2013
Whale sharks today, than bus back to Cebu. No art.
May 20, 2013
Twenty. Hours on a bus to Oslob, no art today.
Cebu, Philippines
May 19, 2013
A sad day, our last night in this amazing island. We were getting BBQ for our beach dog Lobo when the owner of the shop pulled us in to her house to sing karaoke. She was such a gracious host, pulling out more and more rum for us to drink, while singing numerous pop songs. A crazy unexpected night for sure.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 18, 2013
I went to see the thresher sharks 24 meters/77 feet under the surface of the ocean. This is the only place in the world where you are guaranteed to see the every day. Thresher Sharks are unique because their tail juts out behind their body like a pendant. This morning there were two sharks at two different cleaning stations. Cleaning Stations are spots where large fish will stop to have their gills cleaned out by smaller fish. They calmly sit there swimming slowly as the fish remove parasites from their gills and mouths. I brought a water-board so I could sketch the sharks from life. Minus the fact that I was being pulled with the current, and there were ten foot sharks swimming ten feet from me, I gave it my best to sketch these magnificent animals.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 17, 2013
Fruit stand at night in town proper.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
A partially finished drawing of the beach.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 16, 2013
Our grill master was a ten-year old boy in town proper cooking us up a feast.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 15, 2013
Chilling out on The Beagle.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 14, 2013
The captain of the Beagle, with Evolution Diving. We were headed out to Gato Island for some diving.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 13, 2013
The end of the island.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 12, 2013
The festival in town proper. Everyone shows up for this, Disco Night. This is the basketball. Court near the church and school. A talent contest was going on and all these people were enthralled with the music.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 11, 2013
The festival was going on in town so the whole island was having fun. This show was taken in the village where some guys were playing basketball on dirt. Two things Filipinos love are Basketball and Cock Fighting. The aroma of pigs cooking was all around us also. As soon as I sat down in a chair to draw ten kids surrounded me, pressed so tightly I could barely move my pen. They were too shy to say anything till I drew them some angry birds.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
Second drawing is from the same spot. The little boy stood in front of me staring. Of course as soon as he realised I was drawing him he took off.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
Third drawing done late night at the festival. Picture is blurry, sorry.
May 10, 2013
The view from our veranda.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 9, 2013
Yvonne was chilling on our porch when I hear some girls voices talking to her I come outside and Yvonne is surrounded by two ten-year old girls who are painting her toenails. Show them my sketch pad and they ask me to draw them. Their little brother comes over so I let him play Angry Birds Star Wars Edition and we never heard a peep out of him after that.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 8, 2013
A happy Buddha statue on the beach.
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 7, 2013
A very bad day for me, I snorkeled all day then drank too much Red Horse. No art. 😦
Malapascua Island, Philippines
May 6, 2013
Travel Day, Taxi, Plane, Taxi, Boat. Random guy.
Beijing, China
May 5, 2013
We were killing time before we caught our plane and this guy fell asleep in front of us.
Beijing, China
May 4, 2013
The outside deck at Santou Hostel. This guy asked me to draw him the day before but I did not have time, so I drew him the next day. I did not get a chance to show him but if he checks out my blog then comment so I know your thoughts on it.
Beijing, China
May 3, 2013
Forbidden City, No Art
Beijing, China
May 2, 2013
This day just disappeared.
Beijing, China
May 1, 2013
We did the most amazing day trip to the Great Wall. This really is one of the true wonders of the world. They renovated a section of it, then left another section in disrepair so you could see the condition it was in before.
Great Wall, China
April 30, 2013
The Summer Palace was where royalty went to relax. It’s 77 hectares large, with numerous lakes and palaces. The biggest lake is Kunming lake,which is portrayed in the drawing. Along the hill line is the Perfume Pagoda.
Beijing, China
April 29, 2013
The outside deck at Santou Hostel.
Beijing, China
April 28, 2013
Business men in the Airport at a café.
Beijing, China
April 27, 2013
Was going out with some friends in Myanmar for my birthday, so I was killing time at a local cafe as my buddy Joshua picked up his wife. No one spoke English there but through sign language I got them to get me pen and paper. Once I started drawing they came over and chatted using sign language.
Yangon, Myanmar
April 26, 2013
After desperately searching for a money machine, non-existent in much of Myanmar, we cut our beach trip down by a day. So after riding the beach on a scooter we decided to have a drink at a local bar. After a few drawings and some beer the guys were giving us homemade booze and the weirdest green goopy snack I have ever tried. Pictures Pending.
Ngwe Saung
April 25, 2013
Guy chilling out on beach watching sunset.
Ngwe Saung
April 24, 2013
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At the nicest beach I have ever been to. 11 miles long, soft white sandy beach was far from the palm trees, and almost no one was on it. Two dogs that befriended us.
Ngwe Saung
April 23, 2013
Waiting at the bus station at 7 am. Started drawing some kids and a teenager with reddish hair sat down and watched everything I was doing. So I incorporated him and his buddy in the drawing.
Yangon, Myanmar
April 22, 2013
I woke up at sunrise to get some photos of the temples of Bagan. I found it so relaxing I sat down in the ruins of one temple and sketched the sunrise.
Bagan, Myanmar
The second drawing is of the traditional horse carriage still used here.
Bagan, Myanmar
April 21, 2013
A traditional puppet show.
Bagan, Myanmar
April 20, 2013
The manager of a hotel was waiting for some guest to arrive under the tree. He is wearing the traditional Lungi. A lungi is similar to a skirt, and is worn in hot countries where heat and humidity make things a bit damp down there, so with this you can air it out.
Bagan, Myanmar
April 19, 2013
Riding bikes through temples in hundred degree heat. No art today, just a very exhausted Mike
Bagan, Myanmar
April 18, 2013
Nine hour bus ride to Bagan. This was a stop where a girl was buying corn on the cob with her mom.
Another bus stop, where a monk was eating his lunch.
A few hours from Bagan, Myanmar
April 17, 2013
This drawing we did on Myanmar’s New Year. We had wandered into Traders, a modern five-star hotel for air conditioning and a hide out from the 104F heat. Sitting in their lobby, I started doing a sketch of the interior when the guy who was in the back ground came over and introduced himself. His name was Jonathon, a financial guy from Malaysia. He was very well spoken, but funny that he was wearing running shorts with a plaid dress shirt in the middle of this fancy hotel after that I never got back to the drawing.
Yangon, Myanmar
Niña’s Art
Patrick O’Brien’s Art
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