One of the more lovely aspects of Filipino culture are the Sari Sari stores. Small family businesses that operate out of a home window. The streets are lined with them. Little window shops selling snacks, drinks, canned goods and what not. In my early trips to the Philippines the colorful item filled windows reminded me of the repetitive motifs of my own art. I thought about this for the entire trip once back in 2016, and then when I got home I sat down drew this.
Sari Sari, watercolor and sharpie, los angeles, 2016
Sari Sari store
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colored pencil, calbayog city, 2025
I really enjoyed making these drawings, and I think they're beautiful, but I'm feeling that urge to move on. Or maybe it's just that I want to do more but I'm not certain how.
Let me think.
In any case these were fun.
Budos Band - T.I.B.W.F
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After Munch
(Augustus Pablo - Dub Organizer)
pencil drawing in my moleskine
Calbayog City 2023
I absolutely adore Edvard Munch but here's the deal.. If you search for Munch's art you're going to get like a million copies of "The Scream" which is a great painting sure, but there is so much more to Edvard Munch than "The Scream."
Anyway, IMHO, Edvard Munch is a wonderful artist and if you like drawing he is certainly someone well worth studying.
Study for Madonna
Edvard Munch. 1894
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TOM RUSH / JONI MITCHELL
pencil drawing, calbayog city, philippines 2023
My only regret in life is that I didn't come to the Philippines sooner. I love it here.
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Newly arrived kittens
watercolor and ballpointpen
Calbayog City 2024
Our neighbor's cat recently had a litter of kittens, and being as our neighbor can't afford to buy cat food, our house has now been invaded by five hungry kittens. The kitten energy is infectious.
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Egon Schiele
ball point pen drawing in my moleskine
Tierra Mia Coffee, Echo Park, 2016
I love Egon Schiele. I made this drawing after one of his self portraits while sitting in a little cafe called Tierra Mia Coffee in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
Btw, Tierra Mia Coffee serves a Mexican Style Hot Chocolate that is perhaps the best hot chocolate on Earth. It's so delicious. Rich and creamy with little bits of chocolate. Seriously.
It's a nice place to draw too.
Here's another drawing I did that same morning.
Egon Schiele
pen drawing in my moleskine
Tierra Mia Coffee, Echo Park, 2016
Thank you Tierra Mia Coffee. I miss that place.
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e duobus unum
ballpoint pen and pencil
Calbayog City 2024
Sometimes I'm like, fuck it, let's draw.
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colored pencil & pen, calbayog, 2025
I gave up on this drawing, and then I liked it.
Well, I liked the blue part. To me, the entire drawing is there just to make the blue part look good.
And it does.
Then again, the red and yellow parts are nice too..
Everything in life comes down to red, yellow and blue. And browns.
It was my brother who pointed out to me that browns bring out color.
Which is true, on several levels.
I love this song by the way.
Manenberg Revisited - David Williams
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Deep enough
black sharpie
Los Angeles 2012
If you look deep enough into space, you can see the universe as it was just after the beginning of time.
Before any of this shit happened.
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Tom Rush/Joni Mitchell - Urge for Going
Your hand is always in everything. Do you know that?
pencil drawing, calbayog city, 2025
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KANSAS
pencil drawings inverse color
Calbayog City, 2022
I loved this song when it came out. I loved it as an existentialist. That life is it's own meaning. And even that meaning is transient. I loved it as a deep thinking 26 year old.
Let me tell you, this song hits way different at age 74.
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We fall astray when we deny nature. 74. Living on a small island in the Philippines.
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