Why lugging pens and ink 2 hours out of Manila is a good idea.

In between workshop sessions, I could play. Casa San Pablo welcomes people and pens, and there is an interesting composition to be found (or improvised) in every corner. In the room where I stayed, nudes hung from the walls, their backs to me while I slept. A tiny table managed to stay up under the weight of ink bottles. (Well, okay, I only brought two.)

Morning table
Morning table

I like a lot of natural light when I doodle, although I have been known to doodle under all sorts of bad lighting conditions, which is most likely why I now need two pairs of glasses.

A leaf finds its way
A leaf finds its way - Letraset bleedproof paper, Danitrio flexible stub with Pilot Iroshizuku yama-budo

A fallen flower and a mottled leaf play temporary home to a dragon.

Green on green
Nakaya heki-tame with dragon stopper

A bit of butterfly wing rests against stone. (No butterflies were harmed in the composition of this shot.)

Nakaya ishi-me kan-shitsu
Nakaya ishi-me kan-shitsu

Because it was a creative workshop, there were more cameras per square meter than any other workshop I’ve attended (or conducted) in recent memory. Thanks to that happy happenstance, I learned that my Lumix LX3 had a multi-exposure function.

Pen feeder
Pen feeder

I’d always wondered what the holes in these chairs were for, and now I know.

Sitting pretty
Sitting pretty

Before we left for our next stop and back to Manila, I finished a quick goodle (see definition below). I was quite surprised that Pilot Iroshizuku ajisai had light aqua tones when wetted. I also observed that tsutsuji almost fluoresces when diluted and smeared, and it when it runs with Noodler’s Army Green, it stays on the outside, forming an unexpected outline.

This is a goodle (a good doodle)
This is a goodle (a good doodle)

Letraset’s bleedproof paper (seen in the first shot) is P240 at Fully Booked, and worth it. The ink doesn’t settle into the paper right away, which means there’s more time to achieve additional effects (like swirling). I’m hoarding.