Over the course of 5 years urban sketching with an iPad, I’ve gone through a fair number of cases, grips, holders and stands! Whether you call it a case, grip, holder or stand, anyone who wants to head out to draw with an iPad will appreciate being able to use something that hangs on securely to your iPad while you navigate urbanscapes to draw on location. (I tend to call it a ‘grip’, as it grips my iPad, and I, in turn, grip it.) In my 5 years of being an iPad urban sketcher, (and 8 years of owning various generations of iPads),  I’ve never dropped my iPad outdoors simply because I’ve u ..read more

If you’d rather see what the trip was like, here’s a video with highlights, plus my thoughts on the 2018 iPad Pro, and advice as you consider which one’s right for you. Apple Keynote, Halloween, NYC Marathon...all in 1 week. Whew! No, I did not have a costume, and though the Missus and I wanted to to watch the parade, we made the mistake of deciding on a short nap before, then woke a little 1am after it was all over (thankfully, I got to draw some great costumes before that!) And no, I was not running any marathon. We actually missed watching the race despite our hotel being blocks away from C ..read more

The 4 sketchers of Fátima. from left to right: Eduardo, Kasia, Rob and Fernanda Sketch Portugal with 3 other sketchers.  Draw a little over a million Catholics congregating to worship in a small town, north of Lisbon. And Pope Francis will be visiting too. Those were the main nuggets that rang in my head like little bells, sparking visuals of possibilities in fragmented technicolor. What? Me? WOW!!! Are you kidding? Yes, I'm in! When I finished reading the email with details of the invitation, I told my missus, Louisa, and we hopped around the room with unbridled glee! :D Right ..read more

I made this chart in Procreate for a recent workshop on iPad Pro Creative Workflows, which lists all the gear I use daily with my iPad Pro. Details below! I talked about tablet holders recently and today, will discuss other gear I've discovered and consider essential. This is what I have with me when I'm out with my Jumbo Pro. Some items are really simple, and you probably already have options lying around your home, like the clip I use for my Apple Pencil. My most recent discovery on the other hand, has been in the market for a couple years, and I am so glad I finally stumbled acro ..read more

Demo Time during the Urban Sketcher Symposium 2016 in Manchester over the summer!  Over the summer, I had a fantastic time in the UK, the main focus being the delivery of my workshop, Sketching on iPads with Procreate at the Urban Sketcher Symposium in Manchester. In particular, I wanted to list the equipment I use, discuss and recommend all the time. After having used the iPad Pro (12.9") and Apple Pencil from Day One of their release (about a year now!), I can say first, that I absolutely love both, and second, certain accessories make the total experience so much better, especially wh ..read more

Guess what my wife got me for my birthday? :) (she's awesome, yes!) I will write a full review after more testing, but after about 12 hours with my shiny new piece of gorgeous tech, wanted to make a quick video to share first impressions of the IPad Pro and Apple Pencil. And you know, I have to say that using the combo with Procreate 3 makes all the difference. But more on that later. The short and skinny right now is it's looking really good. I have a few concerns to check out, but overall, love the combo. There's a lot to love, and that may obvious from a test drive in an Apple Store ..read more

When discussing Hong Kong’s architectural history, the name of one building pops up again and again; the General Post Office built in 1911 on the corner of Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road Central. When I first saw photos of those soaring porticos topped by proud jutting balconies, I was smitten, and fervently wished I could have seen this beauty before she met the business end of a wrecking ball in 1976.  A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by the Hong Kong Economic Times, along with Gary Yeung, founder of Urban Sketchers Hong Kong. In the shadows of the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Scienc ..read more

Whenever time allows, I like to get some life drawing in. Nothing like it to hone the study of fascinating human forms. 110 Studio in Sheung Wan Hong Kong is run by a good friend of mine, and this video is a compilation of a few sessions I did there recently. I haven’t been attending life drawing sessions as much as I’d like of late, but do whenever time allows. In addition to attending 'regular’ life drawing sessions where the model is nude, I also occasionally have fun at themed figure drawing sessions, and a new favorite is at 110 Studio Sheung Wan, run by Pei Sea, a very good friend of min ..read more

My last piece of the day. Chinese signage and little bits of line work completed at home after I was chased off by stall owners cleaning up for the day. I've decided to leave this in black and white for now. The last rooftop rendezvous at Shek Kip Mei from my previous post drew a lot interest among Urban Sketcher friends who missed out last time, so we agreed we’d go again. A date was picked, and on Saturday, 21 March, a whole bunch of them trudged up the dark, smelly staircase to sketch the view…only to find that half the rooftop was now gone! I didn’t go that morning as I had a stack o ..read more

Gary delivers the morning brief I am fascinated by the area in an around Sham Sui Po. Apliu Steet for instance, has been an irresistible draw for me for years; a Gadget-Geekland that pops to mind whenever I need a tool or little doodad of any kind. It's a rather local spot, devoid of the usual crush of tourists, apart from a few who browse the stalls festooned with LED torches, cheap binoculars, phone or photographic accessories, and other gewgaws of all kinds. By day, there are huge sections of the area dedicated to the garment trade, and you can find here every kind of fabric, bea ..read more