This is a series of watercolours, pen and ink and pencil drawings illustrating life in the Philippines, most particularly Manila.
Nadia Kondratiev was asked to participate in a two women show in honour of women in March last year. She was asked to illustrate the target of SDG 5, sustainable development goal 5. Here are the watercolours and pastels with which she achieved this.
Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
(watercolour on paper)
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
(watercolour on paper)
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
(pastel on paper)
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
(watercolour on paper)
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
(pastel on paper)
Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
(watercolour on paper)
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
(pastel on paper)
Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
(watercolour on paper)
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
(watercolour on paper)
Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life.
(pastel on paper)
Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
(pen and ink on paper)
The happiness should all goals be achieved...
(pastel on paper)
This is from a bust at the National Museum of Scotland.
A quick pen and ink drawing of two of my fellow sketchers.
A quick pen and ink drawing of an inquiring pedestrian and the bronze statue of Sandy Irvine Robertson on Leith Shore.
A pen and ink drawing from two busts at the National Museum of Scotland
I do apologise to the model, I’ve forgotten her name, but she sat for a group of us in the basement of the then Café Marlayne in front of the National Theatre. It is now the Jules Verne café.
Nefertiti, as seen by two different sources and then translated by me. The originals can be found at the National Museum of Scotland.
I go to the portrait drop in sessions at the Old Tollbooth Market. They are a great help in honing skills and staying “limber”.
This is the same person as the previous portrait. We usually end up with two portraits, more if no one was doing oils because we break up one of the long poses into shorter ones.
Here is my next experience at the Old Tollbooth Market.
The second portrait from the second session shows how a face can change according to the angle from which it is being seen.
I remember this model’s name, well I was actually told it. He had a very easy face to draw.
These were ten minute poses.
A half hour pose.
Again at the Old Tollbooth Market.
Leon’s second pose and my overuse of the black colour.
Again, at the Old Tollbooth Market.
Unfortunately, I really didn’t do the eyes properly.
Anne McHenry, sitting in the café and drawing at the National Museum of Scotland
This is from a sculpture by Michael Snowden that was in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Another portrait from a bust at the National Museum of Scotland. This is Fabio Feroni, by Giovacchino Fortini.
This is John Knox teaching a thing or two to a modern young man. This is from a statue of John Knox in St. Giles.
Also in St. Giles, there is a cherub guarding the Marquess of Montrose’s eternal slumber.
From the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh, I chose to draw a selection of entertainers; they are actually mechanised dolls.
At the People’s Story Museum, in Edinburgh, I happened upon this interesting scene - the mannequin of a joiner meeting a real live window cleaner.
Sitting at the café in the National Museum of Scotland, I saw this small boy playing with his mother’s phone while waiting for his meal to arrive.
Pepper was a robot in the Robots exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. People were able to interact with Pepper and children enjoyed that particularly.
Fellow sketcher Peter sketching the Britannia at Ocean Terminal.
On Portobello Beach on a nice summer day…
I saw this couple at the Rip It Up exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland.
A pen and ink drawing of the sketchers taking refuge in the All Bar One on a Wednesday morning
A collection of sketches made in urban, sometimes not so urban, settings. They are drawn in situ, sometimes tweaked at home. Most of these sketches are done in Edinburgh, where I now live. The majority are pen and ink drawings, some enhanced with water-soluble ink pencils or watercolours.
On Teviot place, McEwan Hall is where graduation ceremonies for students of the University of Edinburgh are held. Its use is not limited to the graduation ceremonies.
Everything gets dressed up at Festival Time, including McEwan’s Hall.
Nicolson Street, in front of Surgeons’ Hall on a windy day. There are many windy days in Edinburgh. I was sitting in the Festival Theatre Café, watching from the window.
Houseboats along the Water of Leith.
The Forth Port in the Port of Leith.
Along the Water of Leith, in Leith, one can see the interesting building which houses The Clock Cafe.
In Greyfriar’s Kirkyard there are many graves, of which some tree graves.
Hume’s tomb, a tower in the Calton Burial Grounds, a view from behind, where there are other graves, of course. It was a very sunny and pleasant day and I had found a wall in the sun to sit on.
A pen and ink drawing of the Borrowman grave in Greyfriars graveyard
A pen and ink drawing of George Hunter’s grave in Greyfriars
A pen and ink and pencil drawing of the Kinkaid grave in Greyfriar’s cemetary
The view of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street Gardens is impressive.
A slightly different angle and without colour, a view of Edinburgh Castle, growing out of its rock.
On a side street, tucked away behind the Morningside Library, is what looks like a movie set for a western. It is called the Far West and it was actually built to promote a furniture manufacturer. Now it is mostly garages. I revived the wild west…
One of the structures in the Wild West, Morningside, is the Cantina. It is a back door to the Morningside Library.
At the end of Morningside Road stands the Hermitage pub.
Now this is the West End Tailors on Queensferry Road.
In Lady Stair’s Close you can find the Writers’ Museum where you can learn all about Robbie Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
From inside the Ocean Terminal in Port of Leith
Fellow sketchers looking down into the cafe at the Gallery of Modern Art
At Christmas time, a Christmas tree is installed in the Main Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, on the ground floor. Garlands are hung in all the archways. Children are, of course, delighted.
In the National Museum of Scotland sits the godess of filth and sex. What would the proper offering be?
St. Gile’s pulpit is only one of the examples of wonderful art that has survived through so many metamorphoses that the building went through.
Behind the Storytelling Centre there is a courtyard where this threesome were getting ready to film a promo or a part of a programme.
From inside the shop of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, one has a view of the High Street.
When John Knox took over John Mosman’s house, it is thought that this was what he used as his study.
A pen and ink drawing of the view from the café of the Scottish Storytelling Centre
Looking west from just outside the Scottish Storytelling Centre along the Royal Mile, one can see the Tron, St. Giles, and if one squints, a bit of the castle and the Camera Obscura tower.
Once again, from just outside the Scottish Storytelling Centre, one can look east, down the Royal Mile and see the Firth of Forth at the end.
Just off the Canongate, one can find the Holyrood Campus of the University of Edinburgh, the School of Education at Moray House. The Salisbury Crags rise in the background.
At one end of The Pleasance stands the Salvation Army in all its splendour.
Walking down from the Royal Mile, down to the lower level of the town to Waverley Station, along Jeffrey Street, before reaching Old St. Paul’s, which is worth a visit too, one can appreciate no. 39…
I contemplated renting the flat on the third floor, overlooking the Water of Leith. Looking up to the window from across the water…
The Pizza Express clock tower stands out on Deanhaugh St. in Stockbridge, right by the Water of Leith.
This is the Inverleith House, in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Inside is exhibition space and a café. The gardens are a great place for walks and so, on the day, there was a parade of Mums with prams. One of the younger set was great at escaping. He enjoyed freedom!
In the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, there is a small waterfall, visible from a path under Inverleith House.
This is a view of the Scottish Parliament from the Holyrood Park side of it. It is an interesting building.
The Western General Hospital is a huge amalgamation of buildings of various periods. It is difficult to find a truly aesthetically pleasing view. The Turner House is one of them.
The D Block is another more interesting bit of the Western General. A sketcher was sitting between the lions making it all seem like an intense discussion.
This is one of the less ugly more modern bits of the jumble that is the Western General Hospital.
The Western General Hospital’s Clock Tower, at an angle where the clock is unseen.
Right at the top of the Union Canal, at the Lochrin Basin, near the tables of the the Akva Café, dawdle and waddle the swans…
When I got tired of sketching the Western General Hospital, I tuned my back to it and beheld Fettes College, a sight much more pleasing to the eye.
In South Queensferry there is a building, strangely standing on its own. It is the Miramare Ristorante Italiano, built in 1870, maybe not an Italian restaurant from the start.
A watercolour inspired by the beach at Portobello.
We sailed around Kvarner Bay in Croatia on the Planka. A very pleasant trip when the seas were calm. We were staying put in Mali Lošinj Harbour, waiting for the bora winds to calm.
The houseboats on the Union Canal, in Fountainbridge.
I was sitting on the promenade of the Mali Lošinj Harbour, watching the boats come in and out. We stayed in the harbour, couldn’t sail away, due to the bora winds. Many boats were coming in for the shelter of the harbour.
Overlooking the Union Canal in Ratho is the Bridge Inn. The whole scene is very picturesque. I might update this drawing with a bit of watercolour…
We went up to Dundee, the city of discovery, where the Discovery is moored next to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dundee, On the Tay, making the V & A look like a ship as well.
This is a series of cartoons of an intellectual and an appearance by his girlfriend, with explanations of life and its meaning.
Well, hmm... I don't know if I quite agree with you on that point...
A pause to discuss the theory of relativity with a flower bed...
I wonder if Merlin is born yet...?
Summer, of course, brings the vampiric plague of small buzzing individuals - call themselves mosquitoes!
I find that a dog's life is most especially hard on the knees!
As far as I'm concerned, the world is made up of two separate forces,... no... three... no, rather four or five... A complex network of forces, working......
Now, if that tree fell in the forest without a soul to hear it, not only wouldn't it make any noise, but it wouldn't even fall. It would just be fallen when it would finally be seen.
WAIT! I think I might have just contradicted myself!...
Hmm... Now, if we save the whales, we'll be keeping small animals very small and large animals not so large... So,... for the sake of basketball players, we should do away with them. On the other hand...
To return to my original point,... uh... Where was I?...
AHA! But what if the world is NOT round?!?!
Santa Claus during and after his one night of intense work. These cartoons were published in Forfar, Scotland.
A pen and ink and water soluble inktense pencil illustration of Santa taking a fall. It might have to do with hat size or trying to carry too much all at once.
A pen and ink and inktense pencils cartoon of Santa in a café for restitution after the Christmas eve rounds.
Pen and ink and inktense pencils cartoon of an Irish jigging Santa
Various cartoons of sometimes amusing situations
A pencil and pen and ink drawing, illustrating the Filipino customer service. It was given as a going away gift to someone who wasn’t going to have to encounter this anymore.
A pen and ink cartoon of how to try to be slightly comfortable in a tropical climate. It was given to a fellow sufferer.
A pen and ink illustration for the French Book Club in Manila.
A pen and ink and pencil drawing in honour of a friend’s birthday, for himself and his cat.
A pen and ink and pencil cartoon of the eternal question in the Philippines - what why?
A pen and ink cartoon of a medieval peasant wife urging her husband to have his breakfast onion to improve his bad odours. It arose from a discussion about onions and how beneficial to one’s health they are, leading to the fact that they were often eaten at breakfast on a piece of bread. Of course, the immediate thought was of the ensuing bad breath. But I maintain that the onion smell might have pleasantly overpowered some less pleasant bodily odours and, all things being relative, was most likely an improvement.
A watercolour in postcard size, donated to the Twitter Art Exhibition in 2017 to benefit Molly Olly's Wishes.
Pen and ink on watercolour paper postcard art. My entry for the Twitter Art Exhibition 2018 to benefit Pegasus RDA.
Watercolour postcard art donated to the Twitter Art Exhibition 2019, to benefit Art in Healthcare, Edinburgh. It illustrates the moment when Cosette sees the wonderful doll in the shop window, a doll she can’t believe is real. Later, unbelievably, Jean Valjean gives it to her.
