World Sketching Tour, Luis Simoes Comes to Indonesia

World Sketching Tour's

Luis Simoes Comes to Indonesia

Custom sketchbook made for Luis by Soleh Hadiyana

One of the many dreams of a sketcher is to see the whole world and show it one drawing at a time. An urban sketcher from Portugal, Luis Simoes is living that dream for about 4 years now. He set off from his hometown in Lisbon in 2012 and wanders the world (mostly Europe and Asia) alone, though sometimes meeting fellow travelers on a road.

A few days ago, he arrived in Jakarta after he finished traveling in the Philippines for about a month. After settling in a hostel in the Old Jakarta area, we arranged meetings with fellow Indonesian Urban Sketchers here and had a dinner together nearby the hostel. It was a great experience for us to meet him, talked to him about his numerous trips around the world, his struggles, his sketching method and his passion. He hopes to keep going on tour until he reaches his last target, Australia and New Zealand.

We took Luis in a laid back stroll around the old Chinatown residential block called Petak 9 the next day. We enjoyed the little and vivid details that the area provide and especially admire how this area still exist inside a megapolitan city like Jakarta. After having a late lunch (we sketched for a long time and almost skipped lunch). We also visited the Old Jakarta's "square" a.k.a Taman Fatahillah where the colonial Dutch buildings can be found. From there we head back to his hostel and let Luis rest.

Petak 9 neighborhood. A quiet Chinatown residential area yet has so many great little details that spring out from everywhere.

Sheila and I took Luis to lunch in  a hidden food stall behind Petak 9 traditional market called gang Kecap. In this sketch I wrote 10 questions that I asked Luis during our few days hanging out together.

The next day, Luis had the chance to explore Jakarta by himself for awhile. He went to an area called Passer Baroe and later had the chance to sketch Jakarta's oldest church, the Cathedral. In the afternoon, we came to meet him and took him to Cikini area, nearby city center to meet more Jakarta's urban sketchers. After sketching together inside a cafe there, we went to dinner at a small food stall nearby and have a farewell group photo.

Luis tried out his famous fish eye lens on my phone to take a groufie

A groufie after dinner. Stand left-right: Iqbal, Sari, Wahyu, Luis, Aga, Motulz, Donald. Front: Yoso and Yanuar.

Right now Luis is in Bandung, West Java. His plan is to spend few days on major cities in Java (Jogjakarta, Semarang, Solo & Surabaya) before crossing to the island of Bali and Lombok. We wish him a great adventure and may he find Indonesia comfortable and feel at home here. See you around, Luis. Vamos World Sketching Tour Indonesia!

Chinese New Year @ Petak Sembilan

Last monday was celebrated by Chinese as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Me with couple of friends were trying to catch the festivity of the celebration with sketches. So we went to Petak Sembilan, which known as an area with quite large Chinese community in Jakarta.

While walking around the neighborhood, we saw Lion Dance attraction was held on the street.

That day at Petak Sembilan one of the main place to visit was the Jin De Yuan Temple. Many Chineses came here to pray for health, wealth, and fortune. They burned some sticks of incense in small or large size while praying. That place suddenly surrounded by smokes and ashes. We tried to find some spot to sketch or take a picture. It was kinda difficult. That place were full of people, smokes and ashes, but gladly we can deal with that. And here are some of my sketches.

Happy Lunar New Year! Gong Xi Fat Cai!

Suatu Siang di Kota Toea

Hari minggu kemarin saya mendatangi Kota Tua, Jakarta. Kawan-kawan dari OrArt Oret Semarang kebetulan sedang punya acara di Jakarta dan hari minggu kemarin mengadakan kumpul-kumpul di depan Museum Fatahillah.

Hari minggu sudah pasti jadi hari yang sibuk untuk Daerah Kota Toea terutama di sekitar Museum Fatahillah. Banyak orang berkumpul di sana. Sekali lagi saya membuat sketsa Museum Fatahillah yang mungkin merupakan salah satu bangunan terpopuler di Jakarta sebagai obyek foto maupun gambar. Para pedagang mulai dari es, makanan, sampai dengan odong-odong jumlahnya sangat banyak. Mereka juga cukup menarik sevagai obyek sketsa.


Museum Sejarah Jakarta atau yang kita kenal dengan sebutan Museum Fatahillah.



Pedagang Soto Mie yang banyak ditemukan di area sekitar Museum fatahillah, mencari peruntungan dari keramaian yang hadir di sekitar Kota Toea.

Terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan dari OrArt Oret Semarang dan semua yang hadir.

KERONCONG, MUSIC OF PEACE

Do you know what "Keroncong" is? If you don't...please find it in wikipedia. Mr. Wiki will give you much more information, better and more accurate than mine hahaha...

It's an Indonesian music style that was developed from Portuguese music. A lot of young people at my age considered it as an old fashioned kind of music. But I really like it. So peaceful....and relaxing.

Please...just try to listen, and you will find that I was telling you the truth.

(My sketch above was made at Semarang Tawang Train Station when a local keroncong music group performing there to entertain people)

BECAK

Becak...

We can't find any becak in a big city called Jakarta. This man powered vehicle is no longer exist, substituted with motor vehicles.

But when we were in Bekasi to do some sketching. We found this unique vehicle still exist. Struggling, fighting for survival. I really miss...traveling around the town with becak. slowly but sure, you can catch every detail of the landscape and environment. It was really fun...


sketchbook A5, drawing pen snowman 0.5

THE LEGACY FROM INDIA

Our beloved city, Jakarta has an endangered species. Almost endangered species actually, because it still can be found in almost every corner of Jakarta, roaring...and running free against the wind. But in some part of East Jakarta it cannot be found anymore.

Actually it's not our local species, it was imported from India many years ago. It became famous in Indonesia especially Jakarta even before Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. I'm sure you all know what it is. Yes...It is Bajaj ( bajai ), a three wheels motor vehicle that used as a public transport. In Indonesia, this vehicle named after the biggest automotive company in India, Bajaj Auto meanwhile people in India called this vehicle "Tuk-tuk".

I took the sketch from Jembatan Merah Trans Jakarta shelter, which located in Jalan Gunung Sahari Raya, Central Jakarta. That day, the shelter were full of people. Some people were waiting for the bus and the others were rushing around the shelter. I don't know why those people always looks in a rush (just like John Lennon said: Everybody seems to think I'm lazy. I don't mind. I think they're crazy. Running everywhere at such a speed. Till they find there's no need). But I didn't give a damn about that. So instead of waiting in line or rushing around, I decided to sketch the view outside.

And there were those bajajs...

The legacy from India....

Standing, waiting...fighting for survival.



If you find my english in this writing awful...please do apologize.

sketch: drawing pen snowman 0.05 on maruman artist paper 204.5 g.