Oceano Proibido

As I've mentioned before, I'm getting involved in a very interesting (and promising) project of an old friend. This is the base drawing I've created straight in vector format, a few days ago (the bright side of not owning a scanner anymore). News about the project might be found at twitter or in the project's own homepage (still under construction).

Daveejees

Well, after a long nap, I'm back. Triggered by a friend's assignment for a multimedia-multiplayer project, I've started holding pen, pencil and using my tiny graphical tablet again.

The first results of this will be published here soon. The side-effect of it are drawings I'm doing to gain back control of my hand (remember 'Evil dead 2'?).

This portrait ended up being a hybrid of two friends, the model and the aforementioned project creator.

'Plane' boredom

Well, after a little pause, I'm back with two examples of how the most useless moments of our daily routine can become something productive. A very dear friend of mine makes cute, but above all, very portable and user-friendly (double meaning) hand sewn 9x12cm sketchbooks. Most importantly, he assembles them out of scraps of Fabriano and Canson paper of the highest quality. Quite the ecological and touching feat, I may say!

No matter how silly drawings like these may look, they're precious for me. I doodle and sketch a lot on restaurant mantels during lunch - I can't help it, the pen seems to fly on its own on their surface! It may also be a bit of a brag sometimes to sketch on a table mantel on a full restaurant. Here, on the other hand, the drawing is very intimate and nobody but me sees it. Now you too.

Little tattooed Pin-Up

Well, I hope this friend won't mind getting exhibited here. A new attempt with drawing directly in vector, but this time I must admit, lacking some discipline. Warming up for better works, I hope! I'll try to work more on my original medium in the future, the pencil!

Get on Your Boots

Quite a few workpads around here lately...

Lemon tree

A little bit of nonsense. The station's right, but I haven't been in Brussels for a while...(so I guess this is pretty much cheating)

A little technical

A little sketch for a small urban vehicle. I simply love to meet the right combination of pen and paper. When the ink flows, the drawings get done all by themselves. It's a pleasure to observe the dancing pen forming images.

Two local symbols

I must admit the angry bull image was a drawing from memory, from a beautifully crafted grafitti like those which used to populate the streets of Barcelona a few years ago (before the city hall apparently decided to wage war on them, pasteurizing the cityscape for tourists from tv-land). Based upon it, I decided to create a character inspired by the local Catalan donkey ('burro') as opposed to the Spanish Bull ('Toro'). Sideburns and a cigar were elements I thought could match the catalan type of guy. Though the second donkey carries a Greek flag tattooed on his arm, his basically a variation of the first. Enough blahblahblah for tonight!

Silver hair

A post-it note sketch. It reminded me of those fantastic women as drawn by Bilal.

Small comic sequence

A short sequence drawn in the metro, inspired by a nice movie I've recently seen "Let the right one in".

Another workpad

Well, this one came right out of the oven...

Workpad

Well, it's a bit like doodling while working something else out...

Waiting on your order

Such a happy meal...

PS: Thanks Agus, for insisting on keeping the loose sheets where I used to draw. ;)

Old Pin-Up2

Another one.

Old Pin-Up

From a long time ago loose sheet of paper.

Fountain

Inspired by this beautiful movie, I made a quick sketchy attempt of Rachel Weisz, just in time for from avoiding losing my daily post to the blog. Can't go on like this, though.

Comic character

It seems it's kind of a recurring theme sketching weirdo types as the one below these lines. Most of the time, they're hurt, dirty and bleeding. This one was whining as well. You can't have it all, folks!

I'm running out of images here, so it's time to make new ones, in order not to let the ball drop. See you soon.

Brazilian actress

Well, sometimes air travel can be pretty boring when flying long hours. When in lack of imagination or plainly being tired, the available magazines can bring unexpected beauties.

I remember her name was Gimenes, nothing else. I'm quite sure she was clever too!

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona (Spain) (2)

This is a very small and dear sketch I made on a napkin, in the summer of 2006, when my good friend Dato was about to head back to his homeland Georgia, in the Caucasus.

We were enjoying a hot summer day in the company of two blonde biers. If I were to sketch the temple from the same angle right now, where you can barely spot the scaffolding now the main tower's being built. I am quite fortunate to be able to follow the construction of such a wonder from up close, day by day.

Self depictions in vector (2)

Inspired by the great movie "A scanner darkly", I decided to take my experiences a step further. Here we see a detail and hybrid composition with the key/outline of the final coloured drawing.

Self depictions in vector (1)

Another interesting exercise was sketching digitally, but this time, in vector format.

Opposite to what some might think (I've had my share of comments in this direction), drawing oneself, far from being a demonstration of Oedipal complex (lol) is actually a very unpretentious and relaxed manner to practice. You're surely not so bound to be bothered by the result in case of it being bad! ;)

My first two attempts: black & white and then (gasp) Colour!

Tatoo girl (Digital Sketch)

Another exercise of a sketch directly drawn digitally.

Myths (Sketches on a Drawing Digital Tablet)

As an exercise on sketching 100% digitally, I've drawn this image

in about 10-15 minutes using photographical reference of the characters shown. It was something motivated by an article on a local graphic design magazine, in Barcelona.

Murakami @ the Guggenheim, Bilbo (Spain)

Once inside the museum, I've been given an extra push on forcing myself to drawing: the security staff made sure pictures inside the building wouldn't be allowed. Then I had no choice other than sketch the magnificent views from the entrance lobby with an installation by Japanese Artist Takashi Murakami.

Guggenheim, Bilbo (Spain)

Recently I've finally got the chance to win a 12-year-cycle of excuses which kept me from devoting time to visiting the charming city of Bilbo, in the basque country, northern Spain. Frank O. Gehry's mind-blowing building is per se reason enough for visiting the city, but luckily it's not the only one.

I tried to sketch a general plan of the building with a mechanical 0.5 pencil with blue leads and it takes a while to getting used to their fragility. You have to draw with your hand light as a feather.

Metro, Barcelona (Spain)

After reading the great book "An Illustrated Life", by Danny Gregory, I forced myself to regain confidence and dust the powder off my sketchbook - which had been completely forgotten laying on a shelf. I've really enjoyed all the artists' comments on the exercises they forced themselves on practicing, as a way (I guess) to overcome Inertia. Well, this might as well have been my first posting here, as a thank you note or homage to Danny and all of his contributors, but respecting the general purpose and random character of this blog, I shall leave it as it is, right here.

These sketches were made during a metro ride to/back from my work, in Barcelona. The big guy remained seated for 2-3 stations only but it was fortunately time enough to get him down on paper. It may be quite odd drawing people who are sitting right in front of you.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona (Spain)

It's simply not possible (or at least not so easy forgivable) to be in Barcelona -whether as a visitor or as another inhabitant - and avoid paying a visit to this dazzling temple. Even if you're not religious (like myself), it's going to make your mind wander.

Fortunately enough, this is my view from the living+dining rooms.

Urban Furniture, Barcelona (Spain)

During the modernist era (the local answer, so to speak, to the Art Nouveau movement), the Catalan blacksmiths in cooperation with ingenious architects really excelled in the making of beautifully crafted pieces of urban furniture. From street lamps to park benches and trash cans, anything was used for displaying the catalan national symbols.

Old town, Sevilla (Spain)

Whilst killing time before taking a plane back to Barcelona, under the hot Andaluzian sun, I decided to sketch a nice round building in Sevilla. The moorish influences in local architecture are a delight to the eye.

Temple Bar, Dublin (Ireland)

As the first of my postings here, I've chosen a small picture drawn on a A6/wide Tate Galery Postcard Sketchbook. This was supposed to register a trip I've carried out in the summer of 2008 with a good friend of mine, from London to Glasgow, then beautiful 'Edinburough' and finally Dublin.

Oddly enough, this page, drawn inside the Temple Bar in the homonymous area in Dublin remains the only page I've used so far in this sketchbook. I guess it's all about overcoming fears. I recommend sketching around the area while sipping a delicious Guinness, as it was the case here.