WST trip: Morocco, Rabat

Before I start writhing about Rabat, Its a must say some words about Asilah.
Its a small village were you can find a small Medina build by the Portuguese near the coast of ocean. It’s really clean village painted in tones of blue and white. I had a great time there sketching and accidentally I met two nice artists.
Jose Antonio Sencianes Ortega is a Spanish talented illustrator living in south of Spain. We didn’t have much time to talk but I will search him for sure when I pass by his place on my WST adventure! To him: Was really nice to meet you my friend and lets sketch together some day!
The other is a urban artist but I didn’t find yet any information of him in the web, but his work was great. He uses cement paper to sketch, tea water to mix with pure spice like saffron and also pure blue. He is doing this for around 14 years, he said. The funny part during the meeting was when he wanted to exchange their work for my sketchbook. When i said “i can’t because this is not for me, it’s for a guy make a guide book about Morocco” so he ask me to stay one month with him to draw a full sketchbook, with bed and food for free… well, I smile to him, we change contacts and I said “In future I will be here, and next time I’ll do that, I promise.” I feel like my day was “completed” in that time. Love to find new people with the same interests and discover how they live with drawing.

Let’s move on!

Continue reading

WST trip: Morocco

Tanger 06

New year, new sketchbooks, new life!
I start 2012 like that in Tanger, Morocco really motivated with the incoming World Sketching Tour and the opportunity to travel in this continent that I never been before: Africa. In this trip I didn’t had time to write anything along so I will put some memories that I will never forget of Morocco. I had this conversation in Tanger custom when i was receiving the visa to get in:
Morocco Police: Profession?
Me: Artist..
(because they don’t know what is a designer)
Morocco Police: Artist of what?
Me: …illustrator..
Morocco Police: …we don’t know that, another?
Me: …painter… artist painter!
…and for the first time in my life, one of the professions I have more respect, I “became” on a painter artist just like that. Actually it was just in paper 😉

Continue reading

Where are you Simonetti?

…is the question that I have heard more 🙂
A few weeks ago I wrote here about a proposal that i receive. The idea was going to Morocco to draw an illustrated guide book. The thing went good but unfortunately, my trip in Morocco ended early that i was waiting for.

Any way, I still have a great unfinished sketchbook about Morocco and in my next post I’ll show you them! Here is some photos I had put in my Facebook along the trip.

Some of the firsts sketches in Morocco 🙂

It can happen any where you just have to be in contact! I arranged a Mini sketchcrawll with 2 painter artists that I found in Marrakeche! “Ait Bouzid Said” his a famous Morocco painter, but at the moment he was doing portraits in the streets of Marrakech to make money. Thank you my new morocco friends for the time we spend drinking a nice cup of tea and drawing.

Morning breakfast, after a sketch at 7h30 am and a snickpick of another sketchbook page! I’m really enjoying the time! Today it’s time to move on and go to the mountains, besides de cold weather there is no traffic smoke 🙂

Essaouira Medina in 5 vanishing points 🙂

Merry Christmas folks!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always at my parents home. The dinner is the typical codfish with cabbage, olive oil and vinegar! Because I have a big family with a lot of young cousins, there is fun all the time. In the top is a part of them (from left to right): my brother Pedro, then my cousin Rita with santa reindeer horns and Nuno, my two other cousins Carla and Alexandre, my godfather José and the last one is my uncle Carlos.

Family portrait

On Christmas day we normally pass all day with family again, but this time is in my uncles house. At the end of the day I had done some portraits. In the top there is my goddaughter Inês and my grandmother Cândida, next is my father António and my uncle Carlos, my mother Glória and uncle Cecília and at the end is my cousin Joana.

Urban Sketchers meeting at Bairro Alto

Yesterday I was at the Urban Sketchers meeting in Bairro Alto. Besides to the normal enthusiasm is to review the sketchers friends, there was someone who made ​​me an interesting proposal. I love when the path becomes wider than what we see. Soon i say what it is, but for now there is a chance to have another trip soon! : D Will this trip be my last before going to travel around the world? 😉

Ontem estive no encontro de Urban Sketchers no Bairro Alto. Para além do entusiasmo normal que é rever os amigos desenhadores, fizeram-me uma proposta bastante interessante. Adoro quando o caminho se torna mais amplo para além do que vemos. Em breve divulgo o que é, mas para já adianto que, possívelmente vai haver mais uma viagem em breve!! 😀 Será que é desta vez que faço a últma pequena viagem antes de ir dar a volta ao mundo?! 😉

Travel Equipment

One of the basic concerns in the organization of the WST project is what I will take with me. Because I go through places very hot and very cold, I chose clothes that can be dressed in layers. This means that you can dress them one above the other to get warm.
Here is a wish list of what I need for my long trip.

Continue reading

Hero

The making of “Hero,” a drawing of my dad composed entirely out of 3.2 million ink dots.

He used one pencil: faber-castell F and one pen: micron .005
And if you are curious about how he count the dots, here is the explanation:
“I multiply speed of plotting (how many dots i put down per 10 seconds) with the number of hours I work on each section.”

Just have a quick look in his nice website!