Tag: lisbon

in this quiet little place

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vasco da gama

After arriving in Lisbon, I bumped into fellow Urban Sketcher Jason Das at the hostel, and we took the bus down to the historic district of Belem. First stop was the massive Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, a huge UNESCO-listed monastery built in the highly decorative Manueline fashion. Above, a surprise, the tomb of Vasco da Gama, the real Vasco da Gama! The one they named that Brazilian football club after! The Mosteiro is pretty epic, and if I’d had time I would have attempted a larger all-encompassing drawing from the outside, but I liked to draw smaller snapshots, capturing some of the details.

jeronimos details
mosteiro sm

I haven’t done much drawing inside large religious buildings, with their epic grandeur and special light. We don’t have any cathedrals here in Davis. It’s something I would like to practise though; I’ve seen some other people’s sketches inside such buildings and it’s an inspiration.

mosteiro dos jeronimos

squeezy jet

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luton to lisbon
And so, I went to Portugal. After days of rain and crowds in London, it was nice to see some clear blue sky upon landing at Lisbon’s nice and modern airport. I had to first go through the mess that is Luton airport though, which seems to run on the ‘people will put up with anything’ theory (such as making people pay just to drop people off). Eventually though I was on my very orange Easyjet and flying away from England, excited about all the sketching yet to come. As ever I had to draw the view on the plane, but I had no window seat so couldn’t draw what was outside. I used my orange micron and I like the results. As I drew, attendants went up and down the aisle over and over again trying to sell goods and nonsense. Easyjet flights seem to be run by Del Boy Trotter, and it’s not as if they’re all that cheap like they used to be. Still, it got me to the actual Lisbon rather than a hundred miles away, so I’m happy. 

When I arrived in Lisbon I got myself a Lisbon Card (useful if you have time to visit all those museums and sights, a bit of a big waste of money if ultimately you don’t get to do that), and hopped on the very convenient AeroBus straight downtown. As I was sketching on the bus (below), I met a woman who teaches at a London art school and is also an art critic for various national papers, in Lisbon to cover another big art exhibition. I told her about the Symposium, and she popped by a couple of days later to meet with the organizers and the sketchers. for me, this was my first sketch in Lisbon, so I had to make it colourful! I’m getting used to whipping out the waterbrush and paints on public transport now, it’s pretty compact!

AeroBus sketch

my thoughts are far away

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torre belem, lisboa

I am finally back from the 2nd International Urban Sketching Symposium in Lisbon, and the accompanying trip home to London, with a massive amount of sketches to scan and post. Where to begin? Well the obvious answer would be at the beginning, but I don’t know if I can be as linear as that, though I will try. So I’m starting in the middle somewhere. This sketch, drawn on “Day Zero” in Lisbon (the day before the Symposium, but halfway through the actual trip) is of the famous Torre Belem, one of the most recognisable landmarks in Lisbon, sat amidst the waters of the Tagus River. It dates back to the early 1500s. In the background is the 25 de Abril Bridge, which resembles a cross between the San Francisco Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge (the same people built the Bay Bridge as it happens). I had arrived in Lisbon that day after five rainy days in London, and the blue sky immediately made me feel more at home (I’m a Californian now, aren’t I).

I have so much scanning yet to do from this trip, it may take me a while! I completed a whole small red moleskine sketchbook, largely with people sketches and journal notes from the trip, and filled the majority of my watercolour moleskine. I met a lot of very cool people from countries all over the world, many of whom I had been following and admiring for several years. It was a busy schedule, for sure, and having twice the number of participants of last year’s symposium in Portland it felt a little overwhelming, but Lisbon blew me away – what an amazing city. Beautiful, colourful, historic, vibrant, yet relaxed, not overcrowded and hectic like London was. I want to go there again!

pete sketching belem

For now, here’s a photo of me sketching in Belem. This is a pose, as the drawing was just finished. I’m telling you it was a pose because I have since seen many photos and many drawings by other urban sketchers in Lisbon that show how I really look when I sketch – if you think I hold my pen in a funny way, you should see how I contort myself when I sit and sketch! I never noticed before. I’ll get around to posting everything very soon. In the meantime, please check out everyone else’s drawings and photos on the Urban Sketchers Lisbon Symposium Flickr Group.