True Grit: How One Designer Taught Himself to Draw and Became an International Artist

drawing on-location in a tower of la sagrada familia

True Grit: How One Designer Taught Himself to Draw and Became an International Artist

“Hand drawing has been in the architect’s arsenal since the beginning. The ability to sketch by hand presents the designer with a tool untied to any technology. This is a medium that is an intrinsic part of the individual. How many times have we observed someone, masterful with the hand, sketch something right there in front of us? It is a powerful experience. This article tells the story of a young designer who decided that he wanted to learn to draw and stopped at nothing until he could. Little did he know, his life would be transformed forever. If you’ve wanted to learn to draw or any new skill for that matter, this piece is for you.”

By Sean Joyner // Archinect – June 25, 2019

The full article can be viewed on Archinect.com.
Click here to read the article.

Street Art Experiment

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An Urban Sketch Art Experiment on the streets of Barcelona

In late April 2014 I set out for a “street art experiment”.

The idea was to do what I do normally… urban sketch anywhere and everywhere I desire,

but while showcasing printed post card size sketches attached to the inside of my messenger bag.

Sure, why not?

Add a 3 euro sign on there as well, let’s see what happens.

After skating about El Barrio Gotico of Barcelona, this spot “felt” right. The sounds, the smells, the pedestrian clamor, and of course the perspective I was about to spend a few hours admiring. After about four plus hours of laying out the lines in pencil…

…yes, 4 HOURS just for the PENCIL portion?

Why so long you wonder?

I was interrupted by many, many, passer-bys that asked about my works, myself, and many people became fully invested into what I was doing for quite a while. So, YES, the experiment was a success.

I made enough euro to eat for the next two weeks.

That was the beginning of a very fruitful and prosperous months that followed.

A Self Taught Sketch Lesson on Learning Proportions

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Arc de Triomf – Barcelona, Spain

It was an active Saturday afternoon with vibrant life all around coming from clamor on the fair grounds.

This made for quite the experiential urban sketch…

I began this sketch with a certain framework in mind –

Layers of proportions and symmetrical observations.

As soon as the bones were laid-out on paper, it was ready for shadows, color, and LIFE.
Process:

First layer of color highlighting the most important object. Layering color and finishing touches of darkening shadows and sky color[/caption]