In 2020, with the confinement imposed by the covid-19 pandemic, urban sketchers’ drawings and meetings, outdoors, in cities, were suspended. The solution for many, including me, to not stop drawing, was to record domestic environments, as well as their objects.I’m from Recife, Brazil, and at this time I lived in an apartment. I then started to draw the views from the windows, the views from the balcony, the building’s garden. An interesting point is the absence of people in the sketches, due to the pandemic.
Then, as a difference, I started looking for unusual angles to portray the environments, or details of the objects. Sitting on the floor, or even lying down, or closely observing a dish drainer on the kitchen counter, were excellent observational exercises.
I made several sketches in black and white, using ink pens. These are drawings where I work a lot on textures, to define materials and also for shadow and light effects. Other drawings were made in watercolor, a technique that I use most in my daily life.
It was a period of great technical development, as I drew all day and every day. The exercise of looking around made me realize that everything can be designed.
Ciro Oliveira is an architect, professor and urban sketcher who organizes @uskrecifeolinda.
To see more sketches: @arquiamaolivre
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Ciro Oliveira
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