Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts

Thursday, 27 January 2011

Almost!

Working on the January issue of my e-zine

"What are your goals?"

This week I´ve been frantically working on the January issue of "We´re in Panama!"

I had a late start, with Christmas vacation in Portugal, but now it´s almost, almost ready. This issue is made with freehand embroidery on paper, and it will be available... hopefully before January is over!

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Sketchbook Project

Sketchbook Project - front cover

Just sent out my sketchbook for Sketchbook Project. I had a lot of fun putting it together! My theme was "in five minutes...", so I decided to add "...or less" to it. It has many quick sketches, and then freehand embroidered drawings - which obviously took longer than 5 minutes to make, but time went so fast it felt like only a short while had passed.

I´ll post more pictures soon and you can find its flickr set here.

(Background is a wonderful "chita de Alcobaça" my mother in law gave me for Christmas.)

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Happy 2011!

Cartaz O Lugar do Bairro

I had a wonderful holiday season, how about you? There were the typical colds and sore throats (too much of a temperature change, going from the tropics to the winter in Lisbon), but seeing friends and family was heartwarming and... plain good.

Now I´m back to Panama, to work, to my routine. I missed it too.

I´m finishing my sketchbook for the sketchbook project going on. Deadline is friday, so I´m giving it its final tweaks. Experimenting without restrictions has been fun. I´ll post some pictures when I send it off.

I´ll leave you with a poster I made for a conference, next week in Lisbon. It was my last project of 2010 and it was so much fun to do that I definitely hope that 2011 brings more work like this.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thursday, 9 December 2010

"We´re in Panama!" #7, the moisture issue, is here!

We´re in Panama! #7

The December issue, dealing with those (bad) mouldy surprises we´ve been having, is here! Download it here, it´s free!

Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail with your stories and photos reading it. It´s always a pleasure to know how you enjoy and explore it! Thank you.

Links to previous issues are right there on the sidebar. Enjoy!

Thursday, 25 November 2010

Issue #6 of "We´re in Panama!"

"We´re in Panama!" issue #6, November 2010

November issue of "We´re in Panama!" is now online! As usual, it´s free to download, and you can find it here. Print it out and enjoy it!

I love receiving all your comments and e-mails, so this month I´ll be raising the feedback bar: I´m preparing a presentation about my e-zine and want to include photos of readers - of you. Please send me your images of you, your kids, your friends reading this e-zine, or this e-zine travelling to different parts of the globe. The best images will be included in the presentation!

Oh, I can´t wait!

Enjoy reading it!

Tuesday, 9 November 2010

A first: azulejos!

Azulejos

Azulejos :: painel

Sometime ago my friend A. asked me to design a panel of portuguese traditional, hand-painted tiles ("azulejos") to match the coat-hanger she wanted to have by the main door in her new flat.

I was thrilled with this project! Not only it was the first time I ever designed an azulejo - I studied lots and lots of designs when I was in university, but unfortunately never got to design my own -, but also because I love, love patterns and that chemistry that happens when you put modules side by side and repeat them.

The brief was to design something that was based in traditional patterns, but with a modern twist. I came up with a design and crossed my fingers. The tiles were brilliantly executed at Azulejaria Santiago, where they were brilliantly hand-painted and later installed in their spot.

I´m thrilled with the result and looking forward to working again with patterns and azulejo!

(Not so much a) sidenote: if you´ve ever been to Lisbon and rode the subway or just wandered around the streets, you´ll know how much azulejo tiles are used in public spaces. One of the greatest panel designers is the living legend Maria Keil, a huge inspiration to me. Check out some of her work by clicking here.

All images by Christophe Sauvage.

Friday, 15 October 2010

An issue with clouds

An issue with clouds

An issue of "We´re in Panama!", that is! This time around it´s all about the clouds in the sky during this (very) rainy season. Check it out here!

You know how it works: download it, print it, fold it and comment! Or better still: send me a picture of your copy of the zine in the wild!

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Let´s be escapees?

clouds, clouds, clouds

While I draw clouds, clouds and more clouds, I´ve been listening to the wonderful podcast "Escape from Illustration Island" and the interviews its host, Thomas James, conducts.

First of all, let us all thank modern day technology that has me here, sitting alone in my studio, listening to wonderful interviews of people who have been through the same experience as me and also other people who have lots of good information and advice for me.

Then, not only interviewees have interesting testimonials to share, the questions they are asked are very pertinent too. Sometimes it feels like Thomas actually reads minds (or maybe my questions are the same as other people´s?) and asks exactly what I was thinking.

Anyway, this has been an excellent resource for me, specially now that I´ve moved to another country and need to start a new client database here, from scratch.

If you haven´t yet, I encourage you to download "Escape from Illustration Island" now. All in all, very good. Praise to Thomas!

Clouds, clouds, clouds

working on my clouds
Among other projects - in the middle of them, in the little spaces between them - I´ve been working on the October´s issue of my e-zine "We´re in Panama!" (links to previous issue on your right).

It´s amazing how much one project can bring fun and joy to a work´s day!

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa

Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa

Went to Lisbon for a couple of weeks to visit friends and family and perform (very happily, I may add) my aunt-duties. Among these duties is taking the older niece to her music class, wait, pick her up and drive her back. While I was waiting I went for a walk and stopped to draw this. It´s strangely quiet at that time, maybe because it is one way only and the exiting traffic must go through another street. Beautiful - and very lisbonesque.

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Yay! "We´re in Panama"´s issue four is now out!

September issue now out!

As usual, it´s free to download. Print it and fold it and you´re ready to go!

You can send me an email, comment below, or use the tiny facebook button below to share it there; bottom line is: just spread the word!


P.S.: If you´ve missed any of the previous issues, you can find them here: August, July, June.

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Monday, 30 August 2010

E-zine´s August issue is out!

August issue is out!

To make your monday a sweeter, here´s a link to this month´s issue of the e-zine "We´re in Panama!"

I´m enjoying working on my zine so much, that sometimes find myself thinking about new themes for upcoming issues, about what new materials I want to try or just connecting new and inspiring information I find in everyday and making into a possible zine format. This is fun - a lot of work too, of course, but basically, fun.

What is best about the zine is to receive your comments, so please write to me and tell me what you liked - or didn´t!

To check out previous issues, click here: July, June.
Have fun!

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Still settling down

It feels like this move from Argentina to Panama is taking forever to accomplish. We have been here for almost three months now, but still having this "we're camping" feeling. Our boxes are due out of the port of Buenos Aires today, but no one knows for sure if that ship will sail - and I mean it literally.

Among the new flat related activities, and still without a desk to speak of (or a good internet connection, really), I've been working on this:


They're new designs coming soon to abbrigate*, inspired by the traditional portuguese lover's embroidered handkerchiefs. I think that they are beautiful, even if you can't read the messages. But reading them in all their unorthodox orthography glory certainly adds to the charm.

Speaking of embroidery - now this is a long topic - the Museum of Art and Design in New York has a wonderful book about it, more specifically a catalogue of one of its exhibitions, featuring plenty of interesting artists who use embroidery as a medium. I was a bit disappointed to see that portuguese artist Lourdes Castro wasn't featured, since she was already using embroidery back in the sixties, I believe. (here's a pdf for a more comprehensive outlook on portuguese contemporary art, you can download this pdf; a very succint presentation of artist Lourdes Castro is available here)

The catalogue is, however, a very interesting source of inspiration served as the final push to get hold of the (sewing) needles. It felt, from the beginning, like a whole new world was opening ahead of me and that this was another perfect medium to go on illustrating. I'm in love with it, can you tell?

Just don't ask me to cross-stitch. It's still a taboo after all those years in school, filling enormous surfaces with tiny little crosses. No. Maybe one day, but certainly not now.

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Way finding in Panamá

Sinalética no Panamá

There are some things about Panamá that just make this an endearing place. One of those is this set of signs located at the top of the hill that crowns the City, Cerro Ancón, pointing to places of interest in the city. I find this naive charm somewhat irresistible, and, most specially, loveable.

Thursday, 29 July 2010

Casco Viejo, Panamá

Plaza Mayor, Casco Antiguo, Panamá

"Hotel Colombia", Casco Antiguo, Panamá

Panama City´s historical centre (or the second historical centre, to be exact) is absolutely beautiful. It´s a mixed neghbourhood, with government houses and cathedrals and then schools and little, badly lit shops which smell like food and humidity. Walking there, there´s so much to see: a balcony here or a window there.

I foresee plenty of early morning drawing expeditions.

More images here.

Friday, 23 July 2010

July issue is now out!

July issue is out!

Just in time for the weekend, the July issue of my zine is now out! Download it here, it´s free! Just print it out front and back and then fold it in half and again in half and you´re set.

I´m looking forward to reading your comments!

In case you missed the June issue, it is available here.

Thursday, 22 July 2010

Went to NYC part XIV

trip to NY XIVThen a short stop in Miami... and I was back home in Panama.

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Went to NYC part XIII

trip to NY XIIITook the NJ Transit to Newark. The kind lady who sat next to me told me where to exit.

Tuesday, 20 July 2010