Sketching Retreat 2024 - Colorful Shadows in Architecture

I’m excited to be part of Sketching Retreat 2024, from Sketch Like an Architect! My free online workshop is about getting some loose and expressive lines on your architecture sketches, followed by colorful shadows for extra depth. 

It's a technique I get asked about a lot so now you can see it in action!

Sketching Retreat is a FREE, 6-day virtual event with 50+ video workshops on architectural sketching & drawing.

Follow the link bellow to learn more and save your free spot today!

https://sketchlikeanarchitect.teachable.com/p/sketching-retreat-2024?affcode=275182_ts6vh0j4

Lisbons Old Trams workshop - Vivify app

 

During this December, on Thursdays I’ll be lecturing a master class on urban sketching where I’ll teach all the secrets and tricks that I use on my daily sketching practice, using the famous Lisbon Trams as a backdrop for our classes. We’ll go from simple shapes and perspective fundamentals to complex scenes and multiple vanishing points in a comprehensive and simple way, focusing less on boring rules and learning a simple , objective method that keeps people engaged and motivated to sketch everyday. 

All of this will be powered by the new Vivify app, a browser based software that promises to enhance the learning / teaching experience , that’s taking its first steps into visual arts mentoring. In order to ensure that the app works and delivers its promise, we need to test it out, and to do that, we need teachers and most of all , students. After my online demos, you’ll be able upload your work into the app so I can provide feedback and tips to improve your future work. 

Join me in this endeavor and level up your sketching abilities , visiting or revisiting iconic places in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon. Starts on the next Thursday, 7th December 18:30 Lisbon time, don’t miss out! 

LINK: https://app.vivify.ai/

Durante este mês de dezembro, às quintas-feiras, vou dar uma master class sobre urban sketching, onde ensinarei todos os segredos e truques que utilizo na minha prática diária de desenho de rua, utilizando os famosos elétricos de Lisboa como pano de fundo para nossas aulas. Vamos desde formas simples e  bases da perspectiva até cenas mais complexas com diversos pontos de fuga de maneira abrangente e bastante simples, focando menos em regras chatas e mais em aprender um método simples e objetivo que mantenha as pessoas envolvidas e motivadas para esboçar todos os dias.

Tudo isso será potencializado pelo novo aplicativo Vivify, um software baseado em navegador que promete aprimorar a experiência de aprendizado/ensino e está dando seus primeiros passos no ensino de artes visuais. Para garantir que o aplicativo funcione e cumpra sua promessa, precisamos testá-lo e, para isso, precisamos de professores e, acima de tudo, de alunos. Após minhas demonstrações online, você poderá enviar seu trabalho para o aplicativo, para que eu possa fornecer feedback e dicas para melhorar seus trabalhos futuros.

Junte-se a mim nesta aventura e aprimore suas habilidades de esquisso, visitando ou revisitando lugares icônicos na capital de Portugal, Lisboa. Começa na próxima quinta-feira, 7 de dezembro, às 18:30, horário de Lisboa. Não perca!

LINK: https://app.vivify.ai/

 

Desenho (des) Complicado

 

O objectivo deste ginásio é pegar em situações que normalmente nos desmoraliza e desencoraja a pegar no caderno por serem demasiado complicadas, dando origem a um desenho de várias horas, que durante a azáfama do dia-a-dia, não temos. Iremos então explorar, como sintetizar a informação e soltar o traço desde a rua mais movimentada até à Igreja Gótica mais flamejante que existe. No final de todas as sessões, iremos conseguir reproduzir um destes desenhos em 45 minutos ou menos
É uma proposta que vos encoraja a chamar-me nomes feios mas que no final vão agradecer, espero :)

Horário e datas:
Quartas feiras 18:30h às 20:00h, de Maio (10, 17, 24 e 31), via zoom (o link é enviado antes da sessão das aula)

Materiais
Caderno ou folhas de aguarela, algo que normalmente usamos numa situação de desenho de rua ou num encontro. As aguarelas são as que costumam usar mas que tenham de preferência, Azul Ultramarino ou Azul Cobalto - Burnt Sienna - Uma cor escura para misturar para fazer sombras fortes; eu uso o Winsor Violet por exemplo, para sombras fortes e mais frias. Os pincéis que costumam usar, um para dar aguadas e outro mais fino para detalhes. Caneta com tinta a prova de água ou lápis. Opcional: Posca Branca fina ou guache branco. Recipiente para água, papel de cozinha.

Contribuição mensal: ​​40€ até 5 dias antes do inicio do curso (earlybird), 45€ nos 5 dias antes do inicio do curso, e 50€ depois do curso ter começado, caso hajam vagas.

INSCRIÇÕES AQUI

VOA 2019

No dia 3 de Julho de 2019, com bilhetes comprados para assistir ao VOA - Heavy Metal and Rock Fest no estádio do Restelo em Lisboa, a organização emite um comunicado a alterar o local do concerto, devido a problemas na montagem do palco. O local escolhido: O infame (para mim claro) Pavilhão Atlântico ou Altice Arena como insistem em chamar hoje em dia. Este facto e o outro que eu iria assistir a bandas com carreiras entre os 20 e 40 anos explicavam que esses 20 anos também tinham passado por mim desde o momento que eu comecei a ouvir algumas delas. 

On July 3rd, 2019, with tickets already purchased to attend the Heavy Metal and Rock Fest VOA at the Restelo Stadium in Lisbon, the organization issues a statement to change the venue due to complications in setting up the stage. The place of choice: The infamous (for me) Atlantic Pavilion or Altice Arena as they insist on calling it today. This fact and the other that I was going to watch bands with careers spawning between 20 and 40 years explained that those same 20 years had also passed by me since the moment I started hearing some of them.

Para mim, o festival só começou depois de sair do trabalho, estavam a começar os Trivium, uma das minhas bandas favoritas de todo o sempre. Durante o concerto, um dos momentos mais marcantes do Metal em Portugal: Toy sobe ao palco para cantar com o Mathew, dois temas de ambos, "Coração não tem Idade (o famoso Toda a Noite!) e "Until the World goes Cold", ambos os temas já tinham sido alvo de covers numa amigável "batalha" online.

The festival only started after leaving work and around 19h,  Trivium was starting, one of my favorite bands ever. During the concert, one of Metal's most memorable moments in Portugal: Toy takes the stage to sing with Mathew, two themes from both, "Coração não tem Idade" (the famous Toda a Noite!) and " Until the World goes Cold " , both themes had already been covered by each other in a friendly online "battle".

Depois de um concerto dos Arch Enemy completamente arruinado pelo horrível som do Pavilhão Atlântico, Slipknot os reis da noite do dia 4 subiram ao palco e deram uma das performances mais avassaladoras de sempre! O público ajudou e a plateia fez parte da festa. O som, esse inimigo mortal numero um, teve os seus efeitos nocivos apaziguados ao longo da performance, o que fez com que este concerto de Slipknot tenha sido no mínimo, memorável! 

After Arch Enemy's concert completely ruined by the horrible sound of the Atlantic Pavilion, Slipknot took the stage and gave one of the most overwhelming performances ever! The audience helped and the ones on the mosh pit quickly become part of the party as well. The sound, the public enemy number one, had its ill effects calmed throughout the performance, which made this Slipknot concert memorable at least!

No dia seguinte, consegui ver os concertos iniciais dos Portugueses W.A.K.O. (We Are Killing Ourselves) e duma banda que recentemente despertou a minha atenção, os Cane Hill. Moonspell, banda gigante que eu admiro bastante, mas que ja vi inúmeras vezes, optei por passar e apanhar ar fresco, que eu temia não existir quando soube da mudança de local.

The next day I could see the initial concerts of the Portuguese W.A.K.O. (We Are Killing Ourselves) and a band that recently caught my eye, Cane Hill. Moonspell, Metal national icons that I admire a lot, but since I've seen them countless times, I chose to pass and catch some fresh air, which I feared would not exist when I heard of the change of location to an indoor setting.

As 19h, começa um dos melhores concertos que ja vi, os franceses Gojira. Já os conhecia, mas nunca os tinha visto ao vivo e quando uma banda, num concerto ao vivo, surpassa a qualidade de um álbum de estúdio, para mim, venceu. Estão no meu TOP 5 dos melhores concertos que já vi, juntamente com: Metallica 2004, Muse 2007, Machine Head 2011, Queens of Stone Age 2003. 

Lamb of God foram os senhores que se seguiram e liderados pelo carismático Randy Blythe, não desapontaram, dando um concerto bombástico. 

At 7 pm, was to begin one of the best concerts I've ever seen, the French Metal giants, Gojira. I already knew them, but I had never had the chance to see them live and when a band, in a live concert surpasses the quality of a studio album, it's perfection on my book. They are now in my TOP 5 of the best concerts I've ever seen, along with: Metallica 2004, Muse 2007, Machine Head 2011, Queens of Stone Age 2003. 
 Lamb of God were to follow and did not disappoint, and fronted by the charismatic Randy Blythe, gave one hell of a performance. 

Para ver o último concerto de Slayer em Portugal nesta "Farewell Tour", fomos para o 2º balcão do Pavilhão Atlântico para apreciar a vontade uma das maiores bandas de Rock/Metal de sempre, que influenciaram milhares durante os seus 38 anos de carreira. Durante hora e meia de concerto, a velocidade com que tocaram foi constante: Rapidíssima!!

To see Slayer's last concert in Portugal on this "Farewell Tour", we went to the 2nd floor of Pavilhão Atlântico to comfortably seat and watch one of one of the biggest rock / metal bands ever, which influenced thousands during their 38 years of activity. During a hour and a half of concert, the speed with which they played was constant:Super  Fast !!

Mesmo com mudança de planos de última hora, o meu agradecimento a toda a organização deste espectáculo por ter proporcionado duas noites memoráveis com um cartaz incrível como há muito não se via em Portugal.
Para o efeito desta reportagem desenhada, usei o novo Zig Zag Book dos Alemães Hahnemuhle, que depois de completo, originou um sketch continuo de 1,5 metros de comprimento.

Even with last-minute change of plans, my many thanks to the whole organization for providing two memorable nights with an incredible line-up that had not been seen in Portugal for a long time. 

 For the purpose of this sketched report, I used the new Zig Zag Book of the German Manufacturers Hahnemuhle, which once completed, produced a continuous sketch of 1.5 meters in length.

Journey to Oslo

Both me and Pedro Loureiro were invited by Urban Sketchers Oslo to teach our usual dual workshop in the Nordic Capital. Scandinavian  countries are for us Portuguese, an achievement to unlock. Tales of quality of life, high salaries, higher education and health, are ever present in our minds as an example of society to follow, and Norway being the cherry on the top. So, this opportunity to visit one of the most-wanted countries on earth was something like a dream.  

...and it didn't disappoint, far from it. The city feels like an architecture Computer Rendered Image that come to life, a Masterplan project turned real. The people, the sea, the urban structure, all felt like as all cities should be. 

We start our long workshop day in the morning by Aker Bridge for our Watercolor Storytelling workshop, then we went for a big break waiting for the Night Sketch. Meanwhile, we stood by the Salt area with a fantastic view to the fantastic Oslo Ópera house, with its iconic walk able roof, designed with fashion. 

Which was the last workshop setting, as the night was still a long waited dream. The sun was setting at 23:20, which was struggling for a NIGHT SKETCH WORKSHOP ending at 00:00... But we still did it and the results were surprisingly good!  Staying up way past midnight to sketch with us was a fantastic effort Oslo Sketchers!! 


A big thanks to Elisabeth Berge for inviting us and also a big thanks to Escoda Brushes, Hahnemuhle and Urban Sketchers International for making this possible. 

The day after was all about sight seeing, and after a rainy morning we went to the museum quarter, and while my wife and kid went to the FRAM, me, Pedro Loureiro, Patricia and our friend Carina Tornqvist went to the Viking Museum to sketch actual Drakkar Viking ships! In this composition, we can see the Museum building and the remains of the Oseberg Ship found in a burial mound near Tonsberg, Norway. 

After that, a quick lunch near the marina in Bygdoy, with a fantastic view to the city, and soon we were on our way to the airport. There´s still a lot to see and experience in Oslo, a fantastic city. 

Óbidos - Latitudes '19

Para alguns, o encontro de Óbidos do dia 19 de Maio começou na noite anterior, durante o workshop de Night Sketching em conjunto com o Pedro Loureiro, com o fantástico apoio da POSCA Portugal  que forneceu canetas brancas para todos os participantes, que usamos bastante nos nossos desenhos nocturnos. 

To some, the sketching meeting in Óbidos on the 19th May, started the night before, during mine and Pedro Loureiro's Night Sketching with the fantastic support of POSCA Portugal, that granted pens for all participants. 

Todos os participantes estiveram a altura do desafio, numa vila medieval que teimava em ter pouca iluminação pública, fulcral para os nossos desenhos nocturnos. 

All our students rose to the challenge in a Medieval Village that insisted in not having much public lighting switched on, essential to our night sketches. 

Na manhã seguinte, debaixo de um surpreendente sol abrasador, o número de participantes duplicara. A Vila já estava ao rubro, repleta de gente de todos os cantos do mundo e como muita animação pelas ruas, que brilhavam à medida que o Sol ia subindo. A praça do pelourinho estava repleta de gente e desenhar confortavelmente só foi possível debaixo da pequena arcada que nos protegia do sol e do olhar da multidão.

Next morning and under a boiling sun, the number of participants had doubled in an already paced village, full of people from all over the world and plenty of medieval style animation in the streets with it's shinny buildings due to the rising sun.  

Antes do almoço, tempo para uma imperial e um desenho de uma das mais interessantes ruas de Óbidos, o Arco da Cadeia. Ao lado, um rápido estudo de valores que fiz antes de pintar, que me ajuda a verificar a intensidade de tons antes de pintar o desenho final. A luz-sombra de um dia fantástico como este são um must, nesta rua tão pitoresca.

Before lunch, time for a sketch of  one of the most interesting streets in Óbidos. On the corner of my sketchbook, a quick values study that helped me to accurately get the right intensity of colours on the final sketch.  The light and shadow contrast is a must and in a sunny day like today

Depois, do almoço, num divertido café com amigos, mais um desenho ao lado da Igreja da Misericórdia com uma vista fantástica para a calçada.

After lunch, another sketch in a café with good sketching friends, next  to Misericordia Church.



E para acabar em beleza, a usual foto de grupo depois de um lanche fantástico oferecido pela organização. Foi um encontro fantástico, cheio de talentos e pessoas fantásticas! Um grande obrigado aos Urban Sketchers por terem dado esta oportunidade fantástica aos Oeste Sketchers de organizar este encontro. Um grande obrigado à Câmara Municipal de Óbidos e ao staff do festival Latitudes pelo apoio, especialmente à Carla Pinho, incansável durante todo o apoio que nos deu.

The usual group photo after a fantastic  coffee break offered by the organization. Once again, Oeste Sketchers delivered a fantastic Sketchers meeting in one of the most iconic settings of our region. 

Pedros Mastercourse in Urbansketching - Oslo

Most sketchers enjoy their cities during the daylight, when views are crisp, shadows are sharp, and colors are vivid. But when the night comes, a different challenge begins. 

Sketching the cityscape at night is both easy and challenging! The easy aspect of it, is that your palette gets reduced to a couple – three at most – colors. Simplification of what you see – that includes lines, shapes and colors – is key. One dark, cool color for the shadows and sky, one light warm color for the illuminated parts, and a third one for special details and highlights. 

The challenge is to be precise in saving the whites in your paper. With watercolor, there’s no going back – at most, you can wash off the amount of pigment in a lighted area. And the light parts, the glare of public lamps, the shiny surfaces, are scarce and vital for the success of your sketch. In the Night Sketching workshop, sketchers learn-by-doing a myriad of concepts and techniques that make their lives much easier, while producing results that will make them proud. 

After an evening out sketching, daylight comes, and out come the morning city dwellers, going about their business – working, relaxing, loitering, running late. It’s time for a sketcher to shift focus from the city to the stories of the citizens, the storymakers of a city. Moving people are tricky to capture, but by focusing on their actions and with the help of a few techniques, any sketcher can quickly lay out a crowd in a sketchbook. 

As we warm up, we also get closer to the people and want to better convey their movements, their expressions, their poses. That’s what the Watercolor Storytelling workshop is all about! In it, sketchers get a grasp on people and their day-to-day stories, resorting to a few quick lines and a limited palette. The more comfortable sketchers get with people, the more they want to represent the spaces around their subjects, which is the final challenge of the workshop. 

The dual workshop Night Sketching and Watercolor storytelling, by the Pedros – Pedro Alves and Pedro Loureiro – has toured around their home region in and around Lisbon, Portugal, and also around Europe, in Barcelona, Spain and Riga, Latvia – always with the help of the amazing local Urban Sketchers chapters. Now, the Pedros are inviting the Urban Sketching global community to Oslo, Norway, for a Scandinavian night sketching and storytelling experience! Together, we’ll share experiences, techniques and tricks of the trade, and we’ll capture the late dusk of the beautiful Nordic capital, and the stories of its citizens in our sketchbooks. 

Participants will learn how to: 
· Quickly establish a viewpoint that will make for a dynamic and focused sketch;
· Effectively balance the linework and the color phases of a sketch;
· Use a limited palette to create rich and intense night scenes.
And
· Get familiar with sketching a crowd of passing people, quickly and effectively;
· Incorporate a facial and bodily structure that will ease the portrayal of any person;
· Use a limited palette to create rich and intense street scenes.

Workshop dates 
May 25th 2019, from 10AM to 2PM and from 8PM to 12PM

Location 
Oslo, Norway (specific location to be determined)

Maximum number or participants 
30 people (all levels)

Supply list 
Sketchbook with 180 gsm + ;
watercolor kit;
brushes;
water recipient;
cloth or paper towel;
white Posca pen or white gouache.

Registration fee 
150€ per participant

To register, please contact 
urbansketchersoslo@gmail.com

NightSketching Óbidos 18 Maio '19

Night Sketching está de volta a Portugal depois de iniciarmos a tour europeia por Barcelona, seguido da viagem  a Riga. A Vila de Óbidos será o magnifico cenário que nos irá acolher em mais uma noite de desenhos. Inserido no Festival Latitudes e com o patrocinio da Posca Portugal , todos os participantes irão receber uma Posca PCF-350 Branca e ainda se habilitam a prémios POSCA no nosso habitual sorteio final. 

Mais informações e preços por mail: dklimpgen@gmail.com e/ou pedro.mac.loureiro@gmail.com

Night Sketching is back in Portugal after we started our European tour! Medieval town of Óbidos is the perfect setting for one more night full of sketches. Sponsored by POSCA Portugal, all participants get a free PCF-350 white Posca pen and could win more POSCA prizes in our usual final raffle. 

More info and prices via email to: dklimpgen@gmail.com and/or pedro.mac.loureiro@gmail.com 

The Riga adventure

Ready, set, go! Our Riga adventure begins! At 16:30 on the 18th January, me and my family board the AirBaltic flight from Lisbon to Riga in Latvia, for a two-day sketching course with Pedro Loureiro on an invitation by Urban Sketchers Riga. Pedro L. was already in town and we were on our way to meet our friends there. My 6 year old daughter Lia was most excited  for being on a plane on her way to a land covered in snow! 

...and snow we had! Riga was colder than what we were used to in Portugal, but it was a good to endure and the white landscape with blue and violet shadows were totally worth it. The canal separating old town from the most recent part, was completely frozen, something I've never seen before. 

Later in the evening, time to start the workshops with our usual Night Sketching. We had to improvise a bit because the extreme cold had us doing most of the activities indoors. We had an art gallery just for us, with hot coffee and tea to counter the -5º outside. Here, I was showing a bit of our work, to explain that with time and practice, these are the results everyone can accomplish. I took a bit of my hometown Torres Vedras with me, while explaining the importance of lighting on these situations. 

After that, everyone grabbed their coats and scarfs and went outside because it wouldn't be urban sketching if we were only sketching indoors. Pedro Loureiro usually is the only active "Pedro" at this stage, but (once again we had to improvise) not enough for 30 people to watch, so I had to interviene and by splitting the group in two, it was much easier for everyone to get what we were teaching. We were able to endure about 15 minutes in the cold sketching without gloves... after that we went inside once again to restore our heat levels. 

We presented two options afterwards: Complete all exercises indoors or make the main sketch in a different point of view outside. I stood outdoors a while longer to assist the brave ones that chose option 2. But since water can't resist the extreme cold as well, we wrapped up the workshop session inside, with tea, chocolate and sandwiches and lots of heaters :)   

Since we had two sketches from the previous demo, we improvised once more and we exchanged sketches for the color stage. Pedro L. (in the picture) painted my sketch and vice versa. We chose to take much more time in this part to address the beginner sketchers in the class. We took a photo and used it as a reference for our work and explained the this is a common practice when dealing with extreme weather and time shortage, the main constraints of a consistent dose of daily sketching. 

Soon after, the session was over and everyone seemed very happy, and so did we. the results were fantastic and to celebrate, we went for a beer in a pub nearby. 

 Next Morning we went to the terrace of Shopping Riga to a very cozy coffeeshop in a greenhouse overlooking the city. This session was all about reportage sketching and how to create a story with simple sketches. The focus was on the human figure and to include it in our sketches. 

 As usual in our workshops, we end with a raffle, where two participants can walk away with one of our sketches. 

 A huge thanks to all participants in the most international Winter School ever! Latvian, Russian, Estonian, French and even Portuguese participants were present in an event I'll never forget. 

...and a HUGE thanks for the duo that make all this possible. Our gratitude to Masha and Agnese for the invitation and all the support we had. We felt at home, away from our home! I'm waiting to sketch with you here in Portugal! 

Meanwhile, we had some free time to explore the city and what it had to offer. It's not a big city like other Metropolis I've been, and I was glad about it. Since I live in a small city as well, Riga seemed quite familiar sometimes, mainly due to the short walking distance between places to visit. The park near the canal acts like a frontier between old and "not so old" Riga, and all covered in snow, is truly wonderful, especially for 6-year old kids dreaming on making snowmen. 

It took a bit of courage from me to get to the top of St. Peters basilica and sketch. Fear of heights, extreme cold, wind all contributed to the constant fear that I could fall down in any minute... Still, some of the best views of the city are here. The contrast New-Old is astonishing and the sleek design bridge over a frozen Daugava river fits perfectly on the landscape. 

The Livu square is one of the most iconic in this World Heritage city centre by UNESCO. The snow covered floor and rooftops turned this bit of city very appealing. Riga was cozy, picturesque and as soon as we walked into the old quarter, I felt I was truly in the presence of a multicultural European capital. 

The Riga Dom, city's main church was being repaired at the time, but it's "verticality" and it's interiors were no less than impressive. 

To end this Latvian adventure, the crown jewel of Riga's historical centre, The house of the Blackheads, and old guild for unmarried merchants, shipowners and foreigners. The original building was almost razed to the ground by the Germans in WWII and was completely rebuilt in the end of 20th century to it's former glory. It's a wonder and a challenge to sketch this masterpiece of Baltic architecture.

Urbansketching Winter School - Riga 2019

Urban Sketchers Riga have been organizing a sketching school in their hometown every six months for the past two years, always with guest artists and instructors from abroad. Pedro Loureiro and I were thrilled to have been invited as instructors for the 2019 Winter School, on January 18th-20th! We’re taking our Night Sketching workshop (January 19th) and our Watercolor Storytelling workshop (January 20th) to the Latvian capital.



There are still spots available! Register in Urban Sketching Winter School Riga 2019. This event and our workshops will be sponsored by our friends in Lithuania, the sketchbook brand SM.LT. 




 Os Urban Sketchers Riga tem organizado uma escola de desenho na sua cidade a cada seis meses durante os últimos dois anos, sempre com artistas e formadores estrangeiros convidados.

O Pedro Loureiro e eu ficámos felizes ao receber o convite para conduzirmos uma oficina na Escola de Inverno de 2019, entre 18 e 20 de Janeiro! Vamos levar as nossas oficinas de Night Sketching (19 de Janeiro) e de Watercolor Storytelling (20 de Janeiro) à capital Letã.

 Ainda há lugares disponíveis! Inscrições em Urban Sketching Winter School Riga 2019.

Este evento e as nossas oficinas são apoiadas pelos nossos amigos da Lituânia, a marca de cadernos SM.LT.

Simpósio Porto IV

 O simpósio tinha terminado mas o Porto ainda tinha muito para nos dar e como tal, reunimos um grupo de "vadios" com "oficiais" e lá fomos para a zona da Sé, que ainda não tinha visitado desde que chegara. Aqui fiz um dos meus melhores registos até à data, uma vista estonteante da cidade, confortavelmente apoiado no muro do largo da Sé.

Symposium was over but Porto still had a lot to offer to all sketchers still around, so we gathered a small group of "wanderers" and "officials" and off we go to the Sé area, still unexplored by me at the time. Here, I made one of my best sketches to date, a stunning view to the city, standing on the edge of the square. 

 Todos estavam já do lado de lá da ponte e eu pertencia ao grupo dos atrasados. Ainda assim tentei a proeza da semana, desenhar do cimo da ponte, proeza que se revelou uma frustração porque tenho um pavor (pavor mesmo) de alturas. Não consegui fazer o desenho que se pedia daquele local porque o medo se apoderou de mim e sentia que a qualquer momento ia cair ao rio...

Everyone was already on the other side of the river and I had to catch up. Still, I've tried the feat of the week, a sketch from the top of the bridge! But my terrifying fear of heights prevented me from doing so as I was constantly feeling that I was about to fall down on the river...

Depois de um almoço (diga-se Francesinha + tinto) com montes de sketchers, fomos fazer um desenho rápido desde o mosteiro da Serra do Pilar para uma vista fantástica sobre o Porto... 

After lunch (Francesinha + red wine) with lot's of sketchers, time for a quick sketch from the monastery at Serra do Pilar to a fantastic view of the city...

...e num instante, era altura de rumar de volta a Torres Vedras. Esperei aqui com os meus amigos e família que uma procissão acabasse de passar na marginal de Gaia, enquanto bebíamos os últimos finos. Para relaxar, um último desenho da icónica ponte que só faz sentido neste local mágico. Foi um simpósio fantástico, o meu primeiro e logo como instrutor. À distância que escrevo este post, fui vendo e lendo as opiniões dos meus alunos sobre as minhas aulas e o balanço não podia ser melhor. Super positivo e um orgulho para mim, que 4 anos antes era um completo desconhecido neste meio. Não irei conseguir estar em Amesterdão e desejo tudo de bom para os que conseguirem estar presentes. Até 2020 espero eu...

...and in a flash, it was time to go back to Torres Vedras. Time for a last minute relax with my family and friends, while sketching THE Porto landmark one more time. It was a fantastic symposium, my first and as an instructor nonetheless. I won't make it to Amsterdam due to my work but hope to return in 2020!