Porto USk Symposium - part V (Lisbon)

Last post about my Portugal trip dedicated to my love - Lisbon!
Since the first Urban Sketchers Symposium I attended was in Lisbon, streets of Lisbon will always be connected for me to the sketches I did and sketchers I met there for the first time. Discovering this wonderful community 7 years ago for the first time in real, not online, was amazing revelation! I visited this beautiful city a few years later, when I was invited by the local branch of USk to give a workshop, so I had another opportunity to know the city better, and to add more sketchers to my Lisbon collection.
So now it was like visiting an old friend - exiting, nostalgic, full of emotions.
This time I came there with my husband, who came to Lisbon for the first time, so I was kind of a guide for him :)
We strolled the streets a lot, and sometimes I just wanted to be there, without sketching. Some places that looked to me too iconic were the most difficult for me for sketching, as for example, the Belem  district, with all its touristic sites, where I did no sketch. From the other hand, there are places I sketched during my previous visits, and I wanted to make another take on the same location.

Following sketches were done during our last day in Lisbon, when we joined to sketching tour to anti-touristic places leaded by Mário Linhares. It was just perfect ending to the whole Portugal tour!

Miss this time and this place, grateful that I have with me my memory-keepers - my sketches! Every sketch is like a concentrated capsule full of views and faces, words and sounds, smells, moods, and so much more - magic of sketching that forces us really observe and feel the surrounding!   

Porto USk Symposium - part IV (Portugal trip)

I could stay and sketch in beautiful Porto forever, but as every trip, ours had limited time, and in our plans was to end Lisbon, to which I had special sentiments. Here are sketches done during our way from Porto to Lisbon - we did several stops. These are from colorful and very authentic Coimbra - city with very old University and breathtaking panoramas:

These from Medieval town Obiedos - very special place, still keeping his antique look:

And one - I couldn't resist - from the local Portuguese beach:

Wait for the last Portuguese post - from Porto!

Trip to the North

Last weekend we had a short trip to the North. Its always relaxing - change of the landscape, a lot of nature and some sketching, of course ;)
I did this sketch at the entrance to Fassuta - Arabic Christian village in Galilee, decorated for Christmas.

 

 Series of sketches done during our dinner:

barmen telling us the story of his life

These two paintings were done in Haifa on our way back. I miss painting!

Trip to South America - part IV - connection in Madrid.

So, we left Rio and landed in Madrid, where we had a 12 hours waiting to our connection flight. Great opportunity to taste some tapas and to do some sketches :)

Trip to South America - Part III, Paraty.

The last destination of our trip was Brazil. We landed in Rio, rented a car and headed to the Paraty direction, were we rent a hotel near the beach. The view during the taxi was so different from any place I have been before - all these tropical plants, bizarre mountains, azure sea, colorful cities made us exclaim all the way: "wow!"

Finally, when it was already dark, we arrived to the hotel, left our stuff and went to the closest restaurant to eat.

The view that I saw when I woke up in the morning and got out from our room, made me feel that I'm still dreaming. I sat down in the armchair, at the edge of the small swimming pool, surrounded by tropical plants and facing a harbor full of boats, surrounded mountains and greens. It was quiet... I prepared myself a coffee and... started to sketch! Of course, my sketch is nothing to compare to the reality, but it is make me refresh perfectly my feeling at that first morning in Paraty!

 Here are more sketches I did, mostly during the meals, when I had a chance not to hinder my family.

We spent a magic week in the Paraty area and came back to Rio for the last three days of the trip.
Will be continued!