Know the world through sketching!

Hi there steemers! My name is Pedro!

I was born in the southwestern-most tip of Europe, in Lagos, Portugal. A childhood of legos and sandcastles led me to architecture school, but an adolescence of doodling and comic book reading drove me to illustration. I make a living halfway - doing architecture illustration - a quick and effective way of conveying to people the atmosphere and emotion of an architectural design.

I like to sketch the stories around me, in sketchbooks, watercolor pads, paper table towels, and whichever surface that lends itself to be sketched upon. Friends, family and their dialogues often feature in my sketches. The places where I travel to also become characters in my sketched stories.

I've often seen sketching connect people in ways that most storytelling tools are unable to. When you sketch someone or something, you get to gaze upon them for long periods. In that time, you become aware of details that fleet the hurried eye of the passer-by or the traditional tourist. You sharpen all your senses by tracing every line, shape and shadow of your subject, and you commit these details to memory. Sketching makes for an excellent way of remembering your life and those that share it with you.

Also, the subject of your sketching gazes upon you back, and a connection is made - it might be weariness or enchantment, boredom or happiness. Either way, a channel is established and communication goes both ways - even when sketching buildings and landscapes.

I also like to travel and to chop vegetables into tiny manageable bits. I teach in sketching workshops from time to time, and I tell my stories in my blog Storysketching (www.pedromacloureiro.com). I hope you enjoy the stories I tell! Happy sketching (or being sketched).