Vasco Mourão’s weapon of choice is his black pen. An architect turned illustrator, Mourão sees the world differently, employing his pen as a way of interpreting his surroundings. Describing his work as “obsessive drawing” (situated in the space between fine art and illustration), Mourão’s work, though largely surreal, is extremely detailed.
Through it, he hopes to explore the subjective and at times fragmented perception of the urban landscape. While his work as an architect requires an acknowledgment of the world’s physicality, his illustrations try to capture the memory of space—the ways in which we experience the city landscape as individuals.
And while he sticks to his black pen, Mourã has more freedom when it comes to his selected canvas, using anything from paper and wood to stone and metal.
According to Mourã, his work requires discipline and daily practice: “For me, it is all about regularity”, he told Creative Mornings. “What I have to do is find the time every day to sit and draw. That’s really important to me.”
“I try do this with my almost-daily drawings project in which I do a small drawing each day,” he adds. “To push the work forward I uncover something of interest to me and that only comes when I am drawing. So, I just need to be more consistent and keep up the ritual.”
Originally from Portugal and now based in Barcelona, Mourão has made quite a splash both locally and internationally, with selected clients including Apple, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Museu Picasso Barcelona.
