Sketching Barcelona: Secrets of an Urban Sketcher

Inspiration is everywhere, in all instances of city life. In this visual diary of Barcelona, a real treat for sketchers and loversof the Catalan capital, urban sketcher Lapin creates a graphic narrative of his metropolitan surroundings to communicate a highly expressive and deeply personal vision of the city. Using vintage accounting books that he finds in flea markets, Lapin, armed with nothing more than a sketchbook, a fine liner pen, watercolor paints and his folding stool, depicts the images and phenomena of everyday city life – busy streets, bustling cafes, iconic monuments, graffiti-splashed walls, sidewalks thick with people. A sketching technique that pays meticulous attention to detail, his particular use of color and striking and humorous perspective distortions define Lapin’s journalistic-like visual style. Telling evocative stories through his drawings, he also provides a fresh look at some of the urban transformations the city is currently undergoing, including green hubs and squares, parks and gardens. The artist defines himself as a “mobile illustrator”, a kind of modern-day itinerant urban explorer and documentarian who immerses himself in his environment (in this case, Barcelona) and records what he sees. The result is a graphic reportage of the city’s culture, from its emblematic architecture down to the ornamental concrete slabs used to pave many of its sidewalks and nearly everything else in between.