Sketch Tour Portugal invited Nelson Paciência, Portuguese, to play host to Spanish sketcher Inma Serrano and to explore the Centro de Portugal region.
Together they were inspired by the landscapes and heritage of this region and had the opportunity to discover the small features of cities and towns along their route. The plus side? They had been long-time friends! 🙂
For Nelson, drawing is a way of slowly observing and feeling close to history, the smells and the sounds of the places he visits. This was what happened during the Sketch Tour trip through Centro de Portugal, in the company of Inma Serrano.
Alcobaça, Peniche, Batalha, Óbidos and Tomar are places that he visited as a child, and this closeness was shared with Inma in their sketches.
Nelson mentions:
“I’ve been to lots of places and never sketched in them, and it’s only when I go back to those places, just to draw them, that I’m capturing them and putting them in my memory. Sketching is all about being able to bring a little bit of the places with us.“
Nelson Paciência is an architect who lives in Lisbon. He fell in love with urban sketching in 2012 and has gained a wealth of experience in teaching sketching since then. He’s currently the President of the Portuguese Urban Sketchers Association.