More than 30 instructors from every continent have taught Urban Sketchers workshops to date. In alphabetical order:
FLORIAN AFFLERBACH (Cottbus, Germany) studied architecture in Siegen and Paris and worked for over three years in an architect’s office in Stuttgart. He teached drawing at the University of Stuttgart and now does his master degree in architectural communication and interpretation at the Technical University of Cottbus, Germany. Since 2007, his work has been part of exhibits and publications.
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LUIS ANÇÃ (Lisbon, Portugal) has a degree in Fine Arts / Painting from the Higher School of Fine Arts of Lisbon, in 1980. Teacher of Visual Education / Visual Arts since 1978. Teacher of drawing in Ar.Co, from 1987 to 1991. Exhibitions of drawings and painting since 1975. He has the blog Desenhos and collaborates on the blog Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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EDUARDO BAJZEK (São Paulo, Brazil) graduated from Universidade Mackenzie as an architect in 1998 and since then he has been working in the architectural illustration field, producing more than 1,500 artworks. In 2006, he was awarded by the American Society of Architectural Illustration. He has been improving his art skills in the Mauricio Takiguthi atelier, one of the finest painters in Brazil. Since 2010, he has been teaching his method for more than 150 students in his own school and in several workshops, including three prestigious institutions in Brazil. He joined Urban Sketchers in 2009 and co-founded Urban Sketchers Brasil in 2011.
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TIA BOON SIM (Singapore) graduated with honours from the School of Architecture, University of Singapore in 1979. She is currently overseeing the entire foundational curriculum for Temasek Design School that offers eight design programmes. Many of her students move on to becoming architects and designers. Her current interest in design education is in the search for new design teaching pedagogy and basic design typologies. She is instrumental in bridging the design education and the community arts in various academic and community based projects with the young people in Singapore. Tia is the founding members of Thow Kwang Clay Artists Studio at Pottery Jungle, Singapore involved in promoting the art of wood firing. She leads the Urban Sketchers Singapore community.
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MATTHEW BREHM (Idaho, USA) is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Idaho, and a correspondent for Urban Sketchers. He holds degrees in architecture from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Oregon, and practiced architecture for a total of 12 years in Washington, DC, and Eugene, OR. His research focus is on the pedagogy of design communication, and specifically on analogue and digital techniques in the academic design studio. Each summer, he leads an 8-week architecture program in Rome, Italy, with location drawing being a prominent aspect of the program. His sketches have won awards on two occasions at the Design Communication Association's Biannual Juried Drawing Exhibit.
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PEDRO CABRAL (Lisbon, Portugal) graduated in Architecture (1978) in the Higher School of Fine Arts of Lisbon, ESBAL. He is married and father of two children. He draws, sails and walks. Coordinates the blog Bonecos de Bolso and collaborates on the blogs Urban Sketchers and Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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RICHARD CÂMARA (Madrid, Spain) Architect by education, he draws, illustrates and makes cartoons professionally. He participates in exhibitions, conferences, workshops and encounters on the topic of the “Sketchbook”. He coordinates the blog www.richardcamara.blogspot.com and collaborates on Urban Sketchers.
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SIMONETTA CAPECCHI (Naples, Italy) completed her PhD degree at the University of Naples (Italy) in Architectural Drawing. She currently works as an illustrator and lectures at the Faculty of Architecture in Naples. Since 2006, she has curated four editions of "In viaggio col taccuino," an exhibition on travel sketchbooks with conferences and workshops. A selection from this exibition has been published in book form (Sguardi su Napoli, 2009) and several works are included in her blog In Viaggio Col Taccuino. Simonetta's sketchbooks have been included in many international exibitions and featured in edited collections such as Danny Gregory’s An illustrated life (2008). She contributes to Urban Sketchers from Naples, where she lives.
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GUIDA CASELLA (Lisbon, Portugal) is a scientific illustrator working in archeological teams and an infographic designer. She graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon in 2000 and holds a Masters in Archaeological Illustration from Swindon College of Art, University of Bath, England. Her illustrations have been published in different Archaeology and History magazines and in scientific articles. She gives courses and talks on the area of Archaeological and Museographic Illustration.
Blog | Facebook
JOÃO CATARINO (Lisbon, Portugal) graduated in Communication Design at FBAUL. Teacher of Drawing and Design in Ar.co and teacher of Illustration in the CIEAM in the FBAUL. He participates in exhibitions, conferences, workshops and encounters on the topic of the “Sketchbook”. He coordinates the blog Desenhos do Dia and collaborates on the blogs Urban Sketchers and Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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LYNNE CHAPMAN (Yorkshire, UK) was born in London, but now lives in Yorkshire, UK. She is an award-winning illustrator, with over 30 published children’s books, and visits schools throughout the UK to run drawing workshops and to try and inspire as many children as possible to regularly use a sketchbook. Chapman organises Sheffield Sketchcrawl’s monthly events and founded the SketchJam: SketchCrawling at live music events. Her sketchbooks are her most treasured possessions.
Blog | Flickr
FRANK CHING (Seattle, USA) is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, having recently retired after over 35 years of teaching. He is the bestselling author of numerous books on architecture and design, all published by John Wiley & Sons. His works have been translated into over sixteen languages and are regarded as classics for their renowned graphic presentations. Awards that Professor Ching has received include the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Design from The Nottingham Trent University; a Citation for Excellence in International Architecture Book Publishing; an AIA Institute Honor for Collaborative Achievement; and a National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
Blog | Facebook
MÓNICA CID (Lisbon, Portugal) is a graduate in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. Masters degree in Fine Arts from
Newcastle University in England. She works in the Fine Arts, as well as illustration for books and teaches Drawing in the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, NextArt and Newcastle University. She is a correspondent at Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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JASON DAS (Brooklyn, NY, USA) is a web developer, illustrator, and multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. A pioneering sketch-blogger, he started his site Gas Water Nothing in 2003. His bold watercolors of commuters and streetscapes have been featured in local media and exhibits. He has a special interest in online communities, productive social networking, and web-based software. Das grew up in Pennsylvania and has a degree in Visual Arts from Columbia University.
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ORLING "ARTY" DOMINGUEZ (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
is a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, artist-teacher and vagabond traveler. Graduated with a degree in Graphic Design and Fine Arts from Altos de Chavón/The School of Design in Dominican Republic, a BFA in Illustration from Parsons The New School of Design in New York and a Masters in International Education from Framinghan State College in Massachussets, USA. Domínguez has been teaching arts and design for the past 15 years, at an international school in Santo Domingo, in different local universities and in her own studio. She is the founder of the Urban Sketchers Dominican Republic blog and the coordinator of the Urban Sketchers Workshop Program.
Blog | Flickr
NORBERTO DORANTES (Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Mexican-born architect and educator currently teaching at the School of Architecture, Design and Urbanism (FADU) of the University of Buenos Aires. He is the founder and director of Taller Perspectiva (Perspective Workshop), he has also taught at the Central Society of Architects and other professional associations in several provinces of Argentina. Dorantes work has been recognized in several competitions in architecture and drawing, with the 1st prize "Hotel Kristal Pedregal" Mexico City and the 1st prize in the "Plaza Tolsá" architectural drawing contest. His paintings and sketches are in exhibited in Mexico, U.S., Colombia, Chile and Argentina. He has been invited by the Museum of Architecture in Buenos Aires to present his work in May 2011.
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PEDRO FERNANDES (Lisbon, Portugal) has a degree in Geology. And is a Post-Graduate in Science Illustration. His recent activity has to do with scientific illustration, occasionally touching on other fields such as cartoons or children's illustration. He watches birds and is particularly interested in field drawing. He draws something every day or at least something in his sketchbook. His blog:
A Carricinha!
ISABEL FIADEIRO (Nouakchott, Mauritania) Portuguese living and working in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Studied in the Falmouth School of Arts, Cornwall and completed Fine Arts in the Wimbledon School of Arts in London. Besides being a painter and illustrator, she promotes the work of local artists and craftsmen and women through the Sinaa Gallery, an art gallery that she has been part of since September 2009. Living in Mauritania since 2004, she has travelled and drawn the life of the local populations with whom she shares her everyday life for some weeks each year. In January 2008 she spent 5 weeks in the Saharawis refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, drawing the life of the women in the camps. She hosts the blog http://mauritania-isabel.blogspot.com/ and collaborates on Urban Sketchers.
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CATARINA FRANÇA (Lisbon, Portugal) works as a graphic designer and illustrator. She is attending a Master degree in Drawing at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. She studied Children's Books Illustration at Central Saint Martins, and Botanical Illustration at the Royal Kew Gardens, both in London. She works as scientific illustrator and as children’s books illustrator and has published several books. The sketchbook is a tool that uses daily in both fields. Coordinates the blog Historias a Lápis and collaborates on the blog Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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CATHY GATLAND (Johannesburg, South Africa) worked in advertising agencies as a renderer and storyboard artist, then from home after having a family. She has practiced various forms of illustration, including children's books, cartooning and caricature, as well as for school textbooks and educational publications for organisations working in the fields of health, water management and nutrition. Sketching has become a passion since starting her blog, and contributing to Urban Sketchers from Johannesburg. She has a diploma in Graphic Design from the Michaelis School of Art, University of Cape Town.
Blog | Flickr
MIGUEL HERRANZ (Barcelona, Spain) was born in Madrid but now lives in Barcelona. He is a former graphic designer turned illustrator a few years ago, while he was living in Bologna, Italy, where he started drawing sketchbooks in 2006. In addition to his illustration work, which he does mostly in the computer, Herranz keeps himself busy teaching drawing workshops at different universities and art schools, including Universitat de Barcelona/ESCAC, Escuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón, Universidad Internacional de Andalucía and Circle Artistic de Sant Lluc. For Herranz, sketchbooks are his preferred medium of personal expression, not only for urban sketching but for journaling, doodling and brainstorming.
Blog | Flickr
MARC TARO HOLMES (Montreal, Canada) is a Canadian art director and concept designer in the entertainment industry. He has been designing characters and environments for video games and film since graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1995. Some of his well known projects include Halo Wars, Age of Empires 3, Lord of the Rings Online and Neverwinter Nights. Marc has been urban sketching and blogging his artwork since 2006 and currently lives in Montreal.
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NINA JOHANSSON (Stockholm, Sweden) grew up in Umeå in Northern Sweden, lives and works in Stockholm since 1996. Graduated from University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm 2002, and teaches arts, design and computer graphics. She also paints, mainly watercolours, and does some illustration work. Drawing has always been an important part of her life, and urban life is what makes her tick artistically. Stockholm is a constant source of inspiration for her sketchbooks.
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JACEK KRENZ Polish painter and architect, professor (PhD, DSc) at the Gdansk University of Technology and at Universidade da Beira Interior in Covilhã, Portugal. A co-founder of Wdzydze Artists Village in Kaszuby, Poland. Participated in several exhibitions and workshops all over Europe. Charter member of the Polish Watercolor Society. Author of two books on meaning in architecture. He is married to Kasia Krenz, a writer and poet. He hosts his personal blog jkrenz.blogspot.com and collaborates on the blog urbansketchers-portugal-beiras. Member of Urban Sketchers.
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VERONICA LAWLOR (New York, USA) is an illustrator and president of Studio1482, an illustration collective in New York City. She teaches drawing and illustration at Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and Dalvero Academy. Ms. Lawlor has created reportage illustrations for numerous clients, including 3M, Brooks Brothers and the Hyatt hotels. Her on-site drawings of the September 11th attacks on NYC are part of the Newseum, the museum of journalism in Washington DC.
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FILIPE LEAL DE FARIA (Lisbon, Portugal) Graduated in Architecture at FAUTL. Practicing architect, studied the role of everyday drawing in architectonic practice. He participates in exhibitions, workshops and encounters on the topic of the “Sketchbook”. He coordinates the blog Desenhos em Blocos and collaborates on Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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MÁRIO LINHARES (Lisbon, Portugal) studied at the Artistic School António Arroio. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Design, an academic graduation in Equipment Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, and a master’s degree in Visual Arts Education. Draws compulsively and idealizes artistic and humanitarian projects. Is married, has no children (but wants to), and draws on the sketchbooks his wife makes. Enjoys walking, taking public transportation and discussing ideas with friends.He hosts his personal blog: http://hakunamatatayeto.blogspot.com and coordinates the collective blog Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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JOSÉ LOURO (Lisbon, Portugal) Graduated in Equipment Design from IADE. Masters Degree in Design from FBAUL. Teacher and trainer. Participates in exhibitions, conferences, workshops and encounters on the topic of the “Sketchbook”. Coordinator of the post-graduate course «Diários gráficos - Sketchbooks», IADE. Coordinates the blog a janela de Alberti and collaborates on the blogs Urban Sketchers and Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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ÂNGELA LUZIA (Almada, Portugal) has a degree in History and a Masters degree in Museology. Her recent activity has to do with research and exhibitions of urban history and memory’s of Almada in local museums, occasionally touching on other fields such as children's illustration.
CLARA MARTA (Zaragoza, Spain) graduated in Fine Arts from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). She is currently a teacher in the Higher School of Design in Aragon, Zaragoza (Spain) and the organiser of the encounters “De Vuelta con el Cuaderno” in Jaca, Spain (2009) and Zaragoza, Spain (2010). Collaborates in the blogs De Vuelta con el Cuaderno and Urban Sketchers Spain.
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VÍCTOR MARTÍNEZ ESCÁMEZ, a.k.a SWASKY (Barcelona, Spain) is a Catalan-Spanish artist and art teacher from Barcelona. He holds degrees in Fine Arts and Audiovisual Communication from Barcelona universities and also attended Nottingham Trent University in England. A trained photographer and videographer, Swasky shifted his interest to drawing as a way to show the world after joining the Urban Sketchers online community. Swasky’s first book, “Voltant per Sants" ("Going around Sants"), was just published in January of 2012.
Blog | Flickr
GÉRARD MICHEL is an architect and lives in Liège, Belgium. He has been drawing for more than 40 years and has taught drawing and perspective to architecture students during more than 30 years. His work has been the subject of exhibits in Belgium and France since 1980.
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JOÃO MORENO (Porto, Portugal) studied in Brussels, where he worked as an artist until 1994 when he returned to Portugal. His life, punctuated by schizofrenics touches, it's shared between drawing, teaching, reading, low frequence amplification and sewing. João develops his drawings in series where paper ( due to its mobility and intimacy) and lead pencil ( for its austerity) are privileged above others not withstanding that he might also use other techniques as watercolor, vectorial drawing or collage. He recurrently uses icons, symbols and a certain Belgian surrealistic dialect, where Chavée, Marïen and Broodthaers arise subtly or bluntely. He coordinates the blog Sketchbook Stories and colaborates in the blog Urban Sketchers Portugal.
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CLAUDIO PATANÈ (Catania, Italy / Lisbon, Portugal) graduated in Architecture in 2008. He has taught at the Architecture Faculty of Venice (IUAV) in a workshop about contemporary architecture. For the "Galleria di Arte Contemporanea" of Siracusa (Italy) he curated exhibitions and film reviews on city and contemporary society. During the past three years he has lived in Lisbon, where he collaborated with architect's studios and participated as an instructor at the 2nd International Urban Sketching Symposium. In January 2012 he organized two workshops on drawing panoramas in Lisbon. He contributes to Urban Sketchers Portugal and to Urban Sketchers Italy.
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NATHALIE RAMIREZ (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
was raised surrounded by art since her mother is a painter. She studied Fine Arts and Illustration in Altos de Chavón, Dominican Republic, and from there she received a scholarship to study in Parsons The New School of Design in New York, where she earned a BFA in Illustration. Ramírez now dedicates herself to illustrating as a freelancer, as well as drawing on location every chance she gets.
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MANUEL JOÃO RAMOS (Lisbon, Portugal) is an anthropologist, researcher at the Centre of African Studies of ISCTE-IUL and associate professor of the Department of Anthropology of ISCTE-IUL. He has published a book of his travel sketchbooks. He recently published Traços de Viagens (Bertrand,2009) and Histórias Etíopes (Tinta da China, 2010).
MELANIE REIM (New York City) is the chairperson of the Master of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and a member of the NYC Society of Illustrators Board of Directors. Since earning her MFA in Illustration from Syracuse University, Melanie Reim has illustrated for book publishers, advertising agencies, museums, magazines and major corporations. As a Fulbright Scholar in the Dominican Republic, Melanie took to the sugar cane fields with her sketchbook and supplies, not only illustrating her own reportage, but giving art lessons to the children in the local bateys. Reim’s documentary illustration is also part of the Air Force Art Collection in the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
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EDUARDO SALAVISA (Lisbon, Portugal) Graduate in Equipment Design from FBAUL. He draws. He organises and participates in exhibitions, conferences, workshops and encounters on the topic of the “Sketchbook”. Author of the book “Diários de Viagem. Desenhos do quotidiano” (Travel Diaries. Everyday Drawings), Quimera, Lisbon 2008. He hosts the site www.diariografico.com and the blog diario-grafico.blogspot.com and collaborates on the blogs Urban Sketchers, Urban Sketchers Portugal and De Vuelta con el Cuaderno.
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MANUEL SAN PAYO (Lisbon, Portugal) Graduate in Painting at Lisbon’s School of Fine Arts. Since his first year is doing Graphic Diaries, and only in a few years he has made more than a hundred. These graphic diaries were naturally integrated in his work process and in this moment, is the main subject of his study. He paints and exhibits regularly. He is professor in the Faculty of Arts in Lisbon where he teaches the discipline of drawing. He has a doctoral degree in Graphic Journals.
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INMA SERRANO (Sevilla, Spain) holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Seville, specializing in Painting, Design and Engraving. An art educator and illustrator for the past 12 years, she currently teaches Visual Arts and Technical Drawing to high school students in Algodonales, Cádiz. Serrano has also been a guest lecturer at Spanish universitites on the subject of travel sketching and her work has been part of international exhibits such as “Feria DEARTE Madrid” in Spain and “Matitte in viaggio" in Italy. She serves as one of the administrators of Urban Sketchers Spain.
Blog | Flickr
JONATHAN SCHMIDT (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) studied fine arts and illustration at Altos de Chavon in 2001, Parsons in 2003, and the Dalvero Academy 2004. He combines his work as a freelance illustrator with teaching at Altos de Chavon / The School of Design in la Romana. His motto: “If you can think it, you can draw it. If you can draw it, you can make it a reality.” Besides drawing as a way to solve visual problems, Schmidt loves sculpting and painting.
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LIZ STEEL (Sydney, Australia) graduated in Architecture at University of NSW and has spent 17 years working as an architect in Sydney, specializing in media projects. She is the founder and coordinator of the
Urban Sketchers Australia blog and has a great interest in Renaissance and Baroque architecture, seeking any opportunity to travel to explore works from these periods with her sketchbook.
Blog | Flickr
ASNEE TASNA (Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai, a graduate of Chulalongkorn University in architecture, Bangkok Thailand. As one of the pioneering Thai architects to work in Singapore, Asnee lived and work in Singapore for over 25 years since its building boom days of the early seventies. Asnee has moved back to his hometown Bangkok in 2003 to enjoy a slower pace of life and to re-discover his love in drawing and painting. He has also developed a keen interest in travel sketching of places he traveled to, some of which form a main part of Architects’ Sketchbook, a book published in Bangkok in 2008. Asnee is one of an early Urban Sketchers correspondent for Bangkok and a founder of Bangkok Sketchers, the only open sketchers group in Bangkok with some thirty over members from various career fields and ages.
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THOMAS THORSPECKEN (Orlando, Florida) also known as Thor, attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In his 10 years as a freelance illustrator in the city, one of his assignments for the Daily News included sketching historic buildings throughout the city for a column called “Undiscovered Manhattan.” Thor relocated to Orlando in 1993 to work for Disney Feature Animation. After 10 years, the studio closed, and he continued to pursue his passion for art through teaching and sketching. His blog, “Analog Artist Digital World” began in 2009 as a resolution to post a sketch every day. He describes it as “his way to finally put down roots, to become part of a community, one sketch at a time.”
