Sketching

Most people ask me, as I assume happens with my fellow architects, if I still use to sketch, or even if I still know how to sketch.

This question has probably to do with the determining importance of computers in our daily lives and the widespread idea that currently we only work in a computer based environment, and that the computer does all the work.

The truth is that we probably spend too much time in front of computers, but a fundamental part of the work, at least for me, continues to be done on paper. I may be using one, or several, of the dozens of tools or applications that have become essential in what I do, but I'm always doodling on pieces of paper, loose sheets or a variety of notebooks, from fancy Moleskines to all its iterations, with changes of size, format, type of paper and cover colour.

If there is an addiction that I cannot resist, and it is completely irrational, it is to buy a notebook, if it looks handsome, different from the ones I (think) I have, or if the price is attractive. Then I arrive at the studio (or at home, I also have several hidden there) and notice that I have 27 notebooks yet to be started and many others that have been started, but yet to be completed.

I imagine that most people go into architecture, first of all, because they like to draw and because they believe, and so does their family (magnificent and ironic illusion!) that from here will come a respectable, prestigious profession capable of generating a decent income, sustaining a wealthy and successful life.

Reality is responsible, in most cases, for realigning our dreams, but, at least in my case, the urge to draw is still there.

If architecture school taught me one good thing, it is that the innate ability to draw is not very relevant. What is most important, and rewarding, is the process, the enjoyment of being able to express an idea, a concept, or in some way represent reality, as we see it, with our imperfections and limitations. And there is no doubt that practice leads to effective improvements in what we produce. I gave up comparing myself to the masters, or ultimately to other people, many years ago. What is enjoyable for me is concluding that a given drawing did not turn out badly, it is better than a previous one, or that I achieved, with half a dozen strokes, and with the famous intentionality that the feared first-year college drawing teacher tried to instil in me, at the cost of reams of paper and many hours of work, to represent something in a way that was satisfactory to me. That I surpassed myself. In rare cases, it moved me or made me at least really happy.

Therefore, with more or less regularity, I have always continued to sketch, not only on a daily basis in the projects I do, but also for pure enjoyment, trying to capture on paper fragments of what I see, of what surrounds me.

In all honesty, I really do not think I sketch particularly well, much less from a technical point of view, the graphic records I make are mostly for myself, although I have never been shy about showing them to my clients. I learned a long time ago that if we do it with a convinced appearance, without hesitation, they take us seriously, and they do not ask us how we have the courage to present such rubbish to them. As far as I remember, no one has ever complained about the lack of quality of my sketches, at most they may not have been pleased with the architectural proposal I presented to them.

With all this in mind, I gathered so many sketches that I decided to create a specific Instagram account to show this part of my production. Some of these sketches were developed in a professional context, but the majority were produced just for the pure pleasure of drawing, or at least of scratching the paper with a minimum of intentionality. I do not know if they will be exactly what most people call drawings…

Anyone who is curious can look for me on Instagram:

@Sketchbyhbg

I hope you like it, or at least that it encourages the curious ones to try it. It's really fun and you'll probably do better than you expected!