Having studied and worked as an architect, illustrator Vasco Mourão understands the ins and out of urban environments. His monochromatic illustrations of cityscapes are a testimony to that if nothing else. “Basically, I learned how to design and build through architecture, and now I can distort, exaggerate and repeat all those architectural elements that make up a building or a city and rearrange them in my drawings,” he explained in an interview with Form Finding Lab.
But of course, his detailed illustrations are much more than architectural exaggeration. Made using only a pen, his canvases vary between paper, wood, and metal, with his techniques acquired through trial and error. The result is a fascinating exploration of the many ways space is organized. Sometimes disorienting, other times claustrophobic, his art invites you to step inside his endless maze.
Originally from Portugal, and now based in Barcelona, Mourão’s clients include Apple, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. “Probably the hardest thing to figure out for me was to learn to deal with mistakes,” he says. “Being a perfectionist is a curse in disguise because it’s very easy to get lost in an endless loop of do-undo and never get to the end of a piece. That’s why I decide to work on a medium where I can’t erase or undo. With pen and paper, there’s no backdoor.”
It also means he has to be 100 percent focused when working on his illustrations. Take a look for yourself.
