Vasco Mourao

"When I first stumbled upon artist and architect Vasco Mourao's illustrations I knew I'd found something very special. It's difficult at first blush to fully understand the depth and detail that is represented on canvas. Vasco's painstaking approach, which is at times juxtaposed with whimsy, brings the intricate details of a structure, or city, to life. I'm now convinced that this master-of-his-craft possesses the ability to see around corners."

- Michael Allen

Tell us about your art.

It's a work of love. For me it's an enormous pleasure to draw these kind of imaginary constructions, going into a state of flow here hours seem minutes and the outcome always surprises me.

I try to create images that trigger the viewer imagination, and that they can get lost in the meanderings of the drawing.

It's an interesting genre, very dense, intricate architectural drawings, with painstaking detail. How did you get started?

Because of my education as an architect, I got the habit of drawing ,or to say it better, to think by drawing.

I always carry a notebook in which I draw everything that comes trough my mind.

But this specific genre started from some boring commutes or some less interesting meetings. I had to figure out a away to do something that could work by accumulation. A way to gather all those ideas in a coherent way. So it got me to discover and develop this kind of _expression and technique.

Now that I have that, I wrestle with larger formats and try to magnify the amount of detail and shapes, so that I 'm able to tell more stories in just one drawing.

You have been known to draw entire cities... at times dangling from balloons. A blend of extraordinary detail and whimsy, do you see the world in 3-D? 

Once again my education as an architect as something to do with it. I love to see how things work and mechanisms that are behind it.

Usually when searching for a way to draw a particular construction, I use the same tools that I use in architecture.

Such as plans, elevations, sections, so I can understand better the shapes that what I'm trying to draw.

Or starting from a premise (for e.g. cities hanging on a balloon), I can imagine several solutions and then try to put them on paper.

Do you work entirely in black & white? 

For now yes but in a future project the use of color will be one of the challenges.

I enjoy the simplicity of the black and white in contrast with the extreme detail that I try to achieve.

Also there's something essential in it that appeals to me but it's always nice when a project takes you out of your comfort zone. Let's see what happens...

You obviously do not suffer from attention deficit disorder. Assuming I'm not out of line, I need to ask how long it takes to complete a piece? 

Of course it depends on each one. For example Unfolded took about six weeks to produce - two weeks to sketch through the layout and four to produce the final image, the New Yorker took me about 2 months but the Zeppelin was made in a flash of 1 hour.

From where do you draw your inspiration? 

My work as an architect, the books I read (Italo Calvino y George Pèrec mostly) and the work of Piranesi are important pieces of the puzzle.

Do you work on more than one piece at a time? 

Sometimes they overlap but usually I tend to focus on one piece at the time.

Is there a project currently on the drawing board? 

An 8 large format drawings for a show and a children's book which finally will come to completion.

What's your current state-of-mind? 

Child-like optimistic.

You can learn more about Vasco Mourão at http://cargocollective.com/vascomourao.