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Leiria is a pretty town. There is a castle looming in the background, atop the hill near a central plaza. This town deserves its own post because of the time and energy the Town Architect, another Architect and an LSU alum Hugo Alves and his wife Rita it took to show us around, feed us and accomplish one hell of a day.

Before leaving, I took some free time to sketch. I wanted to include this instruction because my methods are changing and will influence how I eventually approach our Landscape Architecture project on Tavira.

Thank you to Bruce and to an art teacher at the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, for helping me develop my artistic approach to landscape sites. Countless images of European history and conversations with people like Hugo, on turning things inside/out and building simple on old building, to the local cultural vernacular which I’ve discussed with the woman at our hostel in Tavira.

This esoteric system is what I’m using to develop my perspective drawings.

I. Perspective, II. Éléments III. Color

IV. Focal Point

Example.

Using a drawing triangle, I fixed the perspective with a horizon line and it took me a couple tries. I think I had three lines to start with. Next, I added a couple dots for the vanishing points. I remember looking at the building and thinking the building roof was much less steep than my first angle, so I changed it.

Next, I checked in on the elements. It was easy to identify the buildings I would include because my paper in my journal is only 8.5″ high and 5.5″ wide. Then I added some building features, like stories and doors and then sidewalks. I looked for a scale figure, then posts and signs. Then trees in the foreground and finally some cars and stuff I missed, like a plant pot.

With the perspective and elements sketched in with black ink, I focused on the colors. Doing a quick wash like the woman in The Gulbenkian and Bruce taught me, I added some subtle colors on the buildings, the street and maybe the tree. It’s nice to add colors one right after the other, so you see the color you want, you take a first color, like yellow, and just add it light without mixing. Then when you know you are moving on, see the color you want, and swipe the color you need to add to make it. For example, swipe blue to make green, or purple to make a dull grey brown.

Focal points. Agree with The Gulbenkian teacher and Bruce, I’m so happy to have their lessons. Add contrast. Use the dark browns and greens made by mixing complimentary, or opposite, colors. Some extra details too. The shade of the shadows adds a “mood”, as my sister Julia points out. More shadows = more mood. Less shadows , less mood and more emphasis on the elements and/or details.

Next I will work on something specific I noticed in Tavira, abundance. There were so many neat plants, crabs, and birds. I’m thinking of making this part of my focus, as I describe in the Day Six post.

**edit** After getting up early, 7am, the day before, I woke up a little later, but could not avoid the toll of the day before. I wrote the following post the same day, and no wonder my story describes exhaustion, my body needed rest. I’m relaxing tonight (8/31) to try and regain some of my strength. I did learn a lot from the paintings at these museums, which I didn’t even mention in the following post. For instance, the way 15th century masters blended colors and transitioned darks to lights, layering and contrasting, is incredible to see and study. Bruce always makes comments to me like, “I can sit and look at those paintings all day”. I think this is his way of telling me, “go look at some real paintings you idiot:).”

I am working on including more pictures with my descriptions so they make sense.

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Hey all, fatigue is starting to set in. Professor Bruce sent us a picture of himself in Mexico City today, stating that sketching, watercoloring and signing in plain-air is more tiring than it looks.

Lisbon’s subway stations are awesome and this is exactly where we started our day. We all took turns being guides today, I had the most experience so I went first 😉 evidently my experience does not translate well, and I enjoyed sharing the job with my classmates.

Today’s assignment was to do a panoramic scene looking out from Castelo de Sao Jorge. The pictures we did today came out well, and some (I’d guess I’m not the only one, aren’t done).

After walking downhill to the riverfront, we decided not to take a bus and instead bare the burden of the packs and walk some more. The Antiquity Museum is 3.5km from the Castelo, or about 2.1 Miles. Today’s torture took a toll on our feet, or as Yue Dewey would say, “My Feet Are Hurt!”

On the way back we split up. The people in Lisbon are so friendly I got back to our hostel, HUB, without a bus change (lucky), and with more friends than I started with. Not wanting to end my night early, I went shopping. I hit up thrift shops and tried on cut off sleeves, four-top-button button downs and eventually got frustrated looking through cheap crappy limited selection. Up by the Alameda stop on the Green line, I tried to use a bike share to get home. It’s called Grena, or something like that and it said I already had an account. Which I have never registered for, which made me feel like I had been hacked by Russian spies. (Shout out to Jane, pronounced Jan-yeah my Russian friend who was crazy enough to go swimming with me in the Rio Tejo harbor).

So I decided to press on. Mind you, not but 25 minutes earlier I walked by this amazing old church and saw the old-style Portugal crest above it. It made me think like, this is really Portugal. Then I went inside and stayed for a blessing and did my genuflection which I’ve been known to do in stressful hockey games. I saw a women on my way out, which made me feel like I shouldn’t have left after the blessing and before the singing, but I couldn’t think of a better way to leave.

Across the street from this beautiful park I came across, which apart from having two girls who when I asked for help from ignored me, had a massive waterfall fountain in it falling as much as 2-3 stories. A green hill even sat atop it. Truly a feat of engineering, I wonder if the Romans had anything to do with designing it like so many other parts of this city.

The clothing store I went in had two nice Portuguese girls at the register and when I told them I wanted a shirt and shorts for dinner, they laughed and said I had three minutes to pick them out. I did, and also picked out the smallest pair of underwear I have even worn. This I did not try on, like my mother always told me to do, because by glimpse they seemed okay, a little small, maybe too much like model underwear, but hell, I need em anyway. My dad bought a pair like this an it turns out he loves them. Bought ’em when he came to visit me, and then New Orleans.

I bought groceries in the way home, and made a dank bread spread. Here’s the recipe:

-half green pepper

-half big tomato

-half pad of duck pate

-whole can sardines en tomate

-Portuguese olive oil

-salt and pepper

Mix and slice and serve on the freshest bread you can find. I drizzled the olive oil over everything and cut it up later, after I picked through most of what I wanted. The sardines have little spines in them for lack of a better word, and those should not be eaten, or at least I did not eat them.

My friend Abdul also had some awesome clams, which he cooked with garlic, broccoli, lemon, salt and pepper, butter for 2lbs. It looked awesome. He also had toasted bread on the side.

My favorite parts of the day was sitting in the Jardin of the Museum d’Antiquity and talking.

Made friends with a nice old lady and good guy on the bus.

Good night

Panoramic view. 6b lead pencil on heavy, card stock yellow paper. Unfinished and unsigned by artist, Chadd Guimond Hippensteel

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton