2012 Trip to Rio de Janeiro #2

Here are some sketches I did while being in Rio. All are based upon real characters I saw by the streets.

Rio, metropolitan train

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

My mother at 88, Rio

2012 Home, Rome

2012 Trip to Rio de Janeiro

I made this set of drawings one month ago. They're somewhat diverse from others, the reason being I wanted a more free and "inside" reproduction of what I was actually seeing. I'm happy with the results and I'm looking forward to further explorations of myself and the places and people I see and interact.

I was taking a walk by the Copacabana beachside and there were these guys making a "batucada". Samba, suor e cerveja (samba, sweat and beer)

Me and my friend Flavio taking an espresso inside a mall in Leblon.

Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. That's a socó bird. The Tamoio indians who lived there called the lagoon "sacopenapan" (the way of the sacós).

My family's house in Ipanema. We moved in 1958, my mother still lives there. It's a quite fine example of modernist architecture from the '50s, designed by the architect and painter Carlos Leão.

Rio's fantastic mountains frame Ipanema and Leblon beaches. Seen from Pedra do Arpoador, a surf point.

Lagoa's fauna: that's a "frango-d'água" (water-chicken) with it's red face.

The Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is full of white herons. These beautiful birds don't fear humans that much and sometimes you can walk by very close to them.

Fishermen throwing their webs by hand at the Jardim de Allah (Allah's Garden) canal that connects lagoa to the sea and divides Ipanema from Leblon neighborhoods.

Sunset at Lagoa. The everlasting Corcovado thrones out in the dark.

First day of my recent trip to Rio. View from Shopping Leblon's rooftop. It was late in the afternoon and a blue magical light surrounded us.

2011 Home, Rome

She's only sleeping...

Very late in the night.

Tivoli, near Rome. Very hot and chaotic place, but not void of beauties like the Villa Adriana (house of roman emperor Adriano) and Villa d'Este, a renaissance palace with a garden full of incredible fountains.

2010 Zambrone, Calabria

Carabà rests after a busy and hot day. He keeps the farm under control!

Tropea seen from La Grazia beach near Parghelia. This is one of the nicest towns in Calabria and is well kept, unlike many other urban centres in south Italy.

Michele Colace sleeping under the hot sun of Calabria. La Grazia beach near Parghelia.

Tropea's old buildings and balconies rise strikingly from the calcareous rocks. Seen from the beach just under the town.

Francesco and Rose's house at Priscopio.

Carla Colace using working clothes in the traditional calabrian way, wrapped around the head and waist.

Bioarchitecture at Priscopio (Pirapora Inn). Seventeen years ago it was a dry and desolated place. We saw the birth of Pirapora farm holidays...

Fauna et flora...

This is a traditional terracota oil container called "bombolona" in calabrese dialect. The upper part and handles are loosely enameled.

Michelangelo Colace working in his farm. I first made a sketch of Michele in 1990, tenty-one years prior to this one! Oddly enough, I am 58 now, the same age he was then...

This iron structure is traditional and was used as a base for tables, working benches and even beds.

2009 Zambrone, Calabria

At Pirapora farm holidays.

The view from Pirapora towards the vineyard and the sea, which is some 600 ft. underneath it.