Welcome!

I’m Gabriel Campanario, an urban sketcher based in Seattle. I’m actually the first artist ever to self-identify as an urban sketcher. It’s a term I came up with when I launched a blog in 2008 where I invited other artists to share drawings of their cities. Not just any drawings. Only those made from direct observation, capturing a sense of place and time in our hometowns and wherever we travel. My book, The Art of Urban Sketching, includes a manifesto that expands on the concept and has been embraced by amateur and professional artists all over the world. Urban Sketchers, the international nonprofit organization I spearheaded and directed until 2016, now counts with chapters in more than 70 countries.

My roots are in Spain, but I’ve lived in the United States for more than 25 years. Seattle is both home and the inspiration for my award winning weekly column published by The Seattle Times for more than a decade. In 2014, the Museum of History and Industry presented a five-month long exhibit of my work that was seen by thousands of people.

These days, I’m engrossed in turning my work into zines and creating original art and prints. I also teach workshops, celebrate the global urban sketching community in my On the Spot newsletter, and the work of fellow artists through my publishing imprint, Sketcher Press.

If you’d like to receive updates from me, I invite you to sign up for my newsletter.

Press

The empathetic sketchbook. The Daily Heller. Print Magazine, Sept 19, 2023.
Mi mejor herramienta de dibujo es mi cuaderno. El Periódico, Barcelona. March, 2019
Urban sketchers: isto não é apenas um desenho, Publico newspaper, Portugal. July 21, 2018.
Drawing Out the Story, Communication Arts. July 10, 2018.
Urban sketchers: cuando dibujar monumentos se convierte en tendencia, El Confidencial, May, 3, 2017
Art Exhibit Evokes A Sense Of ‘Placiness’, KNKX, Aug. 15, 2016
Urban-sketching: the whole world into paper, Popsop, March 5, 2016
Urban Sketching, La Vanguardia’s Sunday Magazine, Barcelona, May 31, 2015
Mural artist and Seattle Sketcher in Shoreline again, Shoreline Area News, Aug. 26, 2014
Un catalán, cronista gráfico de Seattle durante el último lustro, Agencia Efe. May 13, 2014
‘Seattle Sketcher’ Gabriel Campanario’s work at MOHAI, The Seattle Times. Jan. 10, 2014
‘Urban sketching’, el arte urbano 2.0, La Vanguardia, July 16, 2013
A conversation with Gabriel Campanario. Interview with Seattle blog “Deux Dilletantes.” March 21, 2013
Gabriel Campanario and the Art of Locational Sketching, Melton Prior Institute, Aug. 2012
Drawn to the Art of Urban Sketching. Interview with Florida Weekly, July 12, 2012
An interview with Gabriel Campanario Culture Vixen, May 7, 2012
Ten great places to sketch your vacation. USA TODAY, April 26, 2012
‘Urban Sketching’ book takes armchair travelers around the world, The Seattle Times. April 7, 2012
Urban Sketchers New Day Northwest, KING5 News, Feb. 21, 2012
The Sketchpad Journalism of Gabriel Campanario Illustration Age, Nov. 9, 2011
Interview: Gabi Campanario at The Seattle Times Graphic Journos, June 19, 2011
MacWorld Magazine, Spanish Edition, March 2011
Las crónicas ilustradas de un español triunfan en Seattle, 233grados.com, March 21, 2011
Cómo mirar a través de un lápiz, El País, Dec. 29, 2010
Urban Sketchers take on Seattle, Nov. 25, 2010
Interview at Barcelona radio station RAC (mp3 download, in Catalan)
Evening Magazine segment on KING5 News, May 11, 2010
Un cuaderno en la maleta cambiará tus vacaciones. Cinco Días, April 2, 2010
Capitol Hill Blog video, Jan. 28, 2010
Gabriel Campanario es el autor del cartel del Congreso de Periodismo Digital de Huesca, El Periódico de Aragón, Dec. 29, 2008
Seattle’s Urban Sketcher, by Florangela Davila, KUOW NPR, Dec. 8, 2009
Los dibujantes reporteros se reúnen en Urban Sketchers, El País, Jan. 21, 2010
Urban Sketchers, un año dibujando a través del mundo, La Vanguardia, Nov. 11, 2009
The Tools Artists Use, March 30, 2009
Currently Hanging, Jen Graves, The Stranger, Nov. 7, 2008
An interview with Gabi Campanario, skine.art, June 2008
La Moleskine de Gabi Campanario, Cuatrotipos, Nov. 6, 2007