Urban Sketching Symposium, Part 4: Views from Sugarloaf Mountain

One of the highlights of my trip to Brazil was the chance to sketch together with other artists, each with their own unique take on the world. A group of eight sketchers + one photographer visited Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) in Rio de Janeiro, and we were there for a good chunk of the day, capturing the view as best as we can. Being among talented peers inspired me to take on new approaches - using Moleskine watercolor book (which I usually don't like), working across the spread (which I normally don't do), and painting directly with watercolors (which I should do more of!) For a group post on what we did, take a look at the post on Urban Sketchers blog.

Even before the climb, you can see the mountain from all around the city. This is a sketch from Santa Teresa neighborhood, with Sugarloaf rising on the left side beyond hillside favelas. We will be taking the cable car seen in the sketch up to the top!

The cable car takes us to the lower part of the mountain. The view of the city from here is spectacular - Corcovado with Christ the Redeemer statue can be seen in the distance, overlooking the highrises by the bay with sailboats dotted throughout the sea. Turkey vultures were soaring in the wind, and occasional helicopter and planes passed through. I tried to capture them all.

The morning mist started to lift, so I can now see the long bridge across the water, beyond the tip of the city shown to the right side on the sketch above.

We'll take one more cable car to go to the very very top....

This is a view from the higher part of the mountain. It was neat to see wispy clouds gliding below my view - we're literally above the clouds! I don't like how the paint pooled in the folds of the accordion-fold sketchbook, but I did get to capture the shape of the bay more clearly from this vantage point.

Another bonus view of the mountains: I did a quick sketch from the plane at Santos Dumont airport as I began my journey back home. Goodbye, Rio. Hope to come visit again soon.

So many great memories, so much inspiration! I'll keep on sketching to prepare for the next Symposium.