Ep 16 - Telling Stories with Gabi Campanario
In this episode, I speak with Gabi Campanario, sketch-journalist at the Seattle Times and founder of the Urban Sketchers organization. Everyone in the urban-sketchers community knows or knows about Gabi, but often only in the role of being the founder. As I researched this episode, I realized it would be a disservice to speak to him only about this.
Instead, we talk about the many intersections of art and journalism in his life.
Gabi tells me about his early interest in observational drawing, and the circumstances under which he came to become a journalist at a time of great change within the industry.
The first Gulf War started right as Gabi joined La Vanguardia in Barcelona. The revolution of 24/7 news affected print journalism as well. The emerging field of information graphics came into sharp focus as a way to share complex information about the war with mass audiences. Over the years, online and offline, Gabi navigated a rapidly changing work and social environment. We talk about the era of blogs, and what it was like to connect with writers, photographers and artists on the early internet. We discuss the first USk blog, that brought together correspondents from different parts of the world. We talk about how we see the horizon today, and the vanishing point where art and storytelling meet.
The overarching theme of this conversation is the importance of chasing one’s interests to simply do things, and about the unexpected virtue of ignorance, i.e. not knowing enough to not try something new.
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to the SneakyArt Podcast. This is a show in which I have long-form conversations with artists and sketchers who make on-location art of their urban environments. Today I'm speaking with Gabi Campanario, sketch-journalist for the Seattle Times and founder of the Urban Sketchers organization. In the USk community, most people know Gabi or know about him. But for the longest time I only knew him in the role of founder and also a sketcher. In researching this episode, I realized what a disservice it would be to speak to him about only this dimension of his life.
As I learned, Gabi has made an interesting journey to come to where he is today, doing the things he does. For the past decade, he has been a sketch-journalist with a weekly column in the Seattle Times. We talk about what that unique job title means, and trace his path from sunny Barcelona to overcast Seattle, with stops along the way. Over the minutes of this conversation, we criss-cross over many years of his life, as he focuses on the things that inspire him - art, storytelling, and the many intersections between them. Some of the decisions he took in his life were circumstantial, some intentional, and some entirely unplanned. All of them made him who he is. In that light, we speak of the virtue of pursuing your interests, and also the unexpected virtue of ignorance - or, in this case, not knowing enough to not try something new.
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Returning to this episode, I guess I was trying to understand a fundamental dynamic between the two things that interest Gabi. So I asked him in various ways if the art comes before the journalism or if it is the journalism that makes the art happen. I guess I wanted to know if one of them was a lifegiving star, and the other an orbiting, thriving planet. But his answer is deeper, and the relationship more symbiotic. Without wasting more time, let's get into it...
5:00 Early interest in art, education in the humanities, and how Gabi found himself studying journalism, at a time when desktop publishing became a thing.
Interest in desktop publishing in college.
Working at La Vanguardia, the largest newspaper of Barcelona. The Gulf War (or First Iraq War), and use of information graphics to share information of maps, movement of troops, weapons and missiles.
His association with information graphics continued with the 1992 Olympics. This affinity for art and graphic design also set him apart from his other colleagues.
14:00 Nishant references the history of war reportage in the news.
They talk about the intersection of text and illustrations in design, for the purpose of disseminating crucial information to a wide audience.
Nishant asks how Gabi came to start urban-sketching.
Gabi talks about how he came to Seattle for an art and journalism opportunity, foregoing a management position in California which was leaving him unsatisfied.
And then he started urban sketching as a way to improve art and explore a new part of the world.
"I always had the instinct of drawing what I see. I think it's human nature, like cavemen painting on the walls, to want to record your environment visually."
"While I was sketching all these places in Seattle, the city was new for me. So it was a great way to get to know this place where we were settling down... Urban sketching grew out of control in my life, I was drawing everyday on the bus to work ... and getting home again I started a blog."
"I found the blog format very interesting because it was visual, narrative, and chronological. So you could create this log of experiences."
They talk about the early days of the internet, pre-social media, with blogs and Flickr. Then, Gabi took the opportunity to build a blog with Seattle Times, which became a print column as well.
They talk about entering into new and exciting opportunities without having full knowledge of the pitfalls and dangers. And how that's a good thing.
"If I had known at the time what the week-after-week deadline pressure would mean, I don't know, I would have been more scared. But sometimes it's good to be naive?"
33:30 Nishant asks how Gabi thought about starting the USk blog, and reaching out to other sketchers in the role of correspondents.
Gabi compares it to the way a publication is put together. A publication needs different correspondents from around the world and from different areas of specialty.
"What I was creating at the time was an editorial product ... sampling the sketches from different parts of the world and putting it online. I wanted to get really talented artists and storytellers, but also diversity in age and geography..."
Gabi generates interest, curates a list of sketch-correspondents, and sets a deadline to begin.
Nishant brings up the point of building community on the early internet, how it remains difficult today despite a lot more software aids. Entering with enthusiasm, taking one step at a time, and how enthusiasm and action catalyses other action and initiative. So there is a snowball effect of direct action, and audacity, and some element of naivete.
Gabi emphasizes that he was merely at the right place at the right time, and his act of starting the blog was like planting a seed. Nishant talks about how decentralized growth can lead to unexpectedly rewarding results.
48:00 Gabi talks about how storytelling through art is central to his understanding of USk. When he sees a sketch, he likes to see a sense of time and place.
Nishant talks about the diversity of goals within the USk community. There are people who want to improve their art and are using USk as one of their tools to progress. Some people are not as interested in improving at the technical skill, but are focusing on the communication behind their work. All of these people inspire others to get involved in this activity.
Nishant - "Several artists inspire me not because of the beauty of the drawing itself, but by what they chose to draw. How did see a street scene and think this is the subject, the background, this is where the details are, and this is where things end. It tells me about them and the stories they find interesting."
"If you can pin the sketch on a map, then it is an urban sketch. Sense of place is what appeals to me the most."
Nishant asks about the unique value or relevance of sketching/drawing in the 21st century media landscape.
"I love new media, but there is something genuine about the simple form of hand-drawing, or words. Those are time-tested forms of expression. When the audience sees a sketch, they engage with that picture in a way you will never engage with a video, gif or any other type of media. The reaction is different."
Nishant adds the perspective of art, or photography as information. The value of the sketch as incomplete information.
60:00 Gabi shares some of his favorite stories as a sketch-journalist in Seattle.
"I like the idea of the city as a living organism... Things happen, and I try to capture them visually."
(on drawing for a weekly column)
"I know many places I can sit and make a pretty sketch, but what am I going to say about it? That is the hardest part for me."
Gabi talks about "hidden places" in the cities we live in, as a source for great stories, and learning about the history of the city.
77:00 Gabi talks about plans for sketch-journalism going forward. Discusses carnet de voyage movement in France, and comics publishing companies like Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly that support their creators.
Gabi asks Nishant about the viability of sketch equivalents to D&Q and Fantagraphics.
Nishant - "I see urban sketching as a way to shine a light (on everyday life events) and bring beauty and attention back to them."
I took courage from Gabi’s story of moving from one ladder to another, motivated by curiosity and interests. He has carved a niche for himself as a sketch-journalist with the Seattle Times, but it took many years of small steps, actions and decisions, to create the favorable circumstances for that to happen. He founded the Urban Sketchers Blog and larger organization, and that has grown from a few dozen contributors connecting over Flickr, to a thriving community of over 200,000 people all over the world. At every turn, all he did was take one small step, and then one more, and then one more. That’s how you climb a mountain, it’s how you run a marathon, and it’s how you complete a pilgrimage. A good lesson for me, and I hope a good lesson for you too.
Links
Gabi’s Instagram
Gabi’s column in the Seattle Times
SneakyArt on Instagram
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