These past couple weeks I was in France, where drawn journalism appears regularly in large newspapers across the country. As a nation, France is way ahead of the US in terms of love for les dessins, but if Gabi Campanario‘s newspaper work is any indication, that might soon change. (Or maybe I’m just feeling optimistic today…)
Campanario has been working in newspapers since 1992, first in his native Spain, then at USA Today, and more recently at the Seattle Times in Washington. He’s held most art department positions, from making infographics to directing page layout. In 2009, Campanario began work on a new regular blog for the paper, Seattle Sketcher, as well as weekly Sketcher columns in print. These pieces cover local stories through words and images drawn on site.
“I try to draw things that are representative of life in Seattle from my own perspective,” says Campanario. Unlike most press artists, the story ideas are all his own. “I work in a similar process as any reporter would,” pitching ideas to his editors for initial approval. This, too, was the genesis of Seattle Sketcher at first — Campanario brought the idea to his editors, who took a few months to warm up to it. A little over two years old now, the blog has graduated from an initial curiosity to a Times mainstay.
“People write and they say they like to see the city in artwork because it’s more unique,” says Campanario. “It’s also kind of a reminder of what’s out there that you don’t stop and pay attention to.”
Campanario’s drawings are done entirely on site — he likens many of his sketches to a reporter’s notes, cleaned up and colored back in the newsroom. “When you are drawing, you are the only one who can draw that — nobody can repeat it, in a way,” he says. “You can’t even draw your same drawing again, twice, when you’re drawing from life — it’s just done in a moment.”
But while Campanario’s lively and evocative watercolor drawings are what make Seattle Sketcher special, they’re not necessarily what makes it stick.
“I don’t think we can win them over with the art — I think it’s easier to win them over with the journalism.”
To that end, though, the Times has been supportive of Campanario’s work, and so has the journalism community: his blog has won top awards in regional media contests. “Getting that recognition from the journalism community means a lot because I think it’s proof that we can use art to tell stories,” says Campanario. “There is so much media out there in terms of photography and video, that I think people appreciate something that is handmade, hand drawn, perhaps more than ever before.”
I hope Gabi’s right.
You can see more of his work at Seattle Sketcher, and at his non-profit collective of other on-site artists, Urban Sketchers.
I love the art work and words of The Seattle Sketcher. I live in Tennessee, but my daughter lives in Seattle. I have her save me the Saturday section Gabriel Campanario’s art is in. I remember the very first piece of his I saw.. it was a stellar jay drawing and it was so simple and sweet. Thanks for writing an article about his work.