The Sketch Art of Miguel Herranz

Miguel Herranz is a sketch artist of a rare breed. When I look at his work, I think of masters like Andrea Joseph, Susan Rudat, and Paul Heaston. Miguel Herranz’s signature, what differentiates him from these equally talented artists, is perhaps his versatility and childlike exploration of the possibilities of sketch art. From each of his sets on Flickr, I’ve chosen a sample to illustrate Herranz’s imaginative capacity. The first sketch (above) is taken from the set, “Places“. By clicking on each image, you will be directed to that specific set.

The above drawings are found in the set, “Things“.

The set, entitled “Sketched Memories,” is a fascinating project in which the artist journals his past through sketch art. Leaf through the pages of this journal on Issuu. The artist writes:

This series tells stories of my childhood. This page talks about our kitchen, crockery, appliances, all that stuff. It’s Madrid, late 60’s. The final drawing tells about some day in which my father, very angry, punched the table touching the edge of my dish, that took off and landed in pieces while part of the content (stewed meat) flowed down the wall tiles.

This drawing is from a delightful set entitled, “Garabatos.” In case you were wondering what “garabatos” means, Herranz gives a satisfactory definition:

Doodles (english), garabatos (spanish), scarabocchi (italian), gargots (catalan), rabiscos (portuguese), griffonages, or gribouillis (french), gekritzel (german),
каляки-маляки / kalyaki-malyaki or каракули / karakuli (russian), krabbel (dutch), draskulki/драскулки or draskanitzi/драсканици (bulgarian).

Herranz is a Spanish-born illustrator living in Italy.

This is from a set entitled, “EDM,” or as Herranz explains, “Every day matters’ challenges.”

From “Sketchcrawl.” Herranz writes:

These are drawings made in Vignola, a little town 30 km far from home. The main sight is the Fortress. I passed about 10 minutes to chose this angle . . . only to discoverer afterwards that I’m not so original: it is the angle of all the photos that illustrate the covers of every Vignola’s guide. At least, no doubt it’s the best angle at all.

From the set, “People“.

The artist’s sketches of famous people are inventive as well. The first sketch is of Jorge Luis Borges, and the second is of Rita Levi-Montalcini, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

But he also does cartoons! And some of them are really funny . . .

In a set entitled “Symmetry,” the artist discusses his admiration for MC Escher.

Miguel Herranz’s Blog
Miguel Herranz’s Website
Miguel Herranz’s Flickr