Tobias @ GAU

overview of the process

Project for GAU (Urban Art Gallery). GAU is a space for creative freedom dedicated by the city of Lisbon to graffiti and street art.

This was my intervention for the 9th edition of "Reciclar o olhar | A recycled look". I've used spray cans and markers, which are some of the materials that I like to work with the most on outdoor interventions.

See more photos of all interventions from the 9th edition. You can find out more about GAU on their Facebook page. And see the work of Carolina Quintinho, she intervented on the same glass recycling bin as I did but on the 5th edition.

I really like origami. I always try to do some fancy thing with napkins for special occasions. I do little Santas on Christmas, to spread around the house. And of course, when I see some tutorial on Pinterest I always have to try it out … 🙈
So, when coming up with a concept for this intervention I immediately thought that origami and recycling were related. I mean, origami is giving a new life to a sheet of paper after all,right? 🤓

sketches

The idea is that Tobias is getting rid of some old bottles on one side and on the other side new nature shaped life is popping out.
I used a lot of bright colours because I wanted to make people smile when passing by, I wanted to give a good feeling to the street even on rainy days, when you really need to go to the bottle bank...and you really really don’t want to… 🌈

step 1: sketching and cover up

step 2: colours

step 3: the outline

Tobi?

By now you’re thinking “Yeah yeah who cares, why is the character named Tobias?”
I’m glad you ask!
I like the name… And it was my name before my mom found out that she was going to have a girl instead… 🤷‍♀️ So yeah, Tobias is my go-to name, because...why not?