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When walking through a town, there are many details that go unnoticed. Artist Stéphane Le Lagadec, however, seeks out these overlooked niches and immortalizes them in exquisite architectural drawings. Using a series of fine liner pens, he captures quiet street corners, picturesque doorways, and hidden dwellings with masterful finesse.
Le Lagadec has a background in design and architecture; he currently teaches art by day and continues his series of illustrations on the side. “My taste for architecture and urban spaces comes from childhood, as far as I can remember I have always loved it, even if I sometimes represent other themes,” he tells My Modern Met.
His approach to drawing architecture is distinct, as he usually finds a portion of the town that interests him and then isolates it on the page. In this way, understated corners and narrow alleyways are celebrated just like significant landmarks would be.
There is also an effortless quality to Le Lagadec’s work. Although he renders each of his pieces with pen—and even employs traditional shading techniques like hatching—he alternates his meticulous linework with large areas of white which give the illustration a sense of lightness. Additionally, he takes care to leave all of these urban places devoid of human figures so that the viewer can place themselves in the scene and enjoy the tranquil atmosphere.
You can purchase drawings as they become available via Le Lagadec’s Etsy shop, and keep up to date with his latest projects by following him on Instagram.
French artist Stéphane le Lagadec creates intimate pencil drawings of cityscapes.
He captures quiet niches of towns using different fine liner pens.
These different places are isolated on the page so that viewers can celebrate their many details.
Each scene is the architecture by itself, devoid of any human figures.
Stephane le Lagadec: Etsy | Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Stephane le Lagadec.
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