This is the story of how Felix Sheinberger came to Rio de Janeiro and broke my cell phone. But hey, nothing so tragic that it can’t become a good story.
Felix Sheinberger, a german illustrator renowned for his watercolor techniques applied to Urban Sketch, came to Brazil to share a little about his career and maybe offer us, his fans, some tips. As the lectures were free, they quickly sold out and I couldn’t attend to none. That’s when I found out that before leaving Rio de Janeiro he planned to walk through Vidigal, sketching here and there, and anyone who wanted to could simply come and join him.
The day before, I had my backpack packed, my supplies organised and my alarm clock set. I left without having coffee and ended up stuck in a huge traffic in Jardim Botânico. Apparently there was an accident in Gávea. I thought to myself that that was it : I’d never be able to find by myself the urban sketchers in the middle of the slum. I got off the bus and walked resignedly towards Parque Lage, where I had sketched not long ago.
The next day, however, on the eve of his departure, I learned that there would be a discreet and unpretentious farewell, not officially announced. Felix, on that last day, was open to suggestions and would meet everyone next to the Arcos da Lapa, in front of the hotel where I was staying.
This time I was the first to arrive and, when a significant group was finally formed, we decided to climb the Selarón Staircase and introduce Felix to Santa Teresa.
We went up and pointed out to Felix everything that is considered the most beautiful and traditional in Santa Teresa: the Escadaria Selarón, the Curvelo, the Parque das Ruínas, the Largo dos Guimarães. But Felix seemed more interested in less touristic kind of places.
At one point, we sat down on the sidewalk and started doodling. When the bonde passed by us, Felix asked for my cellphone to take a quick photo of it and use it as reference for his painting. That’s when, suddenly he left my band new iPhone fall into te ground and break its screen.
I was a little embarrassed by the situation, as only Brazilians know how much a real Apple can cost. But Felix paid a fair amount for the screen replacement and we kept on with the tour.
After two or three more stops walking around Santa Teresa, we finally stopped for lunch at the traditional Armazém do São Thiago (Bar do Gomes) where we ordered feijoada and exchanged tips about Urban Sketch, showing each other the sketches made during the afternoon.
A few weeks later, I found out that, in fact, with that small scratch on the screen my phone had suffered a total loss and, according to Apple’s authorized service provider, I would have to replace it for a new one, which would cost me at least 3x the fortune of the screen. As you can imagine, I wasn’t upset with Felix, but extremely angry at Apple.
So I took the money Felix gave me and went to the Uruguaiana market and simply solved all my troubles. My phone has been working wonders since then and with the rest of the money I bought a protection case for it (cause we never know when we’re gonna need it) and printed a few copies of my sketch of the Cine Santa , so I can give it to my Santa Teresa’s friends.
