Cristiano Ronaldo: O orgulho de Portugal

Mosaic illustrations based on the Portuguese traditional tile painting (Azulejo). A tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.

A personal project. Studies on Azulejo and mosaics.
A tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.

A series of mosaic illustrations based on the great tradition of Azulejo. This 5-century-old form of tile painting is a typical part of Portuguese culture. Of course, the origins of Azulejo can be found in the Arab pattern tradition, the Italian tile craftmanship, and the Greek mosaic art. We could also find great tile paintings in other countries, not only in the Latin world, but also in the former Portuguese or Spanish colonies in America, Africa, and Asia. Tile-painting masterpieces can be found in the Netherlands, Italy, and, of course, the Middle East. But Portuguese artists have mastered this art and integrated it into everyday life in Portugal. This is why Azulejo is today something like a trademark of Portugal.
As someone who has studied mosaics for several decades, I have spent a lot of time with Azulejo, and for a long time, I wanted to experiment with artworks that would mix digital art with this great tradition.
I have chosen Cristiano Ronaldo as the main figure for these studies. Cristiano is probably the most popular hero of contemporary Portugal and one of my favorite athletes. This guy is not just an incredible soccer player. He's much more than this. He's an artist, a showman, a working-class hero, a role model, a hard-working entrepreneur... 
Hope you find this work interesting.
Take a look at the high-resolution files (look at the captions of every photo). These illustrations are very large and designed to be printed very large (around 50 x 70 inches).
Please forgive my Portuguese. I am just a beginner with this beautiful language.

Cristiano Ronaldo: O orgulho de Portugal (The pride of Portugal)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (11264 x 13312 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: O orgulho de Portugal 2 (The pride of Portugal 2)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (13312 x 10240 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: O orgulho de Portugal 3 (The pride of Portugal 3)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (11264 x 13312 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: O orgulho de Portugal 4 (The pride of Portugal 4)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (10240 x 13312 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: Golo da vitória! (The winning goal)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (10240 x 13312 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: O leão da Madeira (The lion of Madeira island)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (10240 x 13312 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: São Cristiano (Saint Cristiano)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (18432 x 22528 pixels)

Cristiano Ronaldo: A longa rua (The long street)
Click to enlarge | High resolution file here (15360 x 19456 pixels)

Some details of the illustrations:

Made with custom-developed scripts, hacks, and lots of love, using my Mac, Studio Artist, the Adobe Creative Suite, and good Fado music.

Cristiano Ronaldo's portraits are partially based on photos by AGIF, Fanny Schertzer, Marcos Mesa, Sam Wordley,  Maxisport, and Photo Works (Shutterstock).
Azulejo paintings from hundreds of artists have been used. Unfortunately, it's impossible to give credit to all of them, but I am really grateful for their work.