Francisco Fonseca Paints Houses Like Portraits of the People Who Once Lived Inside Them

Francisco Fonseca, known as _francis.co, is an illustrator from Paço de Sousa, a small village in Portugal. He completed a master’s degree in Drawing at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto in 2018 and has worked as a full-time illustrator ever since, building an audience of over one million followers.

Houses sit at the center of his art. He treats each building as a portrait of the people who live in it — a mirror of culture, memory, and personal history rather than just architecture. This focus grew out of his research into local myths and legends, and his effort to give voice to the people of his home village; his stated goal is to bridge generations and rescue cultural heritage from being forgotten. Beyond illustration, he founded Porta 98, co-founded Garden Skate Co., paints murals around Porto, and teaches an online course through Domestika.

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