sketchy bizness

 Went to the Academia and saw Michelangelo's "David" and I sketched St. Matthew from the "Twelve Apostles" series that was never completed; St. Matthew was the only one Michelangelo even started!

Apparently this reminded my teacher of Arshile Gorky's works-- I don't see how it does but oh well?  It was nice to go through his works again looking for similarities between what I had just drawn and Gorky's works.  It also reminded me how important it was to remember exactly WHO certain artists names were because when my teacher first told me about him I said (much to my embarrassment), "Arshile Gorky, who?"  I had to google him to remember that yes, I did in fact know who he was and I actually referenced him for a painting I had worked on during freshman year.

 Some drawings I had fun with while eating dinner at an American diner here in Italy.  Any suggestions on if I should add color or not?  Currently I'm feeling like I should. 

And thats all for now!  Ciao ciao!

Let's get down to business!!!

I got down to some business last week.  I took the time to sit myself down and DRAW PEOPLE.  (I don't think I've done that since life drawing in freshman year.  Or I haven't done it this intensely since freshman year.)  The sketches I've recently scanned are drawings from when I was sketching my roommates here in Florence.  It was really fun and I actually went out with a friend to sketch at a cafe but I didn't get the chance to scan those yet so I just have my sketches of my roommates for now. 

In my High Renaissance art history class we've been going to a lot of museums and right now we're learning a lot about Leonardo da Vinci.  I was really influenced by the early paintings of the women in his time period-- how the artists would normally only paint women in profile, (If I remember correctly they painted them in profile/ looking away to show their modesty or humility.  Learning about that made the "Mona Lisa" even more intriguing.) so I drew my roommate in profile and tried really hard to capture her personality and portray it through her expression.  (As a sidenote: I just loved how certain women (back in the day) were thought of as intellectuals and as a result they were shown having the "thoughtful" smile and carrying a book to show their wisdom, etc.)

Experimentation with the gray Faber brush pens was quite fun but when I went looking for them at the art store (Zecchi's) here I couldn't find them!  I could only find the fine tip ones!  Sad face.

A fun, loose drawing of Prosecco bottles with (gasp) color!  I credit Firenze for helping me to tiptoe out of my box and try different mediums.  

 I haven't done any collage in my sketchbooks since freshman year so I decided to add that in again just to change it up a bit.  The flashy bits of Lindt chocolate wrapper really gave a sparkle to the background.  I just might do it again.  Maybe.

And thats all for now!  Ciao ciao!

Finally, some Firenze inspired drawings!

I finally sat down and drew.  I think it was because I just visited where Leonardo da Vinci grew up this weekend.  It was very cold up there, but the countryside was so breathtakingly beautiful.  Anyways, I'm really inspired by the architecture here in Florence-- I think its just gorgeous, and when the light hits the buildings it's even more beautiful.  I'm currently working on another storyboard/ animatic so I really want to take advantage of this wonderful city with its fascinating buildings.  [Yay for observational drawings!]  

In the drawing below there was a really old building right across from an old building; it was really interesting and an idea that I want to explore in my story-- the old next to the new/ old v. the new.  I'm also taking a creative writing class here and we read Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad" and at least for me, it was really great.  There were a lot of inspiring lines in there. 

 This building is the back of the Uffizi as well as a roof tile study.  The tiles here are so fun looking!

The view outside of one of my classrooms:

 

A potential character in my story.  I'm not sure what I'll be using him for, but he was fun to draw since I usually draw female characters.
 

Dolce, and some inspiration

Went walking around some more and visited the Uffizi [it was so great!]  It was amazing being able to finally see the paintings that I had only seen pictures of in my art history class.  It sounds so cliche, but I felt so blessed and happy that I have the opportunity to be here and see and do all these things.  Not to mention that I felt REALLY blessed being able to eat a delicious dolce!  Sierra's, at the top left was a croissant, Jess's, at the top right was a cream filled croissant with a chocolate top, and mine at the bottom was a sugar glazed, cream filled croissant. 

I'm also being reminded as to why I came to Florence-- SO much inspiration all around me. It seems like everything here is so beautiful.  [Every time I see photos I post up here I keep reminding myself that I took them-- that I was right there and that this isn't someone else's photo that they took.  I guess that it's still pretty unreal to me.]

And thats all for now!  Ciao!

Salve, Firenze!

Well, it's been a good three days since I've been in Italy and as I've yet to upload pictures I felt that I should start now. [the title of this belies the little knowledge I actually have of Italian] I got to Italy safely, but alas, my baggage did not. Hopefully it comes by Monday. In the meantime my lovely roommates and I have been roaming about taking wonderful pictures of the wonderful city~

I also had gelato-- it was grand! Also, yay for panorama views-- I couldn't have done that without this beautiful new camera. <3  [Molto thanks and love to Michael, friends, and family for this camera]

Theres so much inspiration here in Firenze--  I've seen so many buildings that I just think, "Oh I could sit down and draw this for hours..." I'm not quite sure what it is, but the architecture here just inspires me.  I'm really excited to get started on my new story! [If only I could narrow down my ideas. Oh well, having many huge ideas can be good :D]  Here's a photo of one street that inspired me:

I promise I'll get a better picture, but here's a picture of the Bapistry, the Canpinle [I think], and the Duomo!

And that's all for now!! Ciao!!!

Cupcake designs for Cupcake World

Some cupcake studies of chubchub, lady, and various gimpy-like cupcakes for Cupcake World!

Sketches

Some sketches I did while contemplating whether I should really differentiate between the pastries.  I thought I did more of the chocolate poof guy, but I guess I like cupcakes too much; especially jolly ones. [Apologies for the terribles scans.  I'll make them better after the mess of finals]