Quick watercolor sketches of Florence

Here are two quick watercolor sketches that I did of Florence. The first is a view of Brunelleschi's dome from a side street and the second is the view of Santa Maria novella from the train station. I have been doing a lot of these quick watercolor sketches, but as I always I plan on doing some finished paintings from these quick studies.

-R

First trip to Florence

It was my first trip to Florence, but definitely not my last. It was a cold and rainy day, but walking around and seeing all the important buildings and works of art overshadowed the weather. There are so many things that I could talk about but I'd be writing all night. Florence is a big city and art is the most important part of the culture here.
It's difficult to pick what to talk about, but I will start with the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. I've written research papers on this building and it is by far one of my favorite buildings, and Michelozzo one of my favorite architects. The Medici palazzo is incredible, it's inner courtyard and garden are beautiful, the rooms and frescoes inside the main living quarters is overwhelming. Almost every room has a frescoed ceiling and the art in the meeting rooms where the Medici entertained guests are all lavishly decorated.





Obviously I must talk about Santa Maria del Fiore better known as the Florence cathedral. This cathedral is very ornate and has dark green and rose colored marble details, it has hundreds if not thousands of small sculptures and reliefs. All of the detail and dramatic decoration still can't take away from Bruneslleschi's dome. The cupola is massive, you can see it from anywhere in the city and the maroon colored dome stands out in the Florentine skyline.






Another one of my favorite buildings in Florence, also designed by Brunelleschi is the Ospedale Degli Innocenti. It is one of the first, if not the first pure Renaissance building ever. Brunelleschi used classic Greek and Roman architectural elements with Vitruvian principles to create this hospital, which now is a museum.






I also visited Santa Maria Novella, ponte vecchio, palazzo vecchio where Michelangelo's David was originally placed ( now a copy is placed in the piazza and the original is in the Galleria dell'academia.) I saw too much stuff to write about in one shot. I still haven't gotten chance to go into the Uffizi museum or the Galleria dell'academia.



I did manage to make it to the museum in the Palazzo Pitti and I saw a lot of works of art by: Rafaello, Peter Paul Rubens, Tiziano, Caravaggio, Pontormo, Dolci, Guercino, and so many other incredible Renaissance-mannerist-baroque painters. I was in the palazzo Pitti for about two and a half hours and still didn't see half of their collection. Ill try to finish up next time I go and hopefully it will be nice out and I can walk around the Boboli gardens which are part of the Palazzo complex.
Ill try to post as much as possible about Firenze, but it's impossible to speak about everything. Enjoy the photos.


-R

New Daler Rowney sketchbook review

I have a couple of sketchbooks I brought with me from NY, but most of them are watercolor books. I completed an Earthbound sketchbook recently so I needed another book that I could use dry media on. After browsing through the handful of art shops here in Siena, I saw this sketchbook that I've never seen in NY or in any art store or art supply website in the US. It's made by Daler Rowney, and has a hard front and back cover with a very very light textured design that you can barely see. The covers are definitely sturdier than Moleskine covers, so I'm sure it can take a beating. It's spiral bound, which I never liked, but drawing outside it really is very useful to be able to fold the book completely. It has nice creamy white 110 lb. paper with nice tooth and the book is 8.5" x 5.5". The paper at 110 lbs. should be able to take some watercolor washes so I'll experiment more these next couple of days. I only did a quick colored pencil portrait of my friend Abasse ( notice the tooth of the paper, nice for colored pencils !) but I'm excited to see what this book can handle. I might have to invest in a bunch to take back home with me to NY.


-R

Side note: DSU Toscana sticker not included.

Altre macchine

Here are two more cars that I liked. The first is a Fiat, the second, a municipal police car, I think is also a Fiat (they're almost exactly the same).
There are a lot of different police cars here. I think the nicest ones are these really sleek and luxurious looking Alfa Romeos. I'll try to get a photo of one, perhaps I'll draw one, but I definitely like these little boxy old cars better, they have much more character.

-R

Drawing on campus

I had an early class today so afterwards I decided to take some time to draw a little. This is the main building for the lettere e filisofia dept of the universita degli studi di Siena. This building is huge and I only drew a small corner of it and a small piece of the campus for this facolta'.
This building was formerly an insane asylum so there are a lot of interesting things to draw and look at. I'll try to draw on campus every Thursday morning. I'll explore more another day.

-R

Arcivescovado in Pisa

This building is right outside of the Piazza Dei Miracoli in Pisa. It's in the Piazza Arcivescovado, thus the name of the building. I love simple buildings like this one. Very classic in design with patterned window designs and then to top it off an incredible arcade for the inner courtyard. I'm a big fan of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence and this inner courtyard is similar to the Medici palace's. Anyway here are two quick watercolor sketches of both the exterior and the interior courtyard.


-R

Santa Maria Di Provenzano

What I like the most about Siena is that there are so many streets and alleys that you find something new everyday. I stumbled upon this incredible church not too far from the Piazza del Campo. It's called Santa Maria Di Provenzano. Enjoy !

-R

Church behind the Lettere e filosofia building.

I started my art history courses today at the Universita Degli Studi di Siena. My first class of the day was cancelled so I had some time before my second class. I walked around to the back of the building and I saw this beautiful church with these nice tall pioppi trees that I love. So I decided to sit and do a quick watercolor painting. It's still cold out so I can't sit out for too long cause I'll freeze to death.
I have a couple of awesome Arches sketchbooks that I'm saving up for longer watercolor paintings and warmer weather. All of my watercolor paintings have been in my Moleskine watercolor book which I always use. I have found some art stores and I saw this really nice Fabriano watercolor paper I never saw in the States. I'm excited to buy a block and see how the paper feels. When I do I will give a whole review, I'll compare it to the Arches paper and the Moleskine paper.


-R

Two small cars

One of the biggest differences between Italy and the US are the cars ! Most cars here are very small, I haven't seen many SUV's here.
These are two quick watercolor sketches of two awesome small cars I saw here in Siena. The green one I know for sure is a Fiat. I have no idea what kind of car red one is, It has no make or model on it and the door was from another car.
I've been doing several drawings and a watercolor sketch a day. I love ink drawings, but I have to progress with my watercolors, so expect more watercolor sketches soon.

-R

India ink drawing in beautiful Siena

This is a drawing from the inside of the Piazza del Campo looking out towards Santa Maria Della Scala. It took me a while and it's pretty cold here in Siena so it was a little tougher than usual to draw outside.
It think i'm going to try to draw all the buildings in the Piazza when it gets nicer out. I have a Japanese Moleskine that unfolds, perhaps ill try to do the whole piazza in that book before I leave. I've been doing some watercolor sketches lately as well, Ill post them soon. Grazie.

-R

Leaning tower of Pisa

The leaning tower of Pisa, India ink.
-R

Keith Haring in Pisa

After hanging out at the Piazza dei Miracoli for a couple of hours I returned to the train station. On my way I found a map on the floor, I was looking on it to see what was near the train station and I saw that Keith Haring did a mural in Pisa. Like a good New Yorker I had to go see it, plus the mural was only a few blocks away from the central train station.
It was a nice surprise to see some contemporary New York pop art in such an old city. The mural was dated 1989 and was in Good condition. Here's a quick snapshot i took before heading back to Siena.

-R

Pisa e la torre pendente

I got the opportunity to visit Pisa today on my way back from Bergamo. I always had it in the back of my mind to visit the leaning tower, and the cathedral in Pisa, but I wasn't stressing over it. After seeing it today I am so glad i made the voyage. I think the Piazza dei Miracoli is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. As soon as you walk through the brick walls that enclose the piazza you see the duomo, the cathedral behind it and lastly the Leaning Tower or Torre Pendente. The leaning tower is incredible and I stared at it for at least an hour, after that I did a quick watercolor sketch which you see here. I will upload some photos, but I thought some artwork was long overdue.

-R

Santa Maria Nascente

I've been in northern Italy for the last couple of days. I stayed in Bergamo, but I also visited Milano. I think my favorite part of my stay was visiting this church. This is the Duomo di Milano or Santa Maria Nascente. It's so incredible, when I originally saw it I had to sit and just stare silently for 15 minutes. The interior is just as beautiful as the exterior. The duomo has over 3,500 sculptures.
I also went to Santa Maria Della Grazie to see Leonardo's last supper, but it was closed ! I will return to see it soon. I leave for Siena tomorrow, I'm going to stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower and more importantly the Duomo Di Pisa. I'll start posting daily when I'm back in Siena.

-R

In northern Italy

Im in northern Italy, Bergamo and Milan are the two cities Ive visited here. I will post pictures and artwork when I return to Siena in the next day or two. Please stay tuned.


-R

Santa Maria della scalla

As I've probably mentioned before Santa Maria Della Scalla aka the Senese Duomo is pretty much my favorite building here in Siena. It's also one of the buildings I have not tackled in my sketchbook...till now ! This church is incredibly detailed and very intimidating to draw. So I started with some quick sketches and studies, this is one of my favorite ones. It's not the best out of the bunch but I think it's solid. This is a profile view of the duomo, I'll upload some more attempts soon.

-R


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San Domenico

Questa e' la bella chiesa S.Domenico. E' una delle miei favorite chiese qua in Siena. Queste e' un schizzo d'aquarello, forse a domani o doppio domani faccio altre designo de stessa chiesa. Metto qual che altre disegno qua pronto.

-R

The top of the piazza del campo

The main building at the piazza del campo is pretty massive. It's tall and wide and difficult to draw in some kind of detail in a small sketchbook. So I think I'm going to do it piece by piece and eventually I'll do the entire building in a bigger book. This is the very top of the piazza tower here in Siena.

-R

Exploring with my 35 mm camera.

I walked around all day exploring as much i could. I was accompanied by my 35 mm camera. I shot about three rolls (in color) and I got to do a sketch or two. One is a building in the piazza del campo and the other is a church called sant'Agata. More to come in the next couple of days.

-R

La chiesa de S. Francisco di Siena

School has been taking up a lot of my time here in Siena. Not only school, but paperwork I have to do to complete my student Visa and register for my upcoming classes.
I haven't been able to sit and draw much, YET ! But I will. This is the church of S. Francisco here in Siena. It's a beautiful building, I'm sure I'll draw this building, the piazza del campo and Santa Maria Della scala a million times, but they're my favorite buildings here. I'll put some more work up when I make more work that I feel would appeal to you guys.

-R

New banner.

The new banner for the Italian leg of this blog was created by my good friend and fellow artist Joseph Antoine. Please check his blog out to see more of his awesome work There's a mouse in my room

-R

Il Duomo di Siena.

Questa e la mia favorita chiesa nella citta di Siena. Il duomo Senese !

-R

The beautiful city of Siena.

I'm here in Siena, my wifi connection isn't great. It's actually pretty bad. I have some drawings and I will post them soon. I thought a proper photographic introduction of Siena would be the best thing to post. This city as you can see is beautiful. I love this city, it's hard to get around but it's so amazing here I don't mind getting lost. This is a view from a couple of blocks away from my dorm. More photos and drawings soon. I promise. For now enjoy the picture.

-R