Jul. 28, 2014 | Posted in Reports, Painting and Drawing , Student Reporter | Tags:Natasha Cigarroa, Painting and DrawingReporter: Natasha Cigarroa | Course: Painting and Drawing

Summer Course Painting & Drawing 3

The Uffizzi Gallery proved to be a very satisfying experience. Not only did we get to see works by artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but we had Andi to guide us through the museum and give us her perspective as well as the historical context behind some of these famous works.

New student Valentina begins the same exercises from my first week. She familiarizes herself with the concepts of “where and how big?” and “dark and light”. Value will become even more important as she continues to work throughout her stay.

Also new to the class, Marisa works on the same exercise as Valentina. Using her rag she wipes away paint to bring out the light she sees from her still life.

Our pizza lesson on Tuesday was amazing. The restaurant was closed for the summer so we had the kitchen to ourselves. We began by preparing the dough which proved to be easier said than done. After about 20 minutes of kneading the dough we could finally let it sit so the yeast would rise.

From preparing the dough by hand to squishing the tomatoes for the sauce this pizza was hard work and tasted so much better because of it. Here we stand with our instructor with our finished product.

Wednesday morning Andi had me continue my drawing exercises to improve my sense of proportionality by sketching a statue exactly as I see it. For homework, I will continue to add dark shades and eventually bring light into the work.

After finishing our previous work, Andi suggested we work at landscape painting. Lucia and I found a comfortable spot outside where we could paint our surroundings.

Thursday’s class was very interesting as I began to paint on a wooden board. I used the same technique as the week before with Erika and prepared my wooden panel with plaster to add texture to the piece.

On Thursday Erika had Marisa and Valentina work on portraits of each other. They began by sketching their models and once finished were ready to add paint. Here Valentina works on her portrait of Marisa.

Friday we visited the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Di S. Maria Novella. Florence’s oldest pharmacy, this building opened to the public in 1612. Now both a museum and herbal shop, my senses were overwhelmed with the beautiful smells and structure of the building.