Days 23 to 25
The first few days in Rome were filled with adjusting to a new urban fabric as well as focusing on practicing my sketching skills and adding watercolor techniques. The first site visit in Rome brought us to Piazza del Popolo where I got my first tastes of the history of the city. After sketching, I came back to work on my watercolor techniques as well.
The next morning, we had our first workshop with an American artist based in Rome, Kelly Medford. We met with her at the Campidoglio to sketch and watercolor the piazza. She instructed us to sketch a series of one line drawings in which we do not pick up our pens from the page. I think this technique of sketching really helped me and my style. Throughout the trip, I thought my sketching style demonstrated more of a memory rather than a perfect and accurate representation of what I saw. The looser and shaky lines in this style enhanced the feel that these sketches I produced are blurred moments and memories of the experiences I had in Italy.
Later that evening we made our way to a tour of the Roman Forum. There we learned about the history, development, and ruin of the Roman Forum. We closed the day with the Colosseum. Compared to the Arena of Verona, the Colosseum was much grander, but in ruin. The Arena of Verona is still used for events and entertainment today. The Colosseum was still a marvel to look at. I could only imagine what it would have been like to see it fully intact at its grand scale. It was quite fitting to begin the first few days in Rome with one of its greatest monuments.
To see what was left of the levels of arcades was quite the sight. Here I practiced so watercolor technique with a water soluble pen. I focused on a mere moment of the aged architecture and gave it shade and shadow to model it and bring it depth, three-dimensionality, and life.
The following day we visited the ancient temple of the Pantheon. Here I sketched a composite of the plan of the piazza, an elevation study, and perspective study, and a detail. On this day, we also conducted a lighting analysis of the Pantheon in groups. Later that afternoon we visited Piazza Navona and the grand fountain, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or Fountain of the Four Rivers. Here I sketched the personification of Asia and the Ganges River with the water soluble pen and watercolor technique.
Days 29 & 30
Nearing the end, there were still many sites to visit. On these days I visited the Tempietto, the proportional chapel designed by Donato Bramante, the MAXXI Museum designed by Zaha Hadid and filled with contemporary art and architectural exhibitions, the Jubilee Church designed by Richard Meier, as well as the Macro Museum, another museum for contemporary art. At the Tempietto, I practiced and implemented everything I learned from my professor to perform a composite sketch. It was composed of a detail, perspective view, and plan. Visiting the MAXXI Museum was another breath of fresh contemporary architectural work. Architecture like this serves as a testament to how far architects have come in their designs. Comparing architecture in the Middle Ages to now comes with striking contrasts and a spectrum of dynamics. Visiting the Jubilee Church was another contemporary piece architecture as Meier used bending forms with glass and light to compose an intriguing architectural work. At the Macro Museum, I could not stop thinking about how far art has come from the Renaissance to today. I learned that it all depends on time and culture to really understand the subjects of the artists and their intentions. I think it was good for me to see more contemporary work of art and architecture as the trip came to a close. It helped learning about the development of these aspects of the world over history and how everything comes full circle to the point I am at today.