Today I did an oil study of Easton Tower in Paramus, NJ.  There's an interesting history behind this building and it's located on a nice walking trail.  I had previously done a pencil sketch (below) to feel out the shapes and values.  I really enjoyed painting all of the textures and I would have worked on it more today, but it started to rain.  Regardless, I always love painting outdoors and working on location; it's always a new adventure and a way of making a memory.  I'm going to explore some new areas soon and I'll get out as much as I can before the colder weather arrives.

  Our class had an excellent guided tour of the Uffizi gallery today and I wanted to share just a few things that made me smile.  I could have taken a lot more photos, but I'm generally not a fan of taking a lot of photos in a museum; I feel that the photos never do justice to the original work and they take away from my experience whilst I'm in the museum.  It's a real experience to view paintings in person also because paintings aren't merely flat pictures; paintings have texture, translucency and a real depth to them that cannot be captured in a photograph.  To me, it's always like meeting a person in real life Vs. doing a video chat or something.  There's so much beyond the surface!
 The collection is full of gems and I particularly enjoyed the Titians and the Caravaggios.  I've loved Caravaggio for a long time, but I was surprised by how nice the Titians look--I think  his paintings don't translate too well to photographs.  Of course, the museum has Raphael, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli (Birth of Venus), Rembrandt, Gentileschi, Rubens, Van Dyck, Bronzino, along with a lot of pre-Renaissance masters like Cimabue and Giotto.  Maybe it's silly, but I enjoy the animals included in these great paintings also.  I find it interesting that our love of pets and regard for animals hasn't really changed throughout history.  The video on the left of the sleeping dog is a Titian and the cat in the right video is a Pontormo painting.
  Tough act to follow.. But, I'm also sharing a photo of my transfer drawing down below which I've been working on.  We're going to use these drawings to create a final figure painting for the course.  My still life is also going well so it's been a productive week here in Florence!

   It's been a busy semester thus far in my final year as an MA student at the Florence Academy of Art.  After all the travel, my first week was pretty crazy and I was also battling a cold so I was exhausted!
  With this second week starting, I wanted to share some of my studies that I've been working on.  One of my projects is a thesis still life that I'm developing from thumbnails to charcoal studies to a small oil study.  The focus is on values, which is one of the main principles of art.  My other project is a figure painting that I'm developing in the same manner.
  The classes are very structured, which has helped me learn the principles more efficiently.  The faculty has also been excellent and it's invaluable to be able to ask questions directly and to have my work professionally critiqued.
  This process of art making is a very old one and it's extremely versatile.  It resonates with me because of its directness and simplicity.  And when I say simplicity, I also mean an economy that is very challenging to achieve.  As a teacher myself, I see the benefit of also passing these methods to my own students.  And it's great to teach (and learn) a process that emphasizes direct observation without tricks or "secrets".
​  On Thursday, we're going to the Uffizi gallery so I'm excited about that.  I'm also going to get out and do some plein air work soon.  This whole experience has been very fulfilling!

  Today was a free museum and garden day in Florence so my roommate and I walked over to the Boboli Gardens and passed some iconic spots along the way.  We walked past Dante's house and I got my first look at the Palazzo Vecchio before crossing the Ponte Vecchio--all of which was pretty amazing.  Florence seems pretty compact so the walk wasn't very far. 
   The terrain was very hilly which provided a great workout and a fantastic view of Florence.  The gardens themselves were larger than I imagined and we really enjoyed exploring all the areas.  Each area had its own beautiful and I'd love to spend more time in each.  One of my favorite areas had beautiful aquatic plants and water lilies, which I wasn't expecting to see.
  As an artist and art historian, one of my main reasons to visit the Boboli Gardens was because John Singer Sargent's painted there.  And now I can see why Sargent enjoyed painting in these beautiful gardens.  The mixture of the garden and classical sculpture was visual stunning and made me want to paint.  I did some sketching, but I'd love to go back with my watercolors.
  I would definitely go back to see these gardens again and I recommend anyone visiting Florence to also visit them!