Today at FAA, I had my thesis defense, which was essentially a final critique of my work from this semester.  I received excellent feedback from the teachers and it was a nice experience to hear them respond to my work.  I learned a lot over this last semester and feel a stronger sense of my own abilities.
  I've also started a self portrait as a final project.  I'm sharing two photos here that show the early grisaille and a first stage of paint application.  I think that I've got a good likeness and it has an Italian Baroque quality to it (maybe it's the mustache haha).
  For anyone interested in more process/technique: my approach with this self portrait is heavily based one values and using a limited palette.  The FAA approach is a value-based system, which I also emphasize with my own students.  I'd say my personal working and teaching philosophy incorporates more of a prismatic palette which is from my early training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).  I'm still essentially using the palette that we used back at PAFA which incorporated chromatic colors and earth colors.  Each school has different processes, but the principles are all the same.
   One of the key lessons at FAA is also to view the work as a whole image.  This is practiced through the use of working sight-size.  My self portrait is being painted in sight-size which required me to bring the mirror closer and push my easel back a bit.  I'd say sight-size is also a good way of getting the initial proportions, which can sometimes be tricky to place on the canvas.
  As I approach graduation, I feel very grateful that I could spend time in this beautiful city with a great group of people.

  A quick update to show some progress of my still life painting and to share some methodology from the Florence Academy of Art (FAA).  The process so far has been a traditional academic approach going preparatory sketches to finished work.  This painting started out with some thumbnail sketches that only focus on value relationships (not detail).  Squinting can be helpful throughout the process to keep values simplified--I personally don't squint very much, but it's good to test it out and see what works.  The next step was to paint small scale studies.  We're not using transfer drawings for the still life, but we are for a larger figurative painting.
  We're using a limited palette of: Titanium white, cad. yellow light, yellow ochre, cad red light, ultramarine blue, burnt umber and ivory black.  I added a touch of burnt sienna also because the burnt umber that I got from Zecchi is very cool and almost like a Van Dyck brown.  Earth pigments can have a variety differences based on where they are mined from.  I've always enjoyed limited palettes because it allows me to focus more on arranging values.  I like experimenting with colors, but my regular working palette has only a few extra colors beyond this limited palette.  
  FAA also works in sight-size, which is a method where you stand in a specific spot so that your canvas lines up with the subject matter.  It's a method that allows the artist to transfer over measurements from a certain vantage point.  I find the method to be very structured and works within a framework of specific circumstances.  Either way, it's taught me the importance of stepping back from my work and seeing the painting as a whole.  *You'll see the photo of my still life below was taken at a different angle from my sight size viewing location.
  The process is very rigorous and has pushed my skill level further.  It can be a difficult process mentally and physically and reminds me of training for athletics.  I'm very thankful for this MA program because I've always wanted to learn these time-honored methods.
  We had class today and my still life is still in progress so I'll share more as it develops!  No class tomorrow so I'll be getting chores done and taking it easy :)

   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!

  For my spring semester watercolor class, I decided to do a mastercopy demonstration of Johannes Vermeer's (1632 - 1675), Het Straatje (The Little Street).  The original is an oil painting and hangs at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
 I started off by drawing accurate proportions for the buildings.  In hindsight, I should have spent more time on the drawing stage because my proportions are off and my building is tilted.  Buildings and structures require more precision when drawing.  After my pencil work, I began painting the sky and then moved on to paint the buildings section by section.  I always try to work each layer from general to specific; many of the details were done in the final session.  I also used gouache to achieve certain effects such as the mortar between the bricks.
I learned several things over the course of this project.  I'm usually a very fast painter which serves me well when working en plein air; but this painting required patience and a discerning eye.  I've worked on it since March and yet I still see so many things to add and improve.  The brickwork alone is an endless pursuit.
  I'll keep working on it here and there and I'm planning to frame it some day.  This mastercopy is allowing me to really appreciate the fact that Vermeer was a brilliant painter with a mind-boggling level of skill.