Florence Alumni Show

 

Florence Academy of Art Alumni Show

      Tonight was an exhibition in the courtyard of a Basilica in Florence of paintings done by Florence Academy of Art alumni.  There were dozens of paintings on display, small and large, along with many sculptures.  There were candles illuminating everything as evening fell and the stars came out.  A violinist played into an amp the entire evening, so the place resounded like a theatre in the open air.  Among many friends of the school and locals, nearly all of us summer students came to see.  It was a lovely evening.  But I forgot to bring my bug spray, which I will most likely feel tomorrow!

An Artist’s Studio

A friend and I had the opportunity to visit a professional painter’s studio this week, and see how he works.  Justin Hess (www.jhessfineart) is a graduate and teacher at the Florence Academy, with works exhibited in London and the US (actually, Ann Long Fine Art, in Charleston, holds some of his paintings).  I am honored to have the interesting experience of modeling for one of his paintings. He is painting me in a long black dress holding a fan, standing contrapossto, or with all the weight on one leg.  I agreed thinking it would be fairly easy, but standing completely still for what feels like forever is more stressful than I could imagine.  After the first session, I think I would rather run ten miles. 

      However, my mind is very engaged while posing, because Justin set up a mirror in front of me to the right, so that I can see in the reflection the entire canvas as he works.  I feel like I am taking another class for no extra charge, one on professional portrait painting with your own model, using your own more creative pose than one in the classroom.  I learned several things during this first session:

    One, when I get back home, I can think of several ways to improve the process with which I usually work with the people I paint on commission.  I will try to pose them and draw them from life first, as it comes out more dynamic and lifelike.  Then, taking a dozen or so good pictures, I will try to capture the essence of that person using the details in the photos.  This is necessary because I have never met anyone outside of class (who is not also an artist) who would be willing to actually sit still for a painting for the number of hours necessary to complete it.  Two, I can see the benefits of having an immaculate studio.  Below you see his studio, a very pleasant and inspiring place, with a gallery-like atmosphere.

Justin Hess Studio

    Justin’s girlfriend Alicia is one of the sculpture instructors at the Florence Academy, and had some of her work scattered about his studio.  Although I do not know much about sculpture, she certainly has some of the most expressive and powerful work I have seen in sculpture.  Below is an example of her work.

"Centaur", a plaster cast of the final bronze statue

Love it!

Color Study

I just completed the color study in class, which you can see below.  It is meant to explore the colors on Julia’s face and allow me to make mistakes there instead of on the final painting.

Color Study of Julia, copyright Jessica Libor 2009

First Week Adventures

The last part of this week held even more adventures.  As for the art class, the sketching part finally came together.  The last twenty minutes of the last session, I finally put the eyes in, and the drawing came alive.

Basic steps of the realist method

My drawing at stage two

I saw why they teach using the sigh-size method—it actually works extremely well.  So far, anyway—we start painting on Monday, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Near the Uffizi Gallery

I climbed to the top of the Duomo tower in the center of Florence— the one with the dome-and saw all of Florence spread out before me.  There were 370 stone steps to the top, and on the way up you could look inside through iron grates into the middle of the tower, and see the places inside that they used for jail cells.

Inside the Duomo tower

The Michaelangelo Piazza was also breathtaking.  From there you can watch the sunset with a spectacular view of the Arno River, as the molten sun sinks into the waters.  The whole city is awash in golden light for the hour of sunset, then fades into the palest pinks and delicate blues.

View from Piazza di Michaelangelo

We also visited some of the small ancient towns surrounding Florence, where they make the wine and grow the olives that Italy is so famous for.  The hill country is incredibly peaceful, a breath of fresh air in contrast to the lively business of the city.  We also got to watch a lovely Italian wedding on the steps of a cathedral.

At a tiny village outside Tuscany

Our class visited the Bargello museum yesterday.  We had an art historian for a tour guide, who told us fascinating tidbits about the paintings and sculptures we saw.  I felt so fortunate to be actually seeing with my own eyes those pieces of art that have changed the course of history, that I had seen pictures of in art history class as a freshman in college…Donatello’s David, early sculptures by Michaelangelo, and one other sculpture of David by Leonardo DaVinci’s early instructor, Andrea Del Verrocchio.  Through various methods art historians believe this statue to really be of the young Leonardo, posing as David, at age 14 or 15.

I also visited the Boboli gardens, with grounds so extensive and lovely you could get lost for hours.  I liked their long passages and pathways covered in vines, ending in piazzas filled with ancient marble statues and fountains.

In the Boboli Gardens

At the end of the week there was a party for all the artists involved with the Florence Academy of Art, held in an elegant courtyard walled in by stones covered in climbing vines and fountains.  The food was delicious, and the company very interesting.  All of the summer students were there, who are an eclectic mix from all over the world.  Some young students from the US, like me, but others were older artists very established in their fields and just looking to enhance their work.  Many were from different cultures—Austrailia, New Zealand, England, Japan, Norway.  Of course, the instructors were there, many of whom I was shocked were so young to be so accomplished.  I had the chance to meet some of the greatest artists in their field (realism), and they were very kind in answering my questions.

Something that has really struck me about everyone I have met associated with the Florence Academy of Art is their humility.  Even though these people are unbelievably good, both the full-time students and the teachers act as if there is nothing particularly spectacular in what they do.  “I dabble”, said one teacher, whose work I had seen online and had made my jaw drop.

Inside the Duomo

More to come…

here in florence

plaza di repulicana

Caio!  My first few days in Italy have been amazing—Italy really is everything it is made out to be.  The beauty is overwhelming at first, and architecture breathtaking, especially in the basilicas.  There is an eye for detail here in everything—in every structure, it seems that the Italians thought it important to put in beautiful details.  Thus far I have seen Michelangelo’s tomb, Galileo’s tomb, the Basilica di Santa Croce (incredible—built in the 1200s), climbed the 370 steps up to the top of the tower in the Duomo Plaza, seen Michelangelo’s David, and been incredibly challenged by the course that I am taking.

The course I am taking at the Florence Academy of Art is teaching me a method I have never learned before—the sight-size method of drawing and painting, one used by Velasquez and Durer.  I have learned so much already and only hope I can keep up.  I’ll try to give you an overview thus far:

When painting with a live model, the biggest challenge is just capturing that one pose, not overlapping different poses your eye can trick you into seeing.  Watch the model’s height, tilt (you can tell this by measuring the space between the ear in comparison to the lips), the turn of the head, and the inclination (the way which the top of the head points).  A combination of all these together is called the gesture of the model.  A portrait is basically the gesture of the model with the correct features inside—and the important thing is to capture the overall mood and shape of the model, the gesture and attitude of the sitter.  The goal is to get proficient enough at the technicalities that you can capture what lies beneath into the model’s soul and way of looking at life.

First, we made an egg-shaped sketch of the model with the correct proportions, a small piece for reference.  Then, we relaxed and drew the model simply to get used to his or her features and gesture.

sketch of one of the models, Julia

When ready, we then took a large sheet of paper (the size of the eventual canvas) and set up our easels perfectly vertical and perpendicular to the model.  Then came the challenge.  I have never drawn this way before, but the focus it takes is incredible.  The time flies when concentrating this hard.

A diagram of the sight size method

Your cone of vision should be between the model and the painting—and you should be at least three meters back from the model and your easel.  Mark the place where you stand, and using a plumb line (or chopstick) begin measuring the position of the model on your paper verses the model in real life.  Basically, the goal at this stage is to get the shape of the model onto your paper in exactly the way she looks before you.  We didn’t worry about making the drawings beautiful, in fact they were pretty ugly at this point, used rather as tools to get the angles and basic feature shapes in the right places.  One helpful tip is to measure a vertical line down your paper first—then hold your plumb line down the center of the model.  This helps with comparisons.  Also, measure the top of the head straight across to your paper, and the bottom of the chin and nose.  Start with the high points of the right or left side—that is, the angles most far left or right on the model’s face.  As you draw, constantly check angles, and start with a drawing that is all straight angles.  Look for the big shape, the overall gesture, with the mindset that the correct scaffolding makes a beautiful painting.

One of the very excellent teachers demonstrating

The most difficult thing I found about using the sight-size method is the challenge of standing back and holding the image you see from that point in your mind until you make the mark on the paper, after walking up to your easel.  There is no cheating here—when at your easel, you can’t just look over at the model, because from that close all the angles are totally different.  You must go back to your three-meters-back position, measure with your plumb line, look carefully, burn that image into your mind, and walk back up to the easel to recreate what you see.  I’m told it develops excellent visual memory.

We used vine charcoal at this stage, and a fan brush to dull lines you’re not sure about so that you can put a fresh line on when you are more sure.

So as for the class, it’s very difficult but beyond what I was hoping for.  And as for Italy itself—incredible!  Some snapshots taken by my sister and I over the last three days…

the first evening...near the Uffizi Gallery, listening to the street singers (they have lovley voices)

One of the breathtakingly beautiful sculptures in Santa Croce

Street vendor with 1 Corinthians 13 tatooed on his arm. Love is patient, love is kind...

At Zecchis, the place we were told to get our paint. Magical jars of color.

View of the Arno River at sunset. Its the place of fairy tales.