Europe Week Fourteen: Drawing Italy

Throughout this past semester in Rome I've spent more time than I ever have in my life sketching. It's a huge part of our class curriculum, and our professors expect to see our sketches from our class travels, either in Rome or around Italy. (Drawing for class? Dream come true.) As we traveled with our professors from Rome down south to Campania and later up north to Tuscany and the Veneto, we stopped at every city and sketched. Sitting in the environment and observing your surroundings teaches you to truly see and understand things. Looking through my sketches now I can remember exactly where I sat as I worked on the piece and how I felt at the time. I've never been the studious architecture student who carried around a sketchbook everywhere I went, but, alas, I've been converted.

I learned to discover my style of sketching as time went on. I'd always been used to sketching still life in pencil, but started to experiment with watercolor landscapes and a more architectural drafting style. I retired my Microns and picked up beautiful Staedtler pigment pens. Now I can't stop drawing.

Here are some of the sketches I did for class over the past four months, from the beginning of the semester to the end.

Note the progression? I remember being so proud of my work at the beginning of the semester, but looking at those sketches now...boy was there room for improvement. The constant push for us to practice drawing has definitely paid off these last four crazy and life-changing months. With my drawing pens all packed up in my suitcase at this point, I'm ready to go home at the end of the week and conquer everything life throws at me, sketchbook in hand.