Nicolas Original Portrait Drawing

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have a friend named Nicolas who cheers me up every time I see him. He is smiling almost all of the time. He wears ORANGE after all (the happy, social color), but it suits him really. He has worked in so many parts of the world and in the most interesting jobs, including working for the French Consulate and being an actor in Hollywood. Last night he sat for me while I created a portrait sketch of him.

I hope you enjoy this portrait of Nicolas. He laughed after seeing my sketch and said that now he knows why he will never be married. Modest guy. I do not know if I have ever drawn anyone quite so jovial and I love the personality in this drawing.

Today while I was out spraying fixative over the charcoal and thick paper, my padrone and coinquillino (landlord and roommate, respectively) Luca thought it would be fun to put Nicolas (the drawing, not the man) into his lemon tree. Ok, so each person appreciates art in a different way. Nicolas (the man, not the drawing) would be the kind to turn lemons to lemonade.

But seriously, this original charcoal drawing of a man’s portrait measures 36 x 25 cm (14.25" x 10") and is available.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying schiacciata alla fiorentina, a cake with crème between layers and topped with decorative powdered sugars. It is specifically made by Florentines before Carnevale and has the Florentine fleur-de-lis on the top. It is delicious, and a good thing because the crème makes it not so easy to keep around.