Amerigo Vespucci Anniversary

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
Today was one of those days that caught me “with my pants down.” I mean that figuratively, of course! That means that I regret not having my good camera with me because today I received a surprise invitation and it would have been wonderful if I had not left the house nude this morning (without camera). I did have my little Nikon, but that is a POS [Piece Of S...] camera, and hardly worth the effort (read WORST PURCHASE EVER!)

Upon arriving in the studio this morning, the Maestro John Angel asked me if I would mind spending my lunch hour at a publicity event with the Sindaco di Firenze (Mayor of Florence, Italy), Matteo Renzi, that John, Lynne Barton (owner of the Angel Academy), Anna, and Jered were invited to attend. He had his good camera with him and likes the photos I take.

Today, 22 February 2012, is the 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci, whose name appears on two continents. Vespucci was a Florentine and Florence wants to celebrate this year with Americans through a variety of activities. The three main classical art schools in Florence (Angel Academy of Art, Florence Academy, and Charles Cecil Studios) that use English as the primary language in school are involved in celebrating the arts for this occasion. I am sure that I will write more about this as the year progresses.

In this first image, the Angel crew (Anna, Jered, Lynne, and John) are meeting up with Charles Cecil (right) at the entrance courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio, which I had just visited in my last blog post.

The unveiling ceremony (which is what this turned out to be) was held in the Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala dei Gigli (Hall of Lilies), named in honor of the French, who have historically been defenders of Florentine freedom. [The Florentine fleur di lis has two extra stamen in its design, which otherwise closely resembles the French symbol.] You will see this French symbol in gold with a blue background on the walls of this room. Those are also there because much of the commissioned art back in the late 1400s was never completed by the same artists who had recently finished commissions on the Sistine Chapel in Roma.

Mayor Matteo Renzi . . . as a street painter, I am not sure what I am supposed to think of some of his actions… but then, in all honesty, other than his diverting traffic to the street on which I work on my hands and knees (see my book for more on this), I do not really know the full details of the struggles of the madonnari. I MUST learn more of the Italian language!

In this snapshot of the crowd, you might be able to pick out on the third row back: John Angel, Lynne Barton, Anna, and Jered Woznicki. In the row behind that, from the left: Charles Cecil and Sandro Zecchi.

This next shot is of the map that the three girls in Renaissance costumes and dolled-up hair unveiled. I must admit daydreaming through most of the several speeches, and not understanding the rest. However, I was told that the map of the world was actually purchased by Vespucci in 1424 from the Chinese! I cannot verify that at this moment, but I can simply leave you with the curiosity of the cat…

And finally, I was so thrilled to have been invited to such a cool thing and was thinking that it would be nice for me to have a photo of me with the Angel staff in this Palace. At the same time, it dawned on me that the reason I had lost the mayor was because his back was sitting right in front of me! He had taken the chair of the current speaker! I looked around for someone to use my camera to take a shot of me with him. One woman nearby was too enraptured by her phone and next thing I knew, a tall Italian man with an enormous press camera offered to take the shot for me. Ironically, the mayor’s eyes were closed in each one … so I leave you tonight with this image of us (with John Angel behind us) in the Hall of Lilies.

Florence Italy Figure Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I have not decided whether it is because I have no shame or whether it is just because I am a horrible liar that I am about to share with you what I am. You may remember my blog post on 15 January 2012 about my struggles to learn how to figure paint here in Florence, Italy. I often feel like a bit of a fraud when kind people remark that creating figure art comes so natural to me. It does not. I work and work and work at it. No lie.

Despite the fact that after my first day of frustration and the next day Maestro John Angel gave me a compliment in front of the whole class, I am still trying to overcome my first bad day on this painting of Federica. John Angel does watch his students paint; even if he is standing far enough away that you think he is not looking at what you are doing. Of course, I also get lost in my own brain when I am drawing and am not much aware of my surroundings.

At some point, he recommended that the class do as I was doing – cross referencing relationships using triangles. I have always felt that the more relationships I make (or notice) between specific points, the more my drawing will be successful. In this case, I had used my knitting needle to determine the position of the hand based on the line formed by a point in the shoulder and the belly button… or something similar that escapes my memory now.

I have failed somehow to get the gesture I once was happy with and I have yet to return to that first drawing that I erased during my frustration spell. Still, with refinement of the shapes I am designing, I hope to “scootch” my way back to something depicting emotion.

So, are you ready? Scary gets less so, I hope…

Image 1: really horrifying … no gesture, bad proportions. The only emotion I feel when looking at this is embarrassment.

Image 2: I am attempting to get the face, but it is still too narrow and poorly done. Her belly is way too round, and … need I go on?

Image 3: Frustrated with my own work, I chose to move on through the process. Here I have left behind the sketching in raw umber in favor of adding the light tones using Titanium White and Ivory Black. I have started the Big Form Modeling, the beginning of the process of creating the illusion of three dimensions.

Image 4: More shape refining, especially in the face, is starting to occur. My figure is looking better, but is still off on too many proportions.

Image 5: Another reason that I am here is to learn to be a painter. As John Angel has been lecturing us, poets use words, musicians use notes, and painters are in love with shapes. But also, we love the quality of PAINT! My tendency is to use too little. Ironic since it was originally the “squishability” factor of oil paint that led me to want to play with clay.

Image 6: By this time, Frederica had cut her hair into a shorter do that is quite attractive. In my attempt to refine the shapes in the face and still use this particular style of a grisaille (white and black) painting with a brown shadow tone, I have added yellow ochre to my raw umber to give some opacity to the browns.

Image 7: Still, so many problems with my shapes! However, I am starting to feel that I am beginning to capture her emotion of at least boredom. Sometimes the model looks teary eyed. She said this happens when her contact lenses start to bother her, but I actually enjoy the sad and pensive expression this gives her. It suits the slumped over posture as well, do you not agree?

And since I prefer not to end this session with any ugliness, here is one of the more subtle skies over my beloved Florence, Italy. Some days, I happened to walk out of the studio at just the most beautiful hour! Enjoy.

A Better Artist

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have been struggling this week as I try to get adjusted to my new life here in Florence, Italy. I have returned to the Angel Academy of Art to finish what I started years ago -- learning to improve my understanding of painting, especially the chemistry of painting. I left three years ago because -- and I am embarrassed to admit this -- another student was making me very uncomfortable in school and I could not get it to stop. I decided to leave the school, postponing my own education until this person had finished and gone. It was not difficult since I needed to continue to grow my own art career anyway.

My work moved in a slightly different direction in this period and of course, when I was back in Texas, I focused on my stone and bronze sculpture. I recently told Maestro John Angel and Jered Woznicki (my instructors at Angel) that I was nervous about starting up again because -- to my shame -- I had not even done a life drawing for over a year and a half (except for one 3-hour session with a friend).

Sometimes it is difficult to learn something when you think you already know something about it.

Being aware of this, as well as having watched other older students come in and flounder with their egos a bit, I really wanted to do as Maestro John Angel suggested, “Relax and it will come.” I wanted to learn the process thoroughly and it was important to “get it” early on so that I could “own” it and then be free to learn about what comes next. This was my mindset as I began to paint the figure in front of me. We were to use a medium-sized house paintbrush and wash in a solid shape on our canvases that matched the gesture of the model. The idea was to think in terms of FORM and MASS vs. outlines.

Then we were to add the construct over our massed-in shape . . . simple lines that placed the parts of the figure (head, limbs, etc.) where they would ultimately go, without actually drawing those parts. This takes time because it is the foundation of the entire painting. It is not enough to have the proportions correct. One must find the energy in the piece at this early stage. Otherwise, no matter how technically proficient the painting is rendered, it will be dull.

Once you are happy with this, start to articulate those construct lines. This means that you will take a smaller brush and create the outer lines of the abstract shapes that will become the figure. For example, the leg has specific edges that show off various muscles and joints. These edges will all have their own slopes and lengths and will relate to all the other parts in a particular way. Once the articulation is done to satisfaction, the artist can then design the shadow shapes (vs. light shapes). This is the start of the tonal work that will define the masses.

I hope this makes sense. Anyway, I do not usually work quickly. I am horrible at measuring things since I have a sort of impatience about being that tight … or maybe organized. Try as I might, I rarely measure the same thing twice and arrive at the same number. (Is that not related to the famous quote about the “definition of insanity”?)

So, I was VERY surprised when I found myself happy with my proportions on the canvas! I could hardly believe my luck! I checked and cross-checked, comparing various widths and heights, even diagonals (since I see better in triangles), trying desperately to find a relationship between shapes that did not match those I saw in the model. I really wanted to make sure that I did each stage SEPARATELY and that I understood the process that I came here to learn. And I felt that I was doing things well. So, what was the problem?

I did not believe that I could do that. But then, during the model break, I looked at the works of the other students who had more experience at this than I do. And I was further along the process than they were. I have never been particularly competitive (except with myself) and thus, I do not look at the work of others in order to decide how my work compares. But in this case, I knew that some things take time and we work within a system. The teachers know how to pace the class, despite some students working at different speeds. I was too far ahead and I lost confidence.

When Maestro returned to the room, I asked him if it was too soon for me to be drawing the shadow shapes. He said, “Yes, you have done it wrong.” I wanted to argue, “But you have not even looked at my canvas and now you are on the other side of the studio!” But I rarely argue something if I know that I do not have all of the information. When I am drawing or creating in any medium, I am not often aware of what others are doing and where they are looking. How did I know whether or not he saw the work I was doing earlier?

Frustrated, I went back to my canvas and wiped out all of my lines, returning to the simple mass I had painted in the beginning. I thought that was the fastest way to let go of my ego and learn the process the right way. In hindsight, I wish that I had waited on that. Once the model was back in position, Maestro came over to my easel and described each step again. And I kid you not, I believed in every ounce of my entire body that I had done exactly as he demonstrated! Even the measurement points that he said I must consider were absolutely the same ones that I HAD considered and measured! Now, I really felt frustrated because he kept saying that I had done it wrong because no one gets it right on the first try. But for the life of me, I still had no clue where I took the wrong turn.

After class and close to tears (I HATE that about myself since it makes me look so weak when I long ago discovered that I must release that energy somehow and prefer it be in a peaceful manner), I again asked Maestro to tell me what I had done wrong. So then he said, “Constructs. You have never been good at making the constructs. No one gets that right on the first try.”

That night at home, a friend called to see how I was doing in school. I must admit that I got all worked up again as I relived my frustration. He cut me off with his hearty laugh. I was not amused. What’s he on about? He said, “You . . . struggle? If anyone would get it right the first time, it would be you!”

Hmmm. Now I knew that Maestro was right (sorry, Si). I had done it all wrong, but I would need to figure it out on my own. That meant that I needed to DO more … more constructs, in this case. In that instant, I had a flashback of the time that my friend Vasily Fedorouk yelled at me in front of our stone carving students. He apologized to me in private that night as we stood outside under the stars. But having understood where he was coming from and that, in effect, his gruffness showed his affection and passion for art, I told him that, “My grandmothers love everything (artwise) that I do. But they will never make me a better artist. You will, and so we are ok.” My friend is perhaps too often my cheerleader and I need to figure this stuff out.

The image below is of the first step in this painting process taught at Angel. [I still had corrections to make then.] Unfortunately, I could not document the other steps I did that day because my digital camera is dying. I really need to break down and do the research and get another camera quickly.

Antonio Ciccone Art Drawings - Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,
I spent the 25th of May in Sesto Fiorentino, Italy, with my friend Hafiza to help her celebrate her birthday. Once again her generosity showed itself when she gave me her bici (bike). She is a beaut! A jogger, who took a break when she saw me trying to balance my camera on a trash can, took this image. I was riding home from the (train) stazione, trying to remember the last time I rode a bicycle.

However, I did not use questo bici until today, 31 May. In Florence, there is a pretty healthy bike theft business, with stolen bikes often sold to the many students here. I want to avoid becoming a victim in this situation and it took me several days to find the right friend to advise me on which bike locks were the best. And there was also the rain to consider. But today, I was flying high, zigzagging down some of the less car-traveled streets of Florence as I made my way to the reception of artist Antonio Ciccone at Casa di Dante.

Antonio studied with Pietro Annigoni, one of Florence’s more recent art heroes. I heard that many years ago, Antonio moved from the more representational style of Annigoni to America and its more modern movement/style. He has been back in Florence for a while now and is doing representational charcoal portraits. (He also attended last week’s reception for the mostra that included two of my drawings. The maestro Michael John Angel also studied with the late Pietro Annigoni.)

Art critic John T. Spike gave a warm introduction (in Italian) to Antonio Ciccone, while Rossella Annigoni, Pietro Annigoni's second wife and widow, smiled warmly nearby.


I photographed some detail shots of these lovely drawings. (Please pardon the reflexions in the glass.) I was impressed by the subtlety of tone combined with a sure hand and strong lines. I even enjoyed the artist’s signature!


And finally, I was able to meet the artist. Surprisingly enough, I am a shy person and it was only because my artist friend Francesco wanted to photograph me with the artist that I was introduced to him. Being the star of the show, Antonio did not have much time to speak with me, but he seemed genuinely charming and I was happy to meet him. And then look at more of the drawings, as Francesco continued to take many fotos throughout the exhibit.

Ciao a presto! And thank you for your interest.
Kelly

Construction of a Painting

I started one of my “Naked Gondolier” series paintings this past Sunday. I am doing it in my spare time, whatever that actually means. Anyway, I used the drawing I did of “Mario” that I showed you recently in a previous blog entry as the step-off point. I like the idea of the light in a figure emerging from darkness.

However, I also wanted to imply the gondola, as well as a bridge. I mean, what else spells out Venice (Venezia) in bella Italia? I am not looking to create details, but I do want to elicit an emotional response to the romance of this city. So, I began my disegno, starting with line and a vague idea of three tonal values. I photographed my beginning and then, in Photoshop, started playing with various lighting effects.

Not happy with any one thing, I decided to just start painting. Sometimes these things have a way of speaking for themselves, you know. Yesterday, I asked the Maestro John Angel if he could give me some pointers. I felt lost because I liked the light under the bridge, but it might not work in this particular painting. I was not sure that I wanted the reflection of the bridge to alter the shape of the dark water on the left. And the list went on. I could see why artists do works in series – it becomes possible then to choose one element for each artwork and play with it. Too many notes being played at once only makes noise, not music.

Allora, I concluded my confession to the Maestro with a, “I think that I am trying to do too much with too little.” Tilting his head slightly and with a pensive hesitation, he responded, “You took the words right out of my mouth. But also, I think you are afraid to lose too much.”

Wow. He just summed up my life.

So, I will add the darks and get back to you.
Thanks for reading.