Tuscan Sky Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Many years ago, I met an Italian artist who has passion galore, but little formal training. She drew constantly as a child and even once met the famous Pietro Annigoni. She was just a little girl, but she always remembered that he stopped by her table to compliment her drawing. She recalls, “I was in Castagno di Andrea, a village in Tuscany , I think Mugello, when I met Pietro Annigoni. He was painting a famous Crucifixion in the village church. I was in the little trattoria near there for lunch with my mother and my grandfather. Annigoni passed by . . . . My [English] mother didn't like Annigoni because he was Italian and also because of some story about him, so...” Another time she had told me that her mother did not care for the portrait Signore Annigoni had painted of the Queen of England. So, apparently, his opinion about my friend’s artistic potential fell on deaf ears.

Yet throughout her life and many adventures, my friend Hafiza Malik, subject of my last post and pastel painting, continues to pursue her art whenever she can. She is a sensitive soul with many stories to tell. She loves Nature, and has a special affinity towards trees. She prefers to draw from life (which is how I met her), befriending artists and people from all walks. Hafiza collects Nature’s souvenirs and creates drawings, etchings, and paintings.

I have with me here in Texas a limited number of prints from one of Hafiza’s pencil drawings of the Tuscan landscape. The image is printed on a thick quality Italian paper and is a signed limited edition of 50. The image is approximately 7” x 11” and is titled “Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”).

The price is $80 unframed (+$10 shipping and for Texans, sales tax). However, if you would prefer the art framed, I recommend all acid-free mat and foam core backing, with glass in an elegant black frame. I can offer a completely framed print of “Cielo Toscano” at the low price of $150 (+15 shipping, plus any applicable taxes). If you love Italy or even cloud watching, this image might be just for you. A great gift idea, too, for the travelers you know.

Please contact me if you would like to see this Italian artist’s work in person. (And if you find yourself near Florence, Italy, and would like to buy this print directly from Hafiza, let me know and I will connect the two of you . . . )


“Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”)
7” x 11”
Limited edition of 50 signed print on Italian paper
Copyright and original pencil drawing by Hafiza Malik
Unframed Art Only:

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“Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”)
7” x 11” (Framed size = 13” x 18”)
Limited edition of 50 signed print on Italian paper
Copyright and original pencil drawing by Hafiza Malik
Framed with elegant black frame and glass:

The following is an image of Hafiza explaining something about plants to me. These are capers, growing out of a Tuscan wall.

New Pencil Drawings Done In Italy

I have three new figure sketches that I did in Italia recently. I am embarrassed that in my haste, I was only able to tape them up on the wall of my new apartment and take poor quality photographs. I will take new images of them when I return to Italia. However, I hope that you can see some of my latest endeavors to capture the human gesture. “Mauro” was sketched for my Naked Gondolier series on 21 November. “Sara” and “Chiara” were sketched in different model sessions, both on 28 November. These are short poses (2 hours or less). If memory serves, these are anywhere from 10 inches to around 14 inches tall.

While I sometimes can get further along in two hours in paint, not often. And I am really trying to refine my designo of the gesture. So, it is better for me to slow down, observe, and think. I hope you can see these and that they appeal to you. I do feel that my skills in 2-dimensional figure drawing are improving dramatically, even if to some people these differences seem subtle.

Drawing of Sara in Charcoal

Even though I am back in Texas and working on my sculpture projects, my mind cannot help but linger on the main drawing that I did not finish while in Italia. I really wanted to keep working on my charcoal drawing of Sara after my time with the model ended, but I had too many friends to visit before I returned to gli stati uniti.

My friend Skye Campbell took this foto of me during one of the model breaks. While I have some more turning of the figure to do, such as making the shoulder and pectoral form darker on the viewer’s left side, most of the work left is everything other than the figure in the drawing.

Per esempio, I have exaggerated the reflected light on the spine of the book under the model’s foot, as I often do when making notes to myself. The exaggeration reminds me that something is there to address, whereas a subtler note might become an overlooked detail, or a missed opportunity. There are subtle changes to be made to the book to show that the source light is falls brighter on one end of the book than on the other. In addition, the big black box that the model sits upon needs more work, mostly darkening the top plane, but also improving the gradation of tone to show more depth to the box itself. The floor and the background wall need to have these sorts of subtleties finessed as well. I will add more movement of tone to improve the interest in this charcoal drawing.