Arts & Culture of Florence: Pre-Departure Sketchbook Experiments!
Participating Class: ARH 398 (Arts & Culture of Florence), May 2023 John Belk International Program.
An element of the Pre-JBIP Preparatory Course (Arts & Culture of Florence) was to keep a sketchbook throughout the semester preparing for our May 2023 trip to Florence, Italy! This was promote student comfortability with recording the trip visually in a sketchbook which will be maintained throughout the trip, and as a way to supplement student understanding of the artists, mediums, and works we explored throughout the semester. Student submitted pages from their sketchbook alongside descriptive blurbs to further explain their artistic intentions!
Emma Cain: “With the Duomo being the major landmark of Florence, I thought it was important to do some prac<ce sketches to prepare for the trip. I picture myself making a few more sketches of this building while in Florence and hopefully capturing more angles to be?er the composi<on. I like the idea of loosely adding colors to my sketches to make them feel more informal and playful. This is something I plan on doing when we go home for the night as a reflec<on of everything I saw during the day.”
Katie Pittman: “While working in my sketchbook this semester, I tried to do a few things. Firstly, I experimented with watercolor painting, something I haven’t done in many years. It was a struggle to get used to the medium again, and while I didn’t love the outcome, I had to remind myself that this is the whole purpose of a sketchbook. Another medium that I worked on was traditional pen and ink illustration sketching. Everyday objects were my main practice, I used my own reference items as well as ideas from pinterest. These were my favorite because of the sketchy quality I could produce. I will most likely continue this method on our trip.”
Ethan Davies: “Seeing as the Duomo is perhaps my most anticipated structure and site that we will be visiting during our stay in Florence, I wanted to start my architectural sketch practicing on it. I completed this sketch in freehand whilst looking at an image on the Duomo. I first outlined the drawing in graphite, then applied color in layers with our watercolors, then added some fine details in micron pen once it was all dried. I enjoyed practicing with the watercolors and experimenting how to add value, light, and shading to the drawing to give it a more realistic touch. I used different swatches of lower and higher contrasts of the red-brown paint in water to achieve getting different shades around the dome pieces. I also make a very low concentrated swatch of the blue green to achieve the Florentine green marble look that you see on the exterior walls of the Duomo.”
Nathan Le: “In my sketchbook I sketched Michelangelo’s David, Leonardo Da Vinci Angels from the painting The Baptism of Christ with Verrocchio, and Mona Lisa’s eyes. I decided to scan each of them and placed them together in a little collage. For materials I just used a black pen!”
Emma Henry: “Over the course of Arts & Culture of Florence, we have explored the many forms of art and society which influenced Florence over the course of the Renaissance. Keeping a sketchbook throughout this learning has been an ideal way to practice sketching for the trip and further a general learning experience. The following image is a page from my personal sketchbook, which I have used in many ways like a scrapbook of small sketches, stickers, and design paper.
This chosen page is filled with personal pen sketches, where I have pushed myself to draw without pencil and draw what I see. Included are depictions of the Duomo in Florence, several stamps, stars, a bow, strawberry, love letter, and glass bottle. I was inspired to sketch these images based on images from class lectures (such as the Brunelleschi’s Dome), the culture of Florence, and the overall theme of travel. I hope to continue filling out my sketchbook similar to the style and layout of this page during our time studying and exploring Florence.”
Avy Robinson: “I selected this page from my sketchbook because it is the best example of what I am hoping to do with my sketchbook once we arrive in Florence. Drawing is not one of my strengths, so I want to make my sketchbook a mixture of doodles, pictures, tickets, and artifacts from our trip. I do lots of lettering and decorative work that I will use for titles and descriptions, and I want to include paper keepsakes in my sketchbook to represent all of the different things we do in Florence. Looking at this page, I am excited to continue working on my sketchbook throughout the rest of the semester and in Florence, and I am hoping to create a book of memories that I can always look back on.”
Some students submitted sketchbook pages which were not visually connected to an exploration of Florence, Italy, but more focused instead on the processes of sketching and chronicling experience! Such written explorations are included below.
Astrid Bridgwood: “I used my sketchbook as an opportunity to explore a new medium (markers and highlighters) and investigate a refreshingly brief landscape-sketching technique. I want become more proficient at quick, bright and complete sketches in pen, allowing for me to be more decisive in my line- work. Often I find myself second- guessing my sketches when working in pencil, allowing my detail-oriented “perfectionist,” side to “take over.” While in Florence, I want to complete sketches of the landscape and architecture surrounding us— but I don’t want to be so caught up in creating a “perfect,” sketch that I am taken out of
the momentary experience of being in the environment. As such, I began to work in pen, drawing my environment from observation in a manner that was more focused on recording the idea of my surroundings and less engaged with creating a “perfect picture,” of what I was seeing.
In order to keep a sense of fun— and to ensure the pages were bright and visually pleasing— I incorporated highlighters and markers in a kind of color-blocking technique. I rarely use markers— I prefer colored pencil or watercolor— but I loved the bright, vivid, almost pop-art quality the material lent my sketchbook. I am excited to continue to explore this medium and sketchbook technique while traveling!”
Alie Feid: “This first page of my sketchbook was intimidating to break in because, although I am an artist, I haven’t historically done a lot of sketching, at least not unattached to a particular assignment. This was the first time in a while that I filled a sketchbook page purely from intuition without any specific rhyme or reason.”
Madison Pavlovsky: “As we have been preparing for our trip to Florence, I have been using what we have learned in class to inspire my pre-trip sketches. The pieces I am most excited to see in person are the variations of David. These sculptures are some of the most famous pieces of art in Italy. I can't wait to sketch the David sculptures when I am standing in front of them in Florence!”