Last Day in Italy, Tomorrow to Brazil!!

Yesterday I made the trek from Civita to Orvieto to Rome, sad to leave but eager to go to the Urban Sketcher's Symposium in Brazil, and then eager to get home to Seattle!  Last night, Ben and Francesca, who work for Rick Steves, were kind enough to take me to dinner... and Ben hand delivered from Seattle my new camera!!!!!!!!  THANK YOU, Ben!

Today I mostly spent a lot of time sitting around the Pantheon, which was packed with tourists. Eventually, I got to this sketch--my last of this two months in Italy.  I also got to see Kelly Medford here, who since the workshop in Civita, has been turning out beautiful watercolors!!!  It was great to get to see her.  So I started this trip with a sketch of the Pantheon, and end this trip with an image of the Pantheon...

After this post, it's packing the suitcases for Brazil, as I head to the airport tomorrow morning~~

Thanks so much to all who have been following these posts during my two month NIAUSI fellowship here.  I have many sketches I have not yet posted, so I'll keep them coming for while...and from BRAZIL too!!
Ciao tutti...

Last Evening in Civita

Today, I spent a lot of the day cleaning, packing, and going around saying good bye to people and delivering a few sketches as gifts.

Tonight, Tony Costa Heywood (without Tony and his wife Astra, NIAUSI would not exist and I wouldn't be here), I enjoyed an amazing dinner at the wonderful restaurant under my Civita house, Alma Civita...
Maurizio cooked tonight, he learned from his mother Maria who also cooks here, in a tiny kitchen with a real wood fireplace where many of their dishes are prepared.
Pasta was spaghetti with figs, pancetta, and fennel...next course was fire grilled fresh tomatoes (which were out of this world) and this beautiful dessert was a pear cake...all super fresh, seasonal, local (a lot of it from Maurizio's family farm) ingredients.

This afternoon, I gave Maurizio and his girlfriend Roberta a sketch I had done of their new house here in Civita, and he promised to do his artistry at dinner...little did I know, he was literally meant ARTistry!!
What a wonderful send off...

Debating Piazza San Pietro

I'm actually starting to pack up some of things, as I leave Civita the day after tomorrow.  The crowds have settled down to a dull roar, so today I actually sketched outside quite a bit.  This sketch, however, is one I finished a little while ago.  It's of the piazza just inside the main entry gate, the Porta Santa Maria.

As part of my NIAUSI project, I've walked around and tried to talk with local folks about the names of things, ask them what was what, how long has such and such been here, etc...so asking about this piazza was pretty typical of the responses I'd get.

I have books that call this piazza "Piazza Colesanti", and some of the people do indeed call it that for the palazzo once owned by the Colesanti family on this square...but the sign in the piazza calls it "San Pietro" for the St. Peter's church that once stood in the gap on the left that was lost to the valley in an earthquake and landslide. So after some heated debate, it was determined that it is indeed "Piazza San Pietro", known as "Piazza Colesanti".  Mama mia!

Whatever the name, it was likely once the site of a thriving market place, being just inside the gate.  The exterior stair is called a profferlo and is typical in Civita (I go up one to get to my casa) and in this region.

This view is literally ear to ear, a pretty true 180 degrees...

Piazza San Pietro in Civita, glowing a bit yellow due to the fact I took the photo with the last ray of sun
for the day...note the blue sky in the door and windows near the center--the building collapsed into the valley, but the facade remains, windows open to the sky!!

Still Working Inside... because the streets are so crowded!

The streets of Civita have been PACKED with tourists--really, it's like the streets of Manhattan here.  There were a mind-boggling 2800 visitors (not counting kids) last Friday on the holiday for the Ascension of Mary.

And I think people believe they are in Disneyland or a movie set, as they walk through town and into any open door or up any stair, maybe not realizing that people live and work here!  I am really eager to get my walking guide done and available on the internet, as people really have no idea what they are seeing here.

So since it really has been too crowded to draw outside, I've continued to do some work inside...here are a few examples.  The work at my desk is really different--much more careful, layered washes, etc.
Also, these are on real Arches watercolor paper, so it is taking the pencil and color very differently from my other sketches on a less expensive paper (I'm finding I like the cheaper paper better!)

The house where Laura's mother grew up, right be the calanchi cliffs!

I leave Civita in only a few days--this is Monday night, and I leave for Rome on Friday...then Sunday, I fly to Brazil.  I'm in many ways sad to leave this place that I've gotten to know so well, but SOOOO excited about Brazil, and of course, I'll be VERY HAPPY to see my family and friends in Seattle.

Working Inside

Today the morning broke cool, thank goodness!  Italy is having the "worst" summer anyone can remember with much more rain than normal (I heard the exact same thing in Paris last year too and am starting to get paranoid, because both summers, it seems Seattle has experienced the sunniest summers on record),  but I was very grateful for today's break in the temps.  So while it poured outside, I was cozy inside working on 5 images, which I may try to sell here in a local shop!  I particularly liked these two, they are small and simple, but I really like how the colors and composition worked out.

What colors am I using?  I use Ultramarine Blue with Burnt Sienna and touch of Alizarin Crimson (a mix I learned from Stephen from Vermont who took my workshop in July--thank you for this great mix, I am using it constantly!), yellow ochre and raw umber, and for glow, I'm really liking Daniel Smith's Quinacridone Burnt Orange, similar to Burnt Sienna but doesn't get muddy when I drop it into wet paint.

Tomorrow is a holiday in Italy, Ferragosto or the Day of the Assumption of Mary, so Civita will likely be packed with visitors...yesterday, there were 1,200 tourists...

Valley of Calanchi at the end of the Road

I have one week left to work here in Civita...

So as I go through the drawings and paintings I've done so far, I'm trying to figure out what I need to do here for my NIAUSI fellowship project, while I still can!

Yesterday afternoon, I walked to the end of the road in Civita.  Below is the Giardino del Poeta where an monestary once stood, a hairpin turn, then just below the road is closed off.  There are caves carved into the cliff wall below, one turned into a little chapel with an image of the Virgin Mary.  Then beyond is the entrance to the tunnel that crosses underneat the entire town and opens out to the chestnut groves on the other side, also closed off for now.

Really this sketch is about the calanchi, what you see in white in the middle of the image. These are stark, dramatic looking peaks and narrow ridges of eroded earth--once sand and clay under the sea.  The valley of calanchi only addes to the surreal feel of this place...

Etruscan Caves of Antica Civitas

(Using my ipad mini for photos), here is the sketch done yesterday while sitting on the dusty floor of Felice and Maragarita's Antica Civitas, a small museum they created in the Etruscan caves below their house in Civita.  These caves were carved by the Etruscans around 3000 years ago, and the Romans added or converted a cave here to a water collecting cistern.

It's full of interesting things--the bed of an ancient olive oil mill, two niches with olive oil presses (where the paste goes after the olives are ground on the stone mill by a small donkey that walks around the circle--see on the right of the sketch), along with lots of other pots, jars, and remnants of so many things. 

On the left, the caves open up to the side of the cliff, from where you get a great view of the valley to the South of Civita and of the dramatic Calanchi spikes...

Well worth the admission price of one euro, and Felice and Margarita are so very nice too.

Inside the Etruscan cave of Antica Civitas.

R.I.P. My Canon G11

{Cue the violins...}  I'm still in shock...a few days ago, an object that sometimes never left my right hand (like when I was in India, or Civita for that matter), simply stopped working.  My trusty Canon G11 camera lens is extended and won't retract, camera doesn't work.  This is quite the dilemma...not only am I sad to lose this trusted friend that's accompanied me faithfully to many continents, but I REALLY need a camera here for posting and in Brazil. 

SO, I'm not sure what I'm going to do, especially since my iphone also is dead and stopped working (both stopped working while I was taking pictures from the bus going from Orvieto to Civita--is there a message here?)  Nearest Apple store is in Rome, and really hard to get to in a suburban shopping mall accessed by car.

Condolences, please.

Here is the last photo my dear camera took, taken as I was leaving Orvieto...

Roasting, Sweating, Sketching

It's roasting hot here in Civita. All this stone heats up like a big pizza oven.

But being a true crazy sketching person, the light on my subject was just right midday, so like a mad dog or an Englishman, there I sat sketching and sweating.  I finally couldn't take it any more, put the last touches on the watercolor inside at my desk.

I love this sink in Tony's Garden...

And this is what I do to get images of my sketches to post, pulled into photoshop as the photos are very washed out.  I thought this would be funny to see...

Being filmed in Civita this Morning

This morning, Giovanni, Urban Planning professor in Rome and Civita home owner, made a film of me while sketching!  I felt like a rock star, as when people saw him filming me with a large camera and tripod, then THEY started taking photos as well...so funny. I tried not to think about the fact I was being filmed.

As always, the light changes in these narrow streets so quickly, and by the time I finished the sketch, the light was different for painting...and it was so HOT, the paint dried immediately, making it difficult to work the large wall in shade.  Ah, complain, complain.  People often ask (and so many people stop and take a look, ask questions, nice ones say "brava" or "complimenti", etc.), "is it difficult to do this?" at which point I respond with an emphatic "YES"--it's really hard!  So now I'm wondering, does it LOOK easy???

Thank you to Giovanni for filming, in fact, he collects a lot of information on the history of Civita, also interviews with people here...including me in about 10 days. where I will get to talk aobut my project.

Next sketch, I think I'll beat the heat by going back to sketch in Felice's Etruscan caves...

Morning Sketch, Evening Sketch

It's super hot here in Orvieto, and today I wasn't feeling well...I don't think the heat helped. But I came to Orvieto on a Wednesday to be here to see the Thursday market--which sells everything!  Lots of locals, some tourists, and they sell cheap clothing, to pots and pans, paper towells and finger nail polish, and also amazing looking fruits (so many peaches!), vegetables, meats, and incredible cheeses (which honestly, I smelled before I saw them...) Found a spot in the shade before I keeled over and did this sketch. 

Orvieto Thursday Market, the guy with the cane was waiting for his super
friendly very young grandson to run up the steps (where I was sitting)
and come back down.

Finished the Piazza della Republica sketch with the old guys
descretely looking over my shoulder.

Later in the day, I saw the Orvieto Underground, 2 archeology museums, and another amazing underground cave museum.  Then it was back to the piazza to paint the drawing I started yesterday--listening to the old guys hanging out in the square arguing the entire time!

Orvieto Today...

This morning, I arrived in the hilltown of Orvieto by car, thanks to a happy coincidence that Felice, Margarita, and their grandaughter Chiara (from Seattle) were heading to the same place--grazie!

Orvieto is a lovely town, and its crowning glory is the Duomo, famous for its striped stone sides (enough to give me a migraine...), and it's glittering mosaic facade.


I sat and did 3 sketches of it today, two in color--cheating, as most of the church is cropped by a street! When I started, the facade was backlit, and when I needed to paint, there was already light hitting the front...so, it gets a little heavy as I try to add shadows, then adjust the value of the street in front. I think I'll try this again tomorrow.

When I was just about finished, I looked down at my sketch and decided it would be nice to get a picture of me and the sketch in place, heard some english nearby, looked up, and asked the closest person if they would take my photo--amazingly, it happened to be the lovely actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (I had just seen her in a movie with Kevin Costner about two months ago, but did not let on that I recognized her), who very kindly took several shots from different angles, even retaking some after I tied back my wild, crazy-looking-woman-in-Italian-heat hair. If she ever reads this blog, grazie mille!

By late in the day, I sat in the Piazza Republica, ate a slice of pizza, and did a line drawing--I'll have to go back tomorrow evening to paint it, as the light was already gone when I was ready to paint!

Tomorrow, the museums and caves thanks to an all-museum pass from Ben Cameron!
Ciao--

Lots of detail

Today I colored the Chiesa San Donato interior sketch--most before lunch, a bit after lunch. Well, I probably went overboard with the detail, but the original actually looks OK.  I compare it to the one I did last year (on the banner at the top of this page), which in many ways I like better because it's sketchier, but this one will work well for my walking guide project, as it shows more detail. The color is much nicer in the original, softer, this looks a little garish digitally from my camera photo.

Tomorrow, I'm taking a break and heading to Orvieto--I'm hoping they'll let me sketch inside the famous Duomo!

Detailed interior of the Chiesa San Donato in Civita. August 4-5, 2014

Inside the Chiesa San Donato on a hot day

Today, it felt like summer in Italy again.  So in the heat of the day, I wandered over to the dark Chiesa San Donato, to attempt a second version of the sketch I did last year which I loved and will probably never surpass.  But this time, different proportions and paper (part of my project series), and I wanted to talk more about some of the detail in the church, of which there is much. I also want to use the finished sketch as part of my walking guide, so it would be useful to show more of the church content. But looking at it now, I think I probably went overboard with the detail and should have left it sketchier. We'll see once it gets color!!

I really like this church...it is most likely built atop an Etruscan or Roman temple (note the remnants of columns on the exterior), probably built by the Longobardi (Lombards from the north who were in this part of Italy roughly 500-700AD--thank you, Wikipedia), then renovated various times, especially on the exterior facade.  

And the church is full of stuff, a lot of interesting stuff.  I really like the basic white Romanesque layout and simple arches, then in various spots one finds an explosion of detail, gilt, history. Not fussy, but rather casual, a little dusty, like a real church and not for show. Also inside are the relics (as in preserved remains) of two saints--Santa Vittoria who was martyred in 251AD and St. Hildebrand who died in 873AD.  San Donato himself was from Arezzo and was martyred during the 300's.  Then there are the Roman, Medieval, and maybe even Etruscan remants either incorporated into the building or lying around in some corner.  Well worth a close look to see this profusion and history.

Tomorrow, the color version...

Painting in the dark?! Evening concert in Civita.

Last night, I was dead tired, but it was the night of a big event here in Civita... a concert in the piazza by jazz singer Rosanna Casale, and the entire town plus a whole lot more would be there. so I really couldn't miss it.  I hopped in the shower, put on fresh clothes, grabbed my sketchbook and stool, and headed for the piazza a little after 9:30pm.

Sitting way at the back, I pulled out my book and pencil and started to sketch, barely able to see in the dark.  Luckily, I had already drawn this church facade many times, so I had a picture in my mind to make up for what I couldn't see with my eyes.  OK...pencil sketch done...then I sat there for a few minutes while the music played on, debating whether or not to pull out the paints.  Aw heck, it was a JAZZ concert--given the music, I HAD to improvise paint it on site, even if I couldn't see!!  So, I poured the water, propped everything up in my lap, and started to paint...IN THE DARK!

Luckily, I knew what color was where on my palette, as I literally could only see darks and lights, and those only barely. I was laughing the entire time, curious to see what this would actually looked like in the light!  The sand of the piazza blew, and now that the sketch is done, I can feel the grit embedded in the paint on the paper. Amazingly, the sketch actually captures the feel of the event pretty well!  

After sketching, holding my book open so the paint might dry, I walked around and saw the warm and wonderful people I have come to know a bit here--Alessandro and Giovanni who had Jim Corey and me to a lovely lunch in their absolutely stunning home in Civita--their bedroom and bathroom are literally built in the Etruscan caves on the cliff, Paolo and Cristiana who live in another exquisite home and garden here--Cristiana urging Paolo to bring me what turned out to be a delicious tiny cup of local grappa, an exhausted Gustavo sitting outside Manuella's restaurant kitchen having his own private table with the best view of the piazza, and a brief glimpse of NIAUSI's president and my new fratello, Giacomo Corey...

it was so very worth it to be there, to see and feel this evening in the heart of Civita and to even capture it in a sketch...

Drawn and Painted in the dark, during an evening jazz concert in Civita' piazza. August 2

What it really looked like!!

Four Views of the Piazza San Donato

I've been spending lots of time in Civita trying to learn about its architectural history. Lots of books, including some I stumble through in Italian, lots of walking around, and a fair amount of sketching (although I need to do more). 

The main piazza here was an Etruscan then Roman forum nearly 3000 years ago, and it is still the heart of all the activity in this tiny town.  Tonight, there is a jazz concert here, and the entire town and visitors will turn out in the piazza.

I decided to do a series of wide angle drawings of this ancient space, with notes that would describe some of the buildings whose history I was learning about.  Here are four images of the Piazza San Donato, one view in each direction, turning counter clock-wise. My favorite is the last one.  I hope to do more project drawings in this same format.

And you can see how I eventually figured out the color palette, including shadows and shade-- a lot more gray than I expected! And I switched from Burnt Sienna to Quinacridone Burnt Orange for the glow...

Looking East toward the Chiesa San Donato

Looking North toward the medieval Priest's House and prison

Looking West toward the medieval house turned Town Hall in the Renaissance.

Looking South toward the grand Palazzo Alemanni