{"id":4351,"date":"2015-09-11T11:51:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T18:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2015-09-14T08:21:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T15:21:20","slug":"new-book-sketches-of-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/2015\/09\/11\/new-book-sketches-of-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"New Book: Sketches of Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early this summer Anne and I went to Italy for three weeks. It was our first trip there, traveling\u00a0with students and staff from the Laguna College of Art and Design. We toured\u00a0three cities, Rome, Florence and Venice. I filled a sketchbook and have now\u00a0published it. It’s available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Art-Appreciators-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Art appreciators and unknowing subjects themselves, quickly done in felt tip<\/em>.<\/h6>\n

The schedule was preplanned and absolutely packed. Sometime we toured two art museums per day plus some magnificent church, also housing glorious art. And the people can be just as interesting, their moods and postures,\u00a0as they let paintings speak to them.<\/p>\n

\"Hyatt-Standing-Sketching\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Me, standing and sketching in the mausoleum\u00a0under the Chapel of the Medici\u00a0in Florence.<\/em><\/h6>\n

The students among us were taking it as a class for credit, and as such making entries in a sketch book was part of the curriculum. Being an inveterate sketcher anyway, it was no problem for me, and in the end I filled a third of the book in each of the three cities.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas-Aquinas-Mural\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The\u00a0Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas,” in the Santa Maria Novella, Florence.<\/em><\/h6>\n

We probably saw about ten-thousand works of art, all very high level, full of interest and history, of which we were treated to mini-lectures as we went. One couldn’t take enough pictures, which everyone was doing, but just a few of us drawing.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas-Aquinas-dwg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A brush-pen detail from the above.<\/em><\/h6>\n

As I’d go, I’d select some image that interested me and make a quick sketch, like this one of Thomas Aquinas, a famous renaissance intellect and thinker.<\/p>\n

\"Two-Priests\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.<\/em><\/h6>\n

Once again, it’s not just the art that holds interest for photographing, but the viewers. I don’t know how many times these priests have looked at this art, but it seemed they were getting much out of it.<\/p>\n

\"Seeing-Christ-Again-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pen and ink (ball point and felt tip).<\/em><\/h6>\n

It was from my photo I later made the entry in my sketchbook, with commentary.<\/p>\n

\"Hyatt-photographing-feet\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the Gallerie dell’Academia in Venice.<\/em><\/h6>\n

The giant painting was an artistic wonder and incredible depiction of an Old Testament story, The Miracle of the Bronze Serpent<\/em>. Here I’m photographing hands and feet, details that can be a major challenge to paint.<\/p>\n

\"Hands-Studies-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Details from the above painting.<\/em><\/h6>\n

As I mentioned, hands and feet can provide a challenge in drawing and painting. Here are my practice depictions of a number in interesting positions.<\/p>\n

\"Dying-Gaul-photo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Dying Gaul” at the Capitoline Museum, Rome.<\/em><\/h6>\n

“The Dying Gaul” is a famous piece of sculpture in marble that\u00a0I’d never known. It is elegant in beauty and telling emotion, and a challenge to draw from any angle.<\/p>\n

\"Dying-Gaul-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I couldn’t resist humorous quips sprinkled through the book.<\/em><\/h6>\n

All the students were to draw this piece right there in the museum, which made for quite a gathering. I made a fairly quick rendition and moved on, revisiting my drawing later for more shading.<\/p>\n

\"Hyatt-Pope\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Pope Clement IV’ by Carlo Maratti. He holds his book, I hold mine.<\/em><\/h6>\n

The day we toured the Vatican Museum was a record for number of tourists, though you can’t tell here as I stepped away from the throng to examine this particularly beautiful painting.<\/p>\n

\"Pope-Clement-orig\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Clement IV, detail (pencil).<\/em><\/h6>\n

I carried just a few tools, a mechanical pencil (always “sharp,” HB lead), a fine felt tip pen, a couple of fine point ball points, and a small brush pen with black ink. The book reveals a variety of these media, not to mention drawing styles.<\/p>\n

\"Rainy-Day-Venice\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A rare day of rain in Venice.<\/em><\/h6>\n

It’s hard to see by this photo the make up of our group, most of which were in their 20s, though some older. Then there were a few teachers (art and art history) and a few extras, like Anne and me.<\/p>\n

\"Rainy-Bridge-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A rainy bridge, Venice. Pencil and brush pen.<\/em><\/h6>\n

It being a rainy day, and subjects continually moving anyway, I made this drawing back in the room from a photo. In the end, it’s all about design.<\/p>\n

\"Violinist-photo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the many little squares in Venice.<\/em><\/h6>\n

More than once we encountered musicians in the streets, with some receptacle (here, his violin case) to invite coins from passers by.<\/p>\n

\"Street-Musician-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A frozen moment\u00a0in ever-moving ball point pen.<\/em><\/h6>\n

I drew this one, sitting on steps some distance away, all along enjoying his music. The scribbly style is to get the essence quickly and possibly later render more carefully;\u00a0or leave it just like it is.<\/p>\n

\"John-Baptist-Sculpture\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“John the Baptist” on a street in\u00a0Florence.<\/em><\/h6>\n

We encountered art, good art, everywhere, this one, a bronze, in a not-particularly special place. The plaque said it had been donated by the artist.<\/p>\n

\"John-the-Baptist-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like subjects and styles are often gathered on a page.<\/em><\/h6>\n

As I mention in my caption, this street art was the best depiction of John the Baptist I’ve seen, a bit “scrawny” what with his locust and wild honey diet, clothing of animal skins, and his calling out with a\u00a0life-and-death\u00a0message.<\/p>\n

\"Anne-Rummaging\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anne, on a “free day”\u00a0train\u00a0trip to Siena which we took\u00a0independently.<\/em><\/h6>\n

Though I didn’t draw her (this trip), she’s always my favorite subject . . . on multiple levels. Here she’s likely reaching for her i-pad, which she made great use of for many wonderful photos.<\/p>\n

\"Hyatt-graveyard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Painting, in Cemetario.<\/em><\/h6>\n

Anne took this photo, unbeknownst to me, while sitting on a small monument in the Napoleon-built cemetery on one of Venice’s small islands. Here, unusually, I was actually making a watercolor, using borrowed materials from one of the students (and by then, a friend). She got the painting.<\/p>\n

\"Sketches-of-Italy-Cover\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At 118 pages displaying 149 drawings, 8 1\/4 inches square, it’s another small coffee table book.<\/a><\/h6>\n

As my sketch book was square, it was easy to publish it in the same format. Being a book of drawings only, it’s a “first ever” for me, and has received high interest\u2013\u2013from those who’ve been to Italy,\u00a0those who like art, and\u00a0anyone who enjoys seeing another person’s take on things. The book is available for just $14.95 on Amazon and on this website, here<\/a>. Great for gifts, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s the release of a new book, completely unique, with drawings only. Check out a few samples, and some of the background photo reference. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4351"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4446,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions\/4446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/egallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}