Six more from Rome…arches are everywhere!

[Stephanie Bower, Seattle] I love sketching arches, and I love teaching how to sketch arches! In Amsterdam, I’ll be doing a demo on ALL THINGS ARCHES, so this is a post filled with Roman arches. We’ll cover the anatomy of an arch, how to keep arches from looking like horseshoes ;), and how to draw them correctly in perspective. I can’t wait!

Well, Rome is amazing. I had forgotten how amazing it is. I could walk this city for weeks and sketch every twenty feet. It is so beautiful! Here are a few more sketches from my few days in Rome after teaching.

Above, is the Castel Sant’Angelo late in the day, everything was backlit. It was hot (therefore the ochre sky), and I was with the neice of my very best friend, who passed away suddenly 12 years ago. She was half Italian and loved this city, I can’t help but walk these streets and think of her. It was wonderful to get to spend a chunk of a day with her neice, Kellie, who watched as I quickly sketched and painted.

More arches!! I spent this afternoon with another Kelly, Kelly Medford, a wonderful painter who hauls an easel, paints, and everything out to paint in OILS on location. Her paintings are beautiful. We sat in the entry to catch the breeze (and not pay the admission) and chatted and drew as we Urban Sketchers do. Such elegant architecture, attributed to famous architect Bramante. 

And more arches…again it was hot outside, so wonderful to sit inside a cool church and sketch! This is Sant’Andrea della Valle, only a few steps from my hotel. Everything inside was gold, so I basically used that one color…yellow ochre. Got a little carried away, and overpainted this one. Darn! The line drawing is above, which I like better. Which do you like?

And even more arches! This is a super quick sketch, really unfinished with only a bit of color added later, done while waiting for my friend Francesca Caruso to arrive. Francesca is an incredible guide who shepherds groups from National Geographic, universities, and Rick Steves (you’ve seen her on his TV shows!) through the city she loves. I met her years ago in Seattle when she took my workshop!!!!! She said that she would see people sketch on her tours and wanted to learn how as well. I love that!

I had no idea about San Clemente. Of all the places in Rome, this is what she wanted me to see. This beautiful church is built over multiple levels of other buildings, so as we walk down and down and down, we are descending back and back in time… at the bottom, we find ourselves lounging on an ancient Roman bench, listening to an underground stream rushing by. And maybe there is more below? Utterly amazing. Next year I will come back here for a  full day to sketch!

And last, I had finished teaching my annual workshop in Civita di Bagnoregio, and as part of the workshop, the group spent a day sketching at the amazing Renaissance Garden, the Villa Lante. Here is my demo on layering paint, underpainting, arches, and trees…

Click on the image to see it larger! I love Italia!!!!

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