Arches, humps, round covered darkness suggesting damp ancient spaces. Long lines gracefully snaking out of textured smudges of deep black charcoal.
Scratching, cross-hatched lines in a tangle which releases a smooth wavy line, escaping into the sky, to reside there with another smudge, sideways, ovoid, creating shade and spongy light.
Delicate highlights, deep dark shadows… drawings seen, but also felt in a shimmering haze of heat… solidity coming to the forefront only after slow looking. The eye wanders, landing equally on all points of the surface; other times the gaze is pulled strongly, careening dramatically from one point to another.
A fine line that seems hesitant, at angles with others, at odds with its own purpose, resolves itself in the unexpected.
Colors that are solid and sure, other hues that are ephemeral, transparent, throwing their lot in with nearby ones like light turquoise, blood red, ochre blend with sangue di bue, color d’aria, rosso pozzuoli, terra ombra.
An angel’s arm, a view seen through a jagged gap in a brick wall, a triumphal arch seen from above, made solid and dissolving at the same time.
And then there are the birds of Rome, a birds’ eye view, the view while landing at Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci airport — students coming from different points on the globe, from various types of preparation, with different expectations. All have their abilities, their tool kits, and their desire to go beyond…. What do they each hope to accomplish in Rome?
The weeks are demanding: the work begins right away with exploring the city, becoming mobile, getting to places where learning and art-making must happen. They produce, they look, they struggle. It is a balancing act between what they have brought with them, what they encounter, and what they will make of it. This is no mere pleasure sketching-tour of a European capital — this is Rome, the eternal city, which for any aspiring artist is not only a must-see on a bucket list, but a must-live, a must-devour, a must-have.
And so the students work, they draw, paint, encounter setbacks and breakthroughs. They might find themselves drawing a line differently from before, speaking with new vocabulary; their knowledge of art history has been enriched by real-life encounters with Caravaggios and Michelangelos.
As a teacher of Drawing for the Rome Art Program I have been impressed by the seriousness of the students; their commitment to their own vision and their willingness to take on the challenges this program offers. They will each find, and most likely return again and again to their own Rome.
Nina Eaton, Drawing Instuctor