Catching Up with the Vandals

Hello Friends!

As I'm sure you've read from the other posts, it's just a little over a month since we've been here becoming accustomed to trying to live like the Romans do. We are all working on two projects: the first including "re-inventing" the contemporary Roman urban fabric to be more Roman-esque or complex, and the second further analyzing two piazzas that we have been studying since January. I'd like to share what I've been working on so far here in Roma, what I'm struggling with and how I've improved, and what I plan to do next!


The drawings that I've created since I've been here for my Piazza Studies:

This photo demonstrates how buildings have been layered over the ancient foundations of the Stadium of Domitian: which is adjacent to Largo Febo, my northern piazza. 

The photo shows a combination of the Nolli plan, created in 1749, of the existing buildings in brown and the floor plan of the Stadium of Domitian in black. Largo Febo is the triangle under the curve of the stadium where a building used to exist. I have come to the conclusion that there are many possibilities for the reason that the building was torn down. They could have planned to build something new and enjoyed the open space, an influx of money could have decreased and caused building to stop, or the building could have been bought by a landlord in order to increase their building's worth. There are other plans that show the building was present up until the 19th century, so the tear down was relatively recent. Further meaning that Largo Febo is new in relation to the age and developments that Rome has been through. 

This is a reconstructed elevation of the Stadium of Domitian at its original elevation traced from the Oxford Guide on Rome. While on site, I noticed that Rome's current elevation is about 16 feet higher than what is was when the stadium was built by looking at the excavations in comparison to the current ground level. 

 Ancient Theater of Pompeii floor plan adjacent to Largo dei Librari, my southern piazza. Largo Febo was built on top of the theater's foundation, and exists on the left side of this photo as a trunticated triangle. The foundation is aligned with one of the walls that helps define the shape of the piazza, and I believe it is safe to say that the foundation of that wall is using the foundation of the library as a part of its structural library.

What I'm Struggling With:

While here we have had sketching on location sessions, and this isn't a strong suit of mine. I get easily frustrated at my level of craft so it leads to perspectives that aren't accurate and half completed drawings. So, I am struggling with being patient with myself and my course of improvement. Although, looking at some drawings from the first session to others from drawings I've done today I can begin to tell that I have actually improved.

 This is a sketch of five roadways that come into one intersection. It was an in class exercise that made it so we have to create five drawings with five minutes for each drawing. We are going to be using this drawing to compare our skills directly from the beginning of the program to the end. 

These sketches are from Ostia Antica of the temple's remains in the forum and what still exits of a  Roman apartment. They are pretty simple subjects so I think that they turned out pretty well. 

The sketching session that we had the day we went to the Vatican City I decided to focus on shapes instead of trying to conquer the view in its complexity. I think that doing this for the entirety of the session helped develop my skills in getting down perspectives accurately. 

This is a sketch that I created at the end of the session at the Vatican. I think that the exercise that I did throughout the time helped tremendously. 

This is a sketch from Villa Giulia. I think that here I struggled with getting down the shadows because they really defined this perspective, and I didn't capture them like I'd hoped. 

This set is from Paestum while we were on the Atrani field trip. With these sketches I decided to take the time to map out the building a couple times before I created a watercolor. The column capitals and entices were a struggle throughout the entire day, but going through and trying to figure out the forms before I created a final drawing definitely helped. Also, I think that the watercolor is lacking variation in colors and shadows. 

My first space analysis from Atrani of my favorite set of stairs in the hill town. I think that this is where I'm beginning to feel more confident in my work. 

A watercolor of a church not the mountainside in Atrani. 

One of my first figure drawings of the Triton fountain in the Piazza Barberini. 

Some of these are favorite drawings, but you can also see that a number of my sketches have gone uncompleted [and will most likely stay that way]. So, I need to work on what I am completing within sketching times as well as remaining patient with what I am creating.

What I Plan to do Next:

We are on our way to Perugia tomorrow so I plan on keeping up on my sketching practice, and focus on edges for shadows as well as remaining patient with what I am working on.


I hope you've enjoyed seeing a piece of my Roman adventure, and I'll get back from Perugia and share a little bit more!

Until then, Arrivederci!

Kiana