Sketchbooks and Project Three

Sketch from Aya Sofia 

2 hours

Istanbul, Turkey

Sketching in Istanbul was unlike any experience I had so far on studying abroad. Yes, it was freezing but culturally everything is centered around the Mosque. Sketching Mosques becomes an architectural ritual, where you enter the people's holy world. Listen to the prayer call, pierce past the courtyard's columns,  take off your shoes,  step onto the mat and pass through the leather-hide door into a sacred space that is beautiful and geometric, quite and bold portraying it's purpose. The mosaics and patterns that are everywhere inside.  Sorting through these to get back to the basic lines of the design took concentration and focus. meditation. 

Sketch from Valletta, Malta 

St. John's Co-Cathedral 

2 hours

Malta was an interesting mix of English speaking people and maltese, which reminded me of Arabic  and Italian. St. Johns Co-Cathedral was built by the Knights of Malta and was decorated lavishly as the years went on. From the outside the church formed different piazzas on each side, because of its size. However, I really noticed the decoration on the inside. Each side chapel was dedicated to a different country that was involved with the knights. The story unfolds and ends with Caravaggio's largest canvas the beheading of St. John the baptist. Malta was beautiful and St. John's Co-Cathedral was well worth the visit and the sketch.

The Last project for studio (project #3) is a facade study. This is my watercolor of Palazzo Caprini or more well known as the house of Raphael. This palazzo was demolished in 1937. So, I worked with this facade perfecting the proportions on photoshop, because the only documentation left of this palazzo was a stone engraving (that was in perspective). Once I finished the correct spacing of each facade element I transferred the new drawing to watercolor paper.