| Description: | This special summer course takes place both in Florence and in the Chianti region. Students will learn about the study and practical work of watercolor techniques, drawing, sketching and painting in Florence and in the Tuscan countryside. Three of the four course weeks will be held at the school premises in Florence, where the students will work with models, still life and other set-ups in the studio. The class will also visit various gardens and fantastic panoramas. One of the four course weeks will be held in the Chianti Classico region near the medieval villages of Radda and Gaiole in Chianti, where the students will learn how to draw, sketch and paint in the Tuscan countryside. The students will practice through daily field trips in the magnificent scenery of the Sienese Chianti, hiking along the trails of one of the most famous and spectacular countrysides in the world. During this week, the students will be housed in a traditional and picturesque agriturismo. The culture and history of the Chianti region will be analyzed for a better understanding of the human and architectural environment. Basically this workshop focuses on observation; emphasis is on the creative interpretation of the figure, object compositions, nature and open air painting. Form, value, line and proportions will be studied as means of determining space, shape, volume and composition. Activities include the study of watercolor and mixed media techniques; the study of color theory (tone, light, value); and the analysis of the structure of a painting in its whole, in detail, and in the relationship between details. |