By Rob Sanchez
Though our time in Rome was cut short, we still managed to carry on with our academic endeavors for the semester. Thanks to the hard work put in by AAP, Cornell in Rome administration, and our Professors, we are closing in on the end of classes for Cornell in Rome, Spring 2020. Today marked the conclusion of my art class: Introduction to Drawing.
Once classes started up again for the continuation of our remote semesters, those of us in ART 1504 continued with our artistic endeavors. Throughout the semester, all students in the class met with our professor, Luca Padroni, individually via zoom once a week to discuss the couple pieces of artwork they had produced in the last week. Each time we’d speak, Luca would highlight the things that were working well within my drawings, and often times he’d even give me suggestions for other artists/art pieces that related to what I had drawn in order to give me some more inspiration. Despite the sudden transition to an online format, we managed to get along pretty well.
Today, May 6, was the day of our final drawing review. Each of us had been working on the concepts of our individual projects throughout the semester. One aspect of drawing class that I enjoyed most was the variety in different techniques that every student in the class brought to drawing. We each have our own unique styles and seeing the final products of everyone’s work continues to inspire me to try new and experimental things in my own drawings. The range of style and techniques in the class was incredibly apparent today during our final review. Some people drew with different mediums like watercolor, oil paints, and someone even collaged cut up bits of paper to construct a scene! We were all able to admire each other’s hard work and give feedback. Luca even invited Italian artist Mauro Di Silvestre to our final review to critique our work, and having another artist give feedback was an incredibly enriching experience.
As someone who never considered themselves a good drawer, I was apprehensive to even take this class. Now, I’m really glad that I got to have this experience. I won’t say that I “learned” how to draw, but I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my drawing abilities and I plan on continuing to draw as a hobby and for relaxation. Here are some drawings that were on display today in our review:
