Are You Ready?

I hope all of you are almost ready with your preparations--we will be there next week! I know many of you have guide books for Italy and I think that is a great idea. Good guide books have maps and overviews of interesting things to see. I like DK's Eyewitness travel Italy because it has good info and great pictures. There are many other good guidebooks though. The Blue Guides are particularly great for art. There are Blue Guides for Venice, Rome, Tuscany, Southern Italy, and many other places. While we are traveling, you will be navigating the cities we visit in small groups and it would be a good idea to start preparing now!


Also, I hope you are thinking about/researching things you want to see and learn about while we are in Italy (in addition to our course work). My sons are trying to plan a tour of a Ferrari or Lamborghini factory and my daughter Eve is hoping to see how Parmigiano Reggianno Cheese and olive oil are made in Parma. Of course I know what I want to see and learn more about--paintings and gelato! My experience is that the more you prepare the more rewarding the program will be.

A big chunk of amazing Parmigiano Reggianno cheese!

There is an interesting video about Herculaneum that you can watch online at PBS. I really love Herculaneum and it is one of the first ancient sites we will visit in the south. As you know, we will be staying on the Amalfi coast for a few nights while visiting Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Paestum. You will have some free time there to draw, explore, and swim.

The Amalfi Coast


This will probably be my last post before leaving. See you in Rome!

Supplies for Vastu 394R - Aqueous Media/Color Theory

For those enrolled in Vastu 394R, you should have received my email with the syllabus for the course and a supplies list. I have included a few pictures below and links to help with the supplies.

In terms of the watercolor paint you have a number of options with varying costs. You could purchase a complete watercolor set with the paints we need (there are a few I will recommend) or you can buy tubes and make your own kit (this option ends up being a little less expensive, but a little less portable). Both approaches will work well for the course.

If you want to buy a complete paint travel set I recommend one of the following:

Winsor & Newton Artists Compact Set - this set has all of the necessary colors for the course and is nice, portable, and fairly inexpensive (for good paint that is). I found it online at http://www.dickblick.com/zz003/19a/#items for $70



Schmincke also makes very good watercolor paint. A great set that costs a bit more, but has more colors and expensive pigments is the Horadam half-pan set of 24 colors. I found it at Dick Blick for $151. Of course the Horadam half-pan sets of 36 or 48 colors would also work well, but they are a bit overkill.


For those that want to make their own kit, you should buy a plastic palate with a top like the one in the picture below. I bought this one at Provo Art and Frame for $14 (it is around 8" x 11"). You can also find them online.


Then you will need to buy tubed watercolor paint that we will use to make your kit when we are in Italy. There are quite a few good manufacturers of watercolor paint. Some that I would recommend are Winsor & Newton artists (not cotman), Daniel Smith, and Schmincke. I would recommend you purchase 15 ml/.5 fl. oz. tubes. The tubes have a good amount of paint and you could actually split the paint costs with two other students and share the paint (not the palates though). The tubes cost between $5-18 each depending on pigment and brand--just purchase the colors required on the syllabus.


In terms of brushes, the best are sable brushes, but they are more expensive than synthetic brushes. A good high-quality sable brush is made by Winsor & Newton and there are good prices at Dick Blick.


Synthetic brushes like those in the picture below are inexpensive and will work fine. I have used Cotman, Connoisseur, Princeton, and Robert Simmons. You can buy good synthetic brushes at most any art supply store or online at a company like Pearl Paint or Dick Blick.


In terms of paper, we will use Arches Cold Press 140 pound paper. I recommend you purchase a watercolor block of 20 sheets of 10" x 14" Arches Cold Press 140 pound paper. We might need to buy a bit more in Italy, but this should last the majority of the time. You can buy the paper at Dick Blick inexpensively as well.


I hope I am not giving too many options (just trying to make it as economical as possible). If you are confused by all of this information, I would be more than happy to go with you to an art supply store in Rome and help you pick out your supplies. It will probably cost more because of the exchange rate and not doing mail order, but I could be your personal shopper (I like doing this at art supply stores). Please let me know if you want me to help you with this in Rome.

Materials for Vastu 101 - Intro to Art and Drawing

You should be receiving the syllabi for our courses via email today. As some of you have heard, all of the materials, readings, etc. for the Humanities, Cooking, and Italian language courses are included in the program. For the art courses you need to purchase the required materials. The syllabi detail the materials you need and I am posting some images here to help you know what to get.

For Vastu 101 - Intro to Art and Drawing you need to purchase, among other things, a portable sketchbook. Here are two examples of 9" x 12" sketchbooks. You should make sure they have good quality, acid free paper (around 60 pound paper). The Strathmore 400 Series 9" x 12" 100 sheet sketchbook pictured below works well


In terms of pencils, I like the dark Derwent Graphic pencils in the picture below, but blue Staedtler pencils will also work. You should have a range of pencils--6H, 4H, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B is what I recommend. Also, you should have either a white plastic eraser or a kneadable eraser (both in the picture below), and a pencil sharpener or a small pocket knife to sharpen your pencils. You can purchase all of these materials at most any art-supply store, including the BYU bookstore.

Pompeii

There is an interesting write up on Pompeii in the New York Times

It really is an amazing place and will be one of our first stops in the south of Italy after leaving Rome. We will have an official guide for a couple of hours then will have time to wander and sketch, but not touch!

We will first visit the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples where the majority of the artifacts from Pompeii are housed then the next day we will visit Herculaneum and Pompeii

I hope all is going well with your preparations and that you have begun to think about packing. Please remember to bring only what you can carry. Ideally small/mid-sized suitcase(s) with wheels! I have never heard anyone say they regretted bringing too little--only too much!

Also, if you have not finished registering for your classes please do so ASAP!

Cooking course

I also had the opportunity to attend a cooking course with the BYU students currently in Siena. The teacher was great and the food was delicious. We made home made ravioli, bruschetta, and a dessert. Above are a few pictures of the group making the food. If any one else wants to sign up for the cooking course just email me.

Gelati Reconnaissance

Of course I sleuthed around for the best gelato while in Siena and I am happy to report that the Sienese Gelato is doing well!

Assisi and Tuscany by bus

While in Siena, I mapped out some of our day trips and am excited to take you to see some wonderful art and architecture! This is a picture of the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi, which has gorgeous frescos by Giotto!

This is a view of the Tuscan countryside between Siena and Florence on a day trip via bus--a beautiful hour or so trip that we will be making a few times!

Classes at The Societa Dante Alighieri, Siena

While I was in Siena, I visited language classes that were in session (there is a BYU Italian Department program in session there now). The top picture is an advanced Italian course and the bottom is a lower level Italian course.

Here are some of the faculty that will be teaching our Humanities and Italian courses. The courses look great--I will be sending you the syllabi soon. Good news as well for the language and humanities courses, all of the books, materials, etc. for the courses are included in the program!

Societa Dante Alighieri, Siena

I toured the facilities of the Societa Dante Alighieri in Siena and met with the staff and faculty that will be teaching our language and humanities courses. This is a picture of me with the owner Sonia Di Centa and Luca Bonomi, the director of the school. Both are wonderful people and are excited to have our group there--they love BYU students! Luca has been working intensely to have every detail coordinated. He is helping arrange our day trips and entrances into museums, etc. and working on locating the homes where we will be living. He is amazing and will make our stay in Siena great. I think you will like both of them.

Blog for our program

I thought it would be nice if we have a blog for our program to keep in touch before we meet in Rome and to keep in touch with family while we are in Italy! I am hoping to have a couple of you maintain the blog while we are in Italy and perhaps contribute before we leave. So any super bloggers please let me know if you would like to work on this. This is a picture of the church of San Domenico in Siena that I took a week ago.