A Summer in Italy

As a university student, I always craved a study abroad experience. The thought of exploring another country and immersing myself in a foreign culture seemed invigorating but it seemed only a dream due to financial and scheduling concerns. Within the summer of 2013, however, I studied art history and life drawing in the Mediterranean republic of Italy.

Throughout my time abroad, I kept a 7″x10″ sketchbook in which I illustrated the sights I witnessed, documented the places I traveled, and scrapbooked the brochures and tickets I collected. I worked with a variety of media, experimenting with charcoal, collage, colored pencil, graphite, pastel, and watercolor, but mostly working in ink, carrying a pen with me everywhere I ventured.

Take a tour of my sketchbook as I relive the memories of exploring a foreign country. With each turn of the page, visions of historic landmarks and impressive artworks will introduce you to the adventures I experienced. Behind each sketch remains a story, set within a Tuscan setting and ready to be retold. This series is ordered chronologically and each card’s description unveils a continuous narrative of my time abroad.

These pages will whisk you through the quaint, medieval towns of Lucca and Siena and amongst the renowned landmarks of Pisa and Rome. You’ll sail the canals of Venice and its surrounding isles of Murano and Burano, dine upon Italy’s finest gelato in San Gimignano, and hike along the sunny coasts of Cinque Terre. Stationed in the historic city of Florence, you’ll follow my journey across Tuscany, guided by this sampling of sketchbook pages from my summer in Italy.