Firstly, I cannot believe I haven’t written a post since September 2017! Secondly, I did indeed study at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence for a whole wonderful week.
Firenze is stunning, the centre of Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries.
A place I had to visit and a place I feel so lucky to have studied. My mornings began at 4am because I was staying in Rome with family and getting a 1.5 hour train to Florence daily. I didn’t get back from Florence until 8:30/9pm. That’s commitment, right? I loved it! What a way to start the day but with a wonder through the streets of Florence before the hustle and bustle of tourists started. I got to stare in awe at the Duomo every day, twice a day – it’s of a similar stand out scale to that of the York Minster.
The very first day I only had a meeting to attend at the Florence Academy of Art so I was given a whistle stop tour of famous palaces and galleries: Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Piazza della Signoria. We queued for two hours to get into The Uffizi Gallery – it was so worth it! I viewed work by Michelangelo, Rosso Fiorentino, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caravaggio – so many beautiful pieces by wonderful artists.
Back to painting…
I sat for two minutes in the meeting at The Florence Academy of Art and I knew, I had found my home, my heart.
I took the Academic Figure Painting and Portrait Painting Course under the guidance of Jura Bedic. Taylor Scarlet Powell also helps to run the course and I enjoyed instruction, tips and help from both professional artists.
The first day covered colour and how to layout a palette correctly. We learnt how to sight size a portrait from life and how to start a painting. The course was five days and each day included three hours portrait painting in the morning and three hours figure painting in the afternoon. Each day we received instruction and technique demonstrations before we started and then advice tailored to our individual work and progress throughout the day.
I actually enjoyed figure painting the most…
Surprising because I am much more used to painting portraits. Before the course commenced I was a little worried I would struggle with painting a figure from life but I loved it and took to it like a duck to water!
Day three was not easy and I really appreciated the careful guidance and positivity the tutors had to offer. Day three highlight was meeting the one and only Daniel Graves! Founder of The Florence Academy of Art.
I have never received such useful, informative instructor in all of my painting life.
The course was well organised and well thought out. Packed with knowledge. Jura and Taylor were welcoming and friendly. Both artists genuinely wanted to see you improve over the course of the week. I could sense they really cared about who and what they were teaching. It was amazing to work alongside Jura and Taylor in the studio. My fellow artists, everyone taking the course was so nice and I have made connections for life with people who come from all over the world. I do hope I cross paths with them again.
The Florence Academy of Art should be exceptionally proud to offer such a fantastic opportunity. I will most definitely be attending another course as soon as I can. It’s addictive and I want to learn more.
If the writing in this article didn’t put across my excitement and satisfaction then hopefully these photographs will. Below I have included a series of photographs taken by myself of my journey and artwork. Enjoy!
