Did you know that the average daily duration of programming dedicated to bad news equals that of a “normal” newscast? The Joy of Living art collective in Pianezza (TO) is outstanding for the topic, inviting us to set aside negative news.
Perhaps it aims to bring a bit of positivity to the Christmas wainting season in these challenging times.
On the Way to the Exhibition
I chose artworks dedicated to family. No matter how it is composed, family welcomes us in this world and helps us growing. Many happy memories are tied to our family and childhood.
Motherhood Watercolor on paper, 40×50 cm, 2020
Motherhood is a unique emotion. It is the joy of watching a young life growing. The scene captures the first months of life: a mother holding her baby girl. It is moment of pure love, joy, and devotion.
Fatherhood Drawing on paper, 20×30 cm, 2009
Fatherhood is unique and authentic emotion, just like motherhood. The scene depicts a father (my husband) in a tender embrace with his little daughter. For him, she will always be his “little girl,” even when he walks her down the aisle in her wedding day.
Caterina. Pencil on paper, 2009-2015
How wonderful it is to be a child! there are no worries, no obligations; the days are full of discoveries and joy. The joy of children is pure joy for life! This piece collects the sketch portraits of my daughter Caterina during her early years.
Take an Inktober 2022, turn to the back cover, reverse and start again! This is how Red Inktober 2023 sketchbook began.
31 days, 31 words. This is my 6th Inktober.
Inktober’s list
Inktober is a monthlong art challenge started by Jake Parker, one of the founders of SVSLearn. September 1st of each year Inktober prompts are posted. Artsts can also use their own lists.
Cover experience
Work in progress
Previously on Inktober…
In 2009, Jake Parker , American comics creator, concept artist, illustrator, and animator, started Inktober. The announcement was made on his blog. Parker originally started the challenge to motivate himself to improve his own inking skills. Since 2016, he posted a list of “prompts” for each day’s artwork. Artists are also known to plot out series of drawings on the same theme as part of the celebration. Participants have approached the challenge as an opportunity to practice and share their art, drawing in various art styles, and using a variety of media (the challenge originally was made only in fountain pen) . In October 2015, over 1 million Inktober drawings were posted on Instagram. I am in since 2018.
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share click here and write me. I will be happy to reply.
This year we have chosen together the colour of the summer sketchbook thank to your vates on my social accounts. Anche the winner is… ORANGE!
Cover experience
Here we go with thecover of the seaside sketchbook 3×5 cm. As usual a selfportrait opens the “parade” of landscapes and live scenes from Cesenatico and Cervia. For real time updates watch my facebook and Instagram stories.
Memories
Other years, other seasons, the same place. Watch here the pages from the previous sketchbooks of Cesenatico and Cervia (Italy)
Be different be happy this can be a short description of 6 illustrations dedicated to “Ugly duckling”, the fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen.
These artworks have been presented during the art show “Into imagination” from 14th December 2022 to 13th Januarry 2023 in Pianezza (Italy). For the reasons of space just 5 of 6 artworks took part to the show.
Work in progressBe different be happy in progressThe artworks on show before the openingBe different be happy. Work in progress
All of them
Scroll all the 6 artworks and discover which one was missing
Fear of different – 40×50 cm, mixed media on raw paperBeing different – 40×50 cm, mixed media on raw paperKeep on dreaming – 40×50 cm, mixed media on raw paperThe cold of loneliness –50×40 cm, mixed media on raw paperA friend – 40×50 cm, mixed media on raw paperHappy end – 40×50 cm, mixed media on raw paper
The missing one
Did you find it? This illustration from the series dedicted to “Ugly duckling” fairy tale did not take part to Pianezza (Italy) art collective.
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share click here and write me. I will be happy to reply.
If you want to receive the original handmade art postcards from my tours just click hereand be a part of the exclusive supporter’s club!
Inktober is the international art challenge that connects a lot of illustrators around the world. 31 days, 31 words, paper and ink. Inktober 2022 red sketchbook was born by the cut of the notebook in bigger size.
Little red sketchbook of Inktober 2022 from unboxing to the cut
Treat or trick by Inktober 2022 sketchbook
The illustration dedicated to Halloween is the result of digital college of 2 ink drawings. One of them, the “Uh-oh” illustration was the most difficult to find the subject to draw of all the challenge.
Halloween inktober 2022
Inktober 2022 & Co
Scroll al the illustrations of Inktober sketchbook 2022. The topics and bonus illustrations.
inktober 2022 illustrations
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share click here and write me. I will be happy to reply.
From 20th October to 6th November 21th October at 4 pm official opening ceremony. Thursday and Friday 4 – 8 pm Saturday and sunday 10 am – 1pm and 4 – 8 pm Free entry
What is “Matite in viaggio”?
Matite in viaggio means “travelling pencils” in Italian. The cultural association “Matite in viaggio” aims to promote the culture of journey and the art of recording its experience, by drawings and words.
Article 3 of the Association statute says “Visiting countries and places, meeting people and communities, understanding ancient and contemporary civilizations are the conditions under which “travel sketchbooks” can express the will and dream to identify with the freedom and dignity of all men”.
The project
The sketchbook on show this year has been created in autumn of 2021 in Moscow region (Russia). It is dedicated to birches in autumn transparent and warmed by the last fall sun.
Birch is one of the most common trees in Europe and north America . You will find it everywhere from USA to Italy and from Ukraine to Russia and Japan.
Work in progress from landscape sketches to the preparation of the sketchbook for shipping to Venice.
The show
Pictures from opening ceremony and from exhibition rooms of Matite in viaggio 2022.
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share click here and write me. I will be happy to reply.
If you want to receive the original handmade art postcards from my tours just click hereand be a part of the exclusive supporter’s club!
Let’s go to Torino (Italy). Here the days are still warm and the spirits are hight. It’s time for Art2Wear Mix & Match designer collection. Art2wear Mix & Match collection is made of colourful, vibrant and ironic styles also functional and basic for office, free time and party.
Dress in cotton white and blue printed fabric. On the background we can see Monte dei Cappuccini, letteraly “the Capuchins’ hill”. On the this hill overlooking the River Po in Torino (Italy) there is the Church of Santa Maria al Monte built for the Capuchin Order.
Blue denim jacket with macramè details on the pockets and the belt.
On the background you can see the “Valentino” castle and the park in Torino (Italy). The ancient castle was bought by Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. The name Valentino, first mentioned in 1275, seems to derive from a saint called Valentine whose relics were venerated in a church which stood nearby.
Cotton dark orange skirt with blouse. I have chosen for the background of this style the Mole Antonelliana [ˈmɔːle antonelˈljaːna] named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A “mole” in Italian means a building of monumental proportions. Originally conceived of as a synagogue, it has housed the National Museum of Cinema since 2000, and is believed to be the tallest museum in the world.
Torino tastes
Set in beige mixed linen and cotton printed fabric with “panna cotta” as a background. The Region of Piedmont includes panna cotta in its 2001 list of traditional food products of the region. One unverified story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 1900s. An 1879 dictionary mentions a dish called latte inglese ‘English milk’, it could also come from the French recipe of fromage bavarois from Marie-Antoine Carême. Actually, this recipe that we can find in le pâtissier royal parisien is almost the same as the modern panna cotta.
Red waste t-shirt in cotton piquet with shell buttons.
For this style ha have chosen “giandujotto” as a background. The gianduiotto ( [dʒanduˈjɔtto]; Piedmontese: giandojòt [dʒaŋdʊˈjɔt]) is chocolate originally from Piedmont, they are shaped as ingots. It is a specialty of Turin (Italy), and takes its name from gianduja, the preparation of chocolate and hazelnut used for gianduiotti and other sweets (including Nutella and bicerin di Gianduiotto). This preparation itself is named after Gianduja, a mask in commedia dell’arte, a type of Italian theater, that represents the archetypal Piedmontese. Indeed, Gianduja’s hat inspired the shape of the gianduiotto.
Bi-colour skirt with tropical prints and white shirt. For this item I have chosen Bagna càuda. Bagna càuda [ˈbɑɲa ˈkɑʊ̯da] is a hot dish made from garlic and anchovies, originating in Piedmont, Italy, during the 16th century. The dish is served and consumed in a manner similar to fondue, sometimes as an appetizer, with raw or cooked vegetables typically used to dip into it. It is prepared using olive oil, chopped anchovies and garlic
Mid white cotton dress and light blue sponge jacket with pallette details. I have chosen “savoyardi” biscuits for the background. Savoiardi [savoˈjardi] are similar to Ladyfingers sponge fingers. They are shaped like a large finger. Ladyfingers originated in the late 15th century at the court of the Duchy of Savoy and were created to mark the occasion of a visit by the King of France. Later, they were given the name Savoiardi and recognized as an “official” court biscuit.
Torino dictionary
White mid cotton dress and orange bag in cotton sponge fabric with glitter decorations.
I have chosen the world “cerea” of piedmont language. “cerea” mens “see you”. This greeting used typically in Torino does not have similar in Italian language. The legend tells that a cadet of the king boasted to know Greek and greeted everyone with “chaire” (light/ joy in Greek). People wanted to please the king and started to repeat the greeting. With time “chaire” became “cerea”.
Blue denim shopper bag. For this model I have chosen the frase “merenda sinoira” from Piedmontese language. Let’s start from the name, sinoira, which derives from “sina” that stands for dinner in Piedmontese dialect. It is a big snack, almost dinner. A tradition that recalls the peasant Piedmont of the mid-nineteenth century, days spent in the fields, rhythms of work marked by a few breaks: lunch, often consumed in the countryside, without returning home. And then, towards the end of the afternoon, the merenda sinoira. At the end of the 19th century even the bourgeois and noblemen offered the merenda sinoira, especially in summer, in their villas in the countryside.
Complete collection
To commission your favourite outfits click here and contact me or fill in the form below. Please remember to indicate the style code/s and your measurements: hight, chest, hips, waist and lenght of the item and the colour (if different from the colour on the picture)
I am in Tuscany again for the august sketching. Tuscany sketchbook 2022 is a handmade album 3×3 cm with leather cover bought near here, in Vinci, last year. Now it came back to where it came from to collect the atmospheres of motherland of Leonardo da Vinci.
They come from Vinci, like Leonardo. Three handmade mini sketchbooks 3×3 cm have been purchased in Leonardo’s native town in 2021. One of them became the sketchbook of Eurovision 2022 in Torino.
Tuscany sketchbook 20223 Vinci albumsSketchbooks from Vinci
I have a plan
This year I would like to be more essential in my lines and spots. I exercised during The 100 day project and now its time to sketch the Tuscany atmospheres in extra small format.
from the 100 day project 2022the 100 day project 2022cover of the 100 day project 2022Towers of TuscanyWork materialsOur “base” in TuscanyLeonardo da Vinci-s house in Vinci Work in progress on Tuscany sketchbook 2022
Memories
Here they are, the memories of the summers spent in Tuscany from Lamporecchio to Vinci, Vinci, Larciano, Fucecchio and Florence. The most of these sketchbooks are in private collections now.
Past years sketchbooks
The new beggining
The new travel sketchbooks start from Tuscany. This year three new blank sketchbooks arrived from Leonardo da Vinci’s matherland. The same colours of the covers, the same shop and the same size 3×3 cm.
New sketchbooks from Vinci
If you want to receive the original handmade art postcards from my tours just click hereand be a part of the exclusive supporter’s club!
What do you imagine when one says “Moscow”? Probably you think about Kremlin, Red Square or St. Basil’s Cathedral… OK, that are the most famous places full of tourists. I will show you another Moscow beyond the Kremlin.
Maybe it sounds strange, but most of the Muscovites does not see Kremlin from the window. An average Moscow landscape is something like this:
Moscow real urban sketchMoscova urbanChurch and skyscapersFrom my window. Another Moscow beyond the Kremlin. Acrylic and ink
The ancient churches and cathedrals standing among the skyscrapers, active and dismantled factories and the high tension cables all around.
Dacha
Dacha is the name for a country house. It is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs. The noun “dacha”, coming from verb “davat” (to give), originally referred to land allotted by the tsar to his nobles; and indeed the dacha in Soviet times is similar to the allotment in some Western countries, normally free, to citizens by the local government for gardening or growing vegetables for personal consumption. Since some time avery my journey to Russia I visit “dacha” of my family. In autumn the country landscapes are coloured by the red and yellow leaves of the trees.
Autumn leavesSunriseSunsetCountry landscapes. Acrylic and ink
Still-lifes
Usually you will see big and small plats with fruit or vegetables and more in the kitchens of muscovites. These place tell a lot about people who live in there. Here are some still-lifes drawn in different places..
Moscow City
It is one of the most recent and ambitious parts of Moscow. MIBC (Moscow International Business Center), also known as Moscow-City is situated about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) west of Red Square. Here you will find the headquarters of the banks, web companies like Yandex, Mail.ru, Kaspersky and the luxury apartments and restaurants. But you will unlikely find average muscovites in this major financial centre in Europe.
Moscow City. Business district. Acrylic and ink
Selfy time
When you come to Moscow there is no way to avoid the places for postcards and films. Muscovites unlikely come here often because there are a lot of tourists. You are absolutely justified to take some photos with Red Square, Kremlin, University of Moscow and other monuments and places of interest.
CremlinBehind the Red SquareCthedralMoscow famous views. Acrylic and ink
Ready to take off
The trip takes almost whole day and consists in waiting most of the time. The time passed standing in ine to check-in, passport control, in boarding zone, in flight for me is an occasion to sketch a chaotic life of the airport and aircraft. By the way, if you want to save time and money make the COVID test directly in the airport. It takes just 1 hour. Here are some pictures of Malpensa (Italy) and Sheremetievo (Russia) airoports:
Wainting for the boardingBoarding zoneIn the aircraftMoscow Airport Sheremetievo. Acrylic and ink
It’s time to take off and switch off the devices… see you next trip!
p.s. How I did it.
The story of Moscow fall sketchbook 2021 started in April of the same year when my father passed away. Among his belongings I found an almost blanc agenda of 1995. So I decided to use that notebook to tell Moscow as it seen by a muscovite. The pages are covered with transparent acrylic paint to give a right space to the original page format on the background and the sketch in front line.
Acrylic backgroundCover experienceLandscape in progressWork in progressmoments of Moscow fall sketchbook
If you want to receive the original handmade art postcards from my tours just click hereand be a part of the exclusive supporter’s club!
It’s not my first time in Tuscany (Italy), that is why I decided to dedicate Tuscany sketchbook 2021 to the places and atmospheres of this region seen and sketched from the different point of view.
This summer we have chosen together the places to sketch…
Thanks to streaming we sketched toghether in real-time night and day …
We saw Florence, Piazza del Duomo and Ponte vecchio from the different point of view in the Cascine park near Arno river.
We also walked among the people of Florence visiting Cascina Market, on of the longest of the Europe.
They come from Vinci, like Leonardo. These mini handmade sketchbooks 3×3 cm purchased in Leonardo’s native town are waiting for the new trips to tell. Click here and suggest the destination!
Tuscany sketchbook 2021 is only piece only. Click here and write me to have it.
If you want to receive the original handmade art postcards from my tours just click hereand be a part of the exclusive supporter’s club!
