Sketching in Tuscany

We had a wonderful and inspirational week in Tuscany. Our trip started in Pisa, the air fresh and clear after overnight electric storms. The view from our hotel was spectacular. We sketched for an hour before journeying to Volterra for the workshop.

Leaning Tower, Pisa; pencil (Tina)

duomo, Pisa; watercolour, conte crayon and ink on altered book (Fiona)

In Volterra, we were greeted with a gentle and warm-hearted welcome by Klaudia, Wolfgang and Anton to the Villa Guadelupe, and over the next few days formed a firm bond with the group of diverse, talented and committed artists who had travelled from all parts of Italy, and from Spain, Germany and Russia, to take part in the workshop. The hospitality was fabulous. Simo and Caroline were supportive and energetic workshop leaders, taking us from sketching inside the villa, looking outwards to the gardens and hills beyond; then back to the ancient history of the area, sketching in the Etruscan museum and the Roman amphitheatre and the streets of Volterra; ending with a sketchcrawl to the final public exhibition of our collective work on the final day. Simo has written a summary of the workshop in english here  and in italian on her blog here.


We finished the trip off with a day in Florence. The warmth of the landscape and the people and all that we'd learned made us want to stay longer; a sign of a great week. Photos of the workshop and participants here

A few examples of our sketches:

Val di Cecina from Villa Guadelupe, Volterra; watercolour & conte crayon (Fiona)

Val di Cecina from Villa Guadelupe, Volterra; watercolour (Tina)

Olive groves and the Val di Cecina; indian ink (Fiona)

Volterra garden; watercolour (Tina)

Etruscan bronze statuettes; inktense pencil (Fiona)

Florence, from Santa Croce; ink & watercolour (Tina)