Crossing the bridge
When you travel it is not always quite comfortable to have your box easel with you, so making sketches is a good alternative to capture the place’s individuality. You can do sketches with almost any medium: graphite, crayon, charcoal, pens, etc. It is a very versatile way of creating art that presupposes a bunch of techniques that adapt to your needs. You can also be as precise in detail as you want, it’s up to you.
There are cities that are of special significance for us. One of them for me is Florence, and I always feel attracted by its urban landscapes…
This is a sketch of Ponte Vecchio, the landmark bridge that was construed over the Arno river in Florence. Yet it is believed that there was a bridge already in the Roman times, the actual one was rebuilt from an older one in 1345 by Taddeo Gaddi or, according to other sources, by Neri di Fioravanti. Since then, it hosted merchants with a special preference towards goldsmiths and jewelers. There is a stretch of the Vasari corridor on the upper side of the bridge, which goes from the Uffizi and ends in the Palazzo Pitti. Being the oldest bridge of Florence, Ponte Vecchio survived the Second World War untouched and now remains one of the principal attractions of the city. There is a legend that tells that on this bridge Dante saw Beatrice the second time, when he was already a young man.
A vast view on the city
The following sketches I made with a Micron 0,5mm pen and watercolour pencils in a Talens sketchbook that a friend of mine had gifted me (if you have a friend who is an artist gifting materials will make them happy). The small, compact size of these sketches even makes it possible to use them a mock-up for a postcard, or send them as a postcard directly (another idea for a present). It is also possible to use them later as an original idea for a bigger artwork.
This is the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore that is drawn there. It begun to be designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296, being nished only two centuries later, in 1436. The dome was invented and developed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who gained world fame as the architect of the world’s biggest masonry dome, whose construction technique even nowadays still remains a secret. Interestingly, inside the Cathedral you can also nd scenes from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
After a while, I decided to colour the sketch. So, there are plenty of opportunities for your imagination. What makes sketching to be so popular is its versatility: it can be regarded as an exercise, training of your skills, a test of your mastery, or either it can be considered as an independent work of art. And, of course, doing sketches while traveling will bring you unforgettable memories.
