October 27th, what a lovely day for.......SNOW?!

The weather this semester has been quite nice so far. It's been cold, but nothing too bad yet.

Earlier this past week one of my classmates told me that Prague was expecting snow on Saturday (yesterday).  My thought was, "seriously? snow? nah, can't be. it's only october."

So Saturday morning comes along and I woke up, went downstairs in my pajamas for breakfast, came back and chilled in my room. A few minutes later one of my classmates knocks on my door telling me that it's snowing outside.

WHAT?!

I just started grabbing things. Scarf. Gloves. Jackets. Ear muffs. Camera. I quickly put boots on my sock-less feet and rush outside to my floor's terrace.

Sure enough. It's snowing.

I honestly couldn't believe it. 

I was in so much shock that I didn't even put my scarf on. I just clutched it close to my chest along with my gloves and camera.

My classmates are laughing, sliding around on the slushy yet slippery ground, and sticking their tongue out trying to catch some snowflakes.

Me? I'm just standing there, not sure what to do.

I tried taking a picture of the first snowfall, but the picture looked like it would be any other day, since you can't see the snow falling.

I don't think I've ever seen snow before Halloween. 

This snow fell for most of the day.  We were expecting 3 - 5 inches.  I looked out my bedroom window on occasion or rushed out to the hallway, in flip flops and no jacket, to stand at the door to the terrace and see the snow.

I didn't go outside once on Saturday, besides when it first started snowing.

For some reason, snow just makes me wanna stay in my sweat pants and do absolutely nothing. 

So. That's what I did.

By lunchtime this morning (sunday), 90% of the snow was gone. Bummer.

Snow is amazing in how it can make something so beautiful in just a short amount of time.

But! Not to worry. There will be more snow, I can feel it.

first figure drawing

Today was my last class of drawing. For the rest of the semester starting next week my drawing class will be replaced with watercolor. Oh boy! 

This drawing class has been wonderful.  I have been exposed to a variety of things, especially new drawing media. For example, I was introduced to charcoal and pen holder with ink.  

Last class we had to draw a portrait of a classmate, so today we focused on figure drawing.

Figure drawing is drawing/studying the human body and typically you draw a naked model.  Today was my first figure drawing experience.

We had a great model to study. She is 71 years old and has been a model for figure drawing for 30 years. 

Once I began drawing, I forgot that I was drawing a naked woman. I began to see the beauty of the body's proportions, the values created, along with the shapes and gentle curves of the human figure.

My classmates and I were required to use ink with a big "toothpick."  The bottom of it was flat (when held one way) so it drew thicker lines, but if you twisted it 90 degrees it had a smaller width and could create thinner lines.

Our model changed poses every 15/20 minutes. 

 Below is my first drawing. The paper was around 11x17 inches. I drew small. I was afraid to start. This drawing isn't perfect by any means, it's actually wrong in terms of foreshortening (meaning it's not drawn to look like her legs are closer to me than her upper body) and proportions/relationships were incorrect. 

While I was drawing the one above, my professor came over and gave suggestions on how to improve for next time, then told me to try it again. The one below is my second attempt at the first pose.

Much better. There's such a difference. My professor was right, in terms of drawing angles of the body first before making darker strokes.  It was interesting dipping the toothpick into the bottle of ink, and then wiping off most of the ink on the bottle's edge so i could draw lightly with it. Then I would wipe it less as I wanted my marks to be bolder.

The second pose was of her holding an apple.  

Then it was time for the last pose. My professor gave out a piece of large paper (I can't remember the actual size, but probably 2 feet by 3 feet) and told us to draw our best (man, talk about pressure!).

I love the drawing below. The other drawings/studies helped me draw this one better. 

I have heard that if you can draw the human figure, you can draw anything. I definitely agree with that. I'd love to keep practicing drawing the human figure. 

I enjoyed today's class. I will miss my professor and the class overall, but I am looking forward to watercolor!

fog in the early morning

If you've been to Prague, do you recognize this place in the picture below?

If you haven't been to Prague, does it look like something you want to visit?

It's on the Charles Bridge!
The Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava River and its construction started in 1357 under the reign of King Charles IV and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. How amazing. What a piece of history to walk on! As a tourist, you have to see the Charles Bridge.

Back in early September, when my mom was here in Prague with me, we visited the Charles Bridge where I took the above photograph.
It was a madhouse. So many people, painters, owners of kiosks, and vendors.  I couldn't take my time when taking pictures since I knew people were waiting for me to move out of the way. I probably rubbed shoulders with people from all over the world in the 30 min it took us to walk across the bridge.

So when can you go to Charles Bridge when it isn't as crowded?
During the early morning, of course!
Three of my classmates (Michelle, Taylor, Abe) and I left our Penzion at 6 a.m. to get to the Charles Bridge around 6:30 a.m. The sunrise was set for 7:32 a.m.

It was foggy outside and boy was it cold. I was too excited to even be tired.
On the eastern side of the bridge is one of the 3 bridge towers (the other 2 are on the other side, Lesser Town).

 

 

 There were hardly any people when we got there. I was thrilled! Look at the difference between this picture above and the first one on this post. The bridge is lined on either side with statues. I think there are 30 total.  It was sort of spooky but it was beautiful at the same time. 

 

The fog was perfect for looking out over the water at our surroundings.

Near the middle of the bridge is a statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Apparently, if you rub the plaque you will one day return to Prague. So here's proof that I rubbed it! Look at the discoloration from everyone's hands. 

 As we were taking pictures and chatting among the 4 of us, Michelle said "Hey, the lights turned off." We turned around and just paused. The picture above captures it perfectly. To me, the fog along with the lights off enhanced the experience.

A few minutes after sunrise the fog slowly started to clear.

 ^^View looking towards Lesser Town from the bridge.

I even got to wear my ear muffs! I was so excited.

This was our view as we left.

It's amazing how being in one place for 1.5 hours can offer such a wonderful experience as I watched the surroundings change right before my eyes.

I wish I could explain this in words, but I feel the pictures show a sense of the place better than I could describe it.

One word to describe this experience? EPIC.

I would do this whole experience over in a heartbeat.

Can't wait to do it when it snows!

random this and random that

I'm worn out.
I can't believe it is already October 19th.

There have been weird happenings this week:
1. In the bathroom I dropped my glow-in-the-dark retainer case and part of the snap broke. So now I can't close my retainer case. I need a new one.
2. I stepped in dog poop (apparently that's good luck?)
3. The Penzion (hotel i'm staying at) was filled with about 40 16-year-old students from Holland. So obnoxious.

This will be a random blog.
Here we go:
A few weeks ago my classmates and I were in Slavonice, Czech Republic, for a sustainability workshop and at the local drug store I found apple and peanuts in a chocolate bar. This week I went to Alberts (grocery store) in search of this chocolate bar. In the store I found it! I was so excited. I bought it and rushed back to the institute to eat it. But turns out I bought chocolate that has pear in it, not apple. How can I overlook the image of the pear? This chocolate does look interesting though. I still haven't opened it. I'm saving it for a special occasion.

Here are some sketches I've done:

Last week I went to a jazz concert with a few of my classmates and our Prague Institute director.
Czech jazz player Jiri Stivin was the main performer. He plays the flute! It was pretty crazy. Flute player for jazz music. How odd - but it was interesting.
I couldn't help but draw while I was sitting there. We were inside of a church (that i forgot the name of).

I should have more things to share with you soon.
One of my classmates pointed out that I only have 4 weekends left in Prague (I'll be using one of my weekends to go to Athens, Greece).
Let the weekend begin! Happy weekend, everyone!

Wish Upon a Falling Fall Leaf

(I’m taking a break from posts about Madrid to write about Petřín Hill)

What is so captivating about leaves in fall?

Those same leaves are there during the summer and spring, so what makes fall so special?

How can leaves dying and falling off a tree be so wonderful? And yes, it isn’t always so wonderful since people have to painfully rake them off their yard. But, put that aside for now.

Yesterday I went with my classmate, Taylor, to Petřín Hill.  Let me tell you, yesterday was the perfect weather (and season) to walk up and back down this hill. It wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold, perfect weather for walking a long way.

Petřín Hill is located above the left bank of the Vltava River and is roughly 130 meters tall. On this hill, there are plenty of parks, different paths, and a tremendous number of trees that cover and hug the walkways.

For me, the best part of fall is seeing the leaves change color. The leaves look gorgeous no matter where you look:

- at a group of trees

- at a single tree

- at a single leaf

- at a pile of leaves on the ground

- at a combination of all of these ^^^^

Everyone says snowflakes are so special since no two are the same, but what about fall leaves? It amazes me how many different shaped and colored leaves there are, not only among different trees but also within the same tree.

The two pictures below are from paths up the hill. Notice how they are both paths with trees surrounding them, but the colors of the leaves are different.  Notice the yellow/orange leaves on the edge of the pathway? What a contrast in color they are to the trees! I prefer the dark green leaves with the orange ones on the path.

I love how fallen leaves create a ground treatment. 

These leaves are all on the same tree. I plucked 3 of these leaves to put in my sketchbook.

I love the contrast in color between the green leaves still on the trees and the brown/red/yellow/orange leaves that are on the ground. Try to imagine this picture with no leaves on the path. I would find the dark gray color of the pavement to be so ugly against the beautiful trees, but in this case the leaves that have fallen soften up the paving.

We made our way into a rose garden. It was a nice place to sit and sketch after a long walk uphill.

Next to the rose garden there is a tower that resembles the Eiffel Tower but this one is called the Petřín Lookout Tower (in Czech: Petřínská rozhledna).  This tower is 60 meters high, which sounds kinda wimpy, but it is on top of a hill that’s already 130 meters tall.

At the top of this tower you can overlook the whole city of Prague. Only bad part is that you have to climb 299 steps to get there. Did we climb them? Of course we did!  What could be better than a great view with good exercise?

Here is the staircase we climbed. 

I was gripping the railing the whole way up. They had a separate staircase for going up and down. Could you imagine people going up and down on the same tiny staircase? Thank goodness they had two separate ones!

There’s Prague Castle in the distance, see it (upper left)?

I was paying more to the color of the leaves than the buildings.

I don’t think I have ever seen the tops of trees during the fall like this:

Yay fall and leaves!

Aren’t these leaves so beautiful?

So go on a walk today with a loved one, a friend, or your children, and admire the leaves, or even pluck a few to hold onto.

I couldn’t have thought of a better day to visit Petřín Hill.  The weather and season were perfect. For my current studio project, and future ones, I will definitely consider the change in seasons and how it affects my design.

And if you think it’s magical to wish upon a star, then maybe you should consider wishing upon a falling fall leaf instead.

I know I will!