Summer 2025, I taught a 5-week drawing class (Rome Sketchbook) at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, from July 4 to August 8 as a visiting professor. It was a wonderful experience. The art and architecture in Rome inspired me and my students.
During my teaching time, I and my students wandered among historical sites in Rome such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Sant Angelo bridge, Santa Sabina on the Aventine hill, Capitoline Museum, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona (Fountain of Four Rivers), Triton Fountain at Piazza Barberini, the Botanical garden, Tiber Island, and the Tempietto at Gianicolo hill. We enjoyed each moment there and each student created over 60 sketches. These sketches are the subjects we encountered in daily life, which include the study of statues from museums and churches, the historical monuments, ancient architectures and ruins, Trastevere neighborhood alleys, street singers and musicians performing at the Ponte Sisto, and plants from the Botanical garden. Students used graphite, compressed charcoal, charcoal pencil, ink pen, ink and brush, and color pencils among these sketches. The works range from a few minutes’ quick studies to 1 hour in-depth studies. They are the recordings of their visual experience in Rome.
