For my 2D design. I plan on doing a series of paintings of the meeting of gods. I plan on painting modern "gods" for instance ill be painting the DC comic book "gods" and then marvel comic book "gods" and then last god of war game "gods". For my 3D design I plan on sculpting a symbol like the cross I saw at one of the museum. It had our savior Jesus on the cross with angels protecting him against the devil. I am planning in doing something like that with Harry potter because Jesus Christ and Harry potter have alot of similarities. I'm still trying to figure out what to make it out of.

We arrived at the Scrovegni Chapel where I witnessed yet again amazing art. The walls told a story from left to right from top to bottom. Even though we didnt stay there to long. It was enough to motivate me to begin on sketching and thinking about my future art pieces. After Padua, some people headed to Verona while I headed to see Doge's Palace with joe. As we're were running out of time we raced through. Once we got to the armory, we slowed down. Well at least I did joe didn't really care much haha. I was amazed at how many different weapons they had. For instance they had a hatchet that was also a gun and another was a sword that was also a gun. So I just stood there with my mouth wide open astonished at all then marvelous unique weapons I had never seen. As we finally exited the palace we headed back to the room. To freshen up and headed to meet up with the Slagles for a marvelous gondola ride with a few students. We witnessed the sunset while on the gondola and it was amazing. After that we just decided to eat and get some rest because the following day was going to be yet another exciting busy day.

We headed to Accademia where I saw an art piece that is now one of my favorite pieces so far. It was a cross incased in a glass case. It was so very detailed that I would circle around it over and over again to see every little detail it had. It was Jesus crucified on the cross and angels all around him catching his blood and some holding on to him and helping him out. And on the back was an angel with a spear killing a dragon (the devil). It was so very well detailed that It had my attention for about a hour. I just kept going around it over and over it again admiring this wonderful piece of art. I took a few pictures but they came out blurry. While wandering around the Accademia I sketched a few painting that caught my eye. After the Accademia, we headed to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. As I walked around seeing all the art prices I decided to sketch for a little while. After the museum, I went back to the room to change and headed to the beach.

The first day at the Giardini. Where to start? There was so much to take in. So much to explain. The ones I found most interesting to me were Germany's, America, Great Britain, and korea's. Germany was very interesting because throughout the building there were tvs with pictures of different kind of bombs. And connected to them were head phones. For every different image was a different sound. Caitlin, Emily, and I began to think and finally realized that the sounds of the headphones was a specific place that corresponded with the bombs. For instance one bomb landed on a beach and didn't explode. So for that tv, it showed the bomb and on the headphone was the sound of seagulls and waves hitting the beach shore. It was really creative and unique. Then my favorite one was America. There was so much to see and so little time. I could of literally stayed there an entire day and still not see enough of it. For some reason, I enjoy small detailed art pieces. On this day we covered most of the Giardini Bienalle except for 4. So I was planning on coming back and finishing it all. There was so much wonderful stuff that was depressing, exciting, curious, amazed, and detailed unique pieces. I was so glad to have seen so much and learned so much.

On this day we checked out of our hotel and headed to my favorite place. Venice!!! On the way there I sketched a few and looked back at what I had experienced in florence the past two days. While walking around florence the previous days. I noticed a lot of street signs were painted over with little stick figures doing something with the do not enter sign. I had never seen that before so I found that entertaining. I also sketched a little of the view of one of the bridges I was on In florence. Once in Venice we checked and headed out to eat. I really enjoyed a restaurant that was around the corner from us. They had good pizza and good service and the people there were friendly.

On this day we headed out to see David. The real statue of David. Where we saw amazing art by Bernini. After taking in the amazing view of David and sketching it. I decided to move on and see more sculpturing that was really impressive for instance there was one specific sculpture that is a monument to Sofia Zamoyska. It was remarkably detailed that it made it look like a real nun lying down. At one point I thought that she was going to open her eyes and wave at me. A lot of things I noticed in sculptures was that there were a lot of black dots or screws in them. Why is that? Only one way to find out. Research. At this gallery of Accademia, there was also a replica of the dome of the pantheon. After that gallery we headed to the Galleria Degli Uffizi where I began to notice a lot of details that got me wondering things. Like in a lot of painting of Christ crucified, there was a skull underneath his feet. Why? well I researched and came across this. The skull represents the legend of Christ, the new Adam, who conquered sin and death, was crucified in the gravesite of the first man, Adam, who brought sin and death into the world through his disobedience to God. The skull is a symbol of Adam's grave. The skull and bones are placed beneath Jesus' feet, to show that he triumphed over death and sin on our behalf. There was also a lot of dragons in a lot of art pieces, so I looked that up too and found that it is said that the dragons represent the devil. After heading out of the gallery I went on my own and began to sketch a little. Then went on with my afternoon.

This day was a very exhausting day for Shaun and I. Upon the arrival of the Duomo Baptistry, Shaun and I decided to go inside and climb it all the way to the top. So we did and the stairs just went on and on and on and on and on. But on the way up we saw beautiful paintings in the inside of the duomo. The paintings went from hell (the bottom) to heaven (the top). It was kinda hard to take pictures because there was plastic in the way. But that didnt stop me from taking pictures. Finally we arrived to the top and let me tell you. It was simply amazing. The view went on and on. While we were up there, it began to slightly rain. So I sat down and enjoyed the nice cold rain and the beautiful view. We finally started heading down and on the way down it was spiral stairs all the way down. So I ended up all dizzy. After exiting the duomo we just heading back to the hotel.

Our trip had finally came to and end and many of us wanted to go home but at the same time didnt want to leave such a marvelous place. Italy has taught me so much and I have experience so much that I will use later on in the future. Can't wait to see what trip will be next.

I got up and as I had planned before with emily and Caitlin to return to Giardini to finish the last exhibits we didn't get to see. Once we had finished, we headed to Arsenale yet again racing through it due to a long schedule. My favorite art piece at the Arsenale Bienalle was the one where there was a big square filled with water. As people stood around it, I didn't realize that there was a city rising from the water. It was a sculptured piece of the Biennale. The way the piece was presented was really unique and amazing. I had never seen anything presented like that before. After the Arsennale, a group of graphic designers, including myself, went on a little trip with the Slagles to visit a graphic design company called Hangar Design Group. Where we were welcomed with open arms. They showed us a few of their projects that they had finished and some that were still in progress like a wine commercial they has done for a company that was participating in a wine competition. The day was filled with so much excitement and new ideas, but our trip had finally came to and end and it was time to pack and sleep.

Such a wonderful at Rome. We got to explore and see so much of different types of art. From contemporary to mosaic to paint and sculpture. Many people didn't get to completely witness the amazing art that the Vatican museum had to offer including myself. But what I did get to see that some people didnt notice or didnt have enough time to see was some of the contemporary art and some amazing paintings like the Adam and Eve. It was so much to take it slowly, so I rushed through the whole thing to see the most of what my time allowed me. I got to see beautiful ceilings that were painted differently. One of the most amazing ceiling painting was the one of Adam and God. We weren't allowed to take pictures of it or anything in the Sistine chapel but hey we traveled this far to witness it. So why not take a memorable picture without the guards knowing? Well I did it anyways cuz I'm such a rebel :D. Another of my all time favorite ceiling paintings was the one located in the front left corner room of the Borghese Gallery. People were painted to look so real as If they were looking at us. What I loved about it was that it made me feel like I was part of the design because they would be sitting on the edge looking down at us and pointing at each other but mostly looking down at us. Such an amazing painting. So far it has been 2 since we have been in Italy and I've learned and seen so much. I just can't wait to be at the Biennale and hopefully go off to an agency to witness great work from graphic designers with the Slagles :D. So excited to witness so much breathtaking art.