Italy, Experiences, Placement, Plans...

I’ve been meaning to write here for a good few weeks or so now but honestly, I haven’t felt settled until recently. The thought of writing became rather daunting as I didn’t want to be entirely negative with me feeling so out of sorts. I decided to wait until I was in a better mind set, and I am! I feel happy, positive and settled. I have been enjoying the sights, the sunshine, the culture and I’ve met so many fantastic people here. I am learning lots about myself and I have been surprising myself quite often, which is always an amazing feeling. I really feel like a different person, my confidence is soaring.

This is a Spritz! It's made with either Aperol or Campari, or half and half! Sparkling water and Prosecco. Depending on where you are, most places add an orange wedge, some add an olive as well. Me and my friends often drink these at the weekend, they have a sweet/tangy orange taste and are a local favorite. I enjoy mine with Aperol. 

I have done a few drawings since I landed here on 16^th April of some architecture in and around Padova. The city itself is rather rough but the buildings are beautiful, even a deserted alleyway is quite pretty in its own way. I’ve always found it a challenge to record detail in my drawings and it is still one of my weaknesses but I am trying to become a better drawer by doing it more often and with different subjects. I like my style but I keep pushing myself, there’s always room for improvement even if I’m happy with my outcome.

                     

I'd like to attempt this again at some point, the dimension/scale and colour are inaccurate but I feel that it was a good first try. I would have liked to have brought more markers with me!

                      

This is one of my favorite photographs so far, I love the composition and colours. I am happy with my drawing but the colours are completely off, part of this was deliberate as my style is quite flat, too much of the same colour would have caused an even flatter appearance. So I decided to be free with colour and I quite like the result, and my sense of scale/dimension is improving.

My placement is going well, I am not given challenging tasks but my boss is gradually giving me more responsibility and a bigger work load. I spent most of today on Photoshop CS2 using an iBook G4, it’s really old but it works well and I sort of want to keep it. She’d notice if it went missing though! Our conversations are rather broken due to the language barrier but we always come to some kind of understanding, thankfully. I appreciate her speaking English, it’s such a big help. The company is called B.Bongianna Accessori, nice bags!

:)

Many things have happened here that seem surreal. To name just a few - I’ve been lost LOTS of times and was even rescued one night by a lovely lady called Sienna, she drove me home. Such kindness. I was lucky to bump into her! I’ve nearly been run over about 5 times and have probably eaten my body weight (and more) in pasta since I’ve been here. There’s been a few earthquakes and they are quite frightening, there was one yesterday and I found my landlady under the kitchen table!

I am currently in a situation where I feel positive but scared. What will be my next move when I’m done here? Where will I end up? Will I get a design job soon? What do I need to do? – I think all graduates go through this often but I am really feeling the pressure to get out “there”, wherever that is. I have to find my place, it’s what I worked hard for and I have so much energy, it just took me a few months to realise it. I know I’m good at what I do, I just have to prove it. So, tonight I plan to research and gather different ideas on self promotion and apply for jobs in the UK.