watercolour Archives - Page 2 of 2

Intensity IV: A microphone for the Queen (167)

June 16, 2023

04/05/2015, London, United Kingdom 🇬🇧 This is another episode of the trip to London, Paris and Milan that I made in 2015. Here are the previous stories: Today’s drawing seems a bit funny to me. I was trying to portray the ridiculous hat of the famous Royal Guard. Don’t you think the guards look like a microphone in the distance? I think so… otherwise I would never have drawn a picture of the Queen’s guards (what for?). Anyway, more than “curiosities” about these guards, I remember something more special from that day: I was in the crowd with my parents, waiting for the changing of the guards (things we do as a family and we never do alone!) and suddenly I met a girl who was staring at me… She was a few metres away, “on the other side” of the street. She smiled and I blushed, but I couldn’t help looking at her. I plucked up my courage, and when I tried to cross the street I was pushed back by the crowd: the changing of the guards had started. I could no longer see her or find her… But tell me dear reader… Do you remember any love story that wasn’t even a story?Do you think the guards dress up as giant microphones for (the) Queen? Good night 🥁💂🏻 NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻 here 👈🏻

A world of perspectives II (164)

June 13, 2023

13/06/2023, Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪 Last Sunday I talked about how well the markets are going. Well, to continue this tailwind, yesterday I received an invitation to make a new market. So today I met up with two friends who helped me define my real chances of accepting or not. Because yes, I can’t do it alone. And because yes, it doesn’t hurt to have help. And because yes, joining forces can be very beneficial for everyone! For all these reasons, I spent 3 hours in a cafe with my friends, defining, asking their opinion, letting them organise me better. At the end of the meeting we had our brains fried (almost literally)…. we exchanged a lot of information! However, now I have a clearer picture: we already know what the next steps are going to be, who is going to be in charge of each of the next markets and what we have to invest to get everything ready. So now there is only one thing left to do: to do what we scheduled 😅. Let’s see how much comes true in the exercise of materialising our ideas… But tell me dear reader… Do you like brain storming?What products/prints/sizes would you add to my stand? Good evening 🦄🍪 NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

Intensity III: The Tower of London (163)

June 12, 2023

03/05/2015, London, United Kingdom 🇬🇧 This is the 3rd sketch from the trip I made to London in 2015 (1st [link to 153], 2nd [link to 154]). Today’s scene portraits a spot of the city where the old and the modern architecture meet: The Tower of London. The Tower of London served as a castle, prison, fortress, royal palace and many other things. In medieval times it was said that “no one escapes from the Tower of London”. However, on August 1, 1323, Roger Mortimer did escape, thus taking refuge in France and becoming the lover of the English Queen Isabella of France, married to Edward II. This escape and the story of love with Isabella was one of the strongest ingredients for the beginning of the 100 years war between England and France. Everything is thoroughly described in the 5th and 6th books of “The Cursed Kings” by Maurice Druon. When I made this trip I was reading (actually, re-reading) The Cursed Kings (you can see in the background of the picture the 2nd book “The Strangled Queen” – in Spanish “La Reina Estrangulada”). The seven books of this series traveled with me during those days, as I found them the perfect complement to visit France and England. But tell me dear reader… Which books would you bring for travelling through France and England?What do you think about this meetings of medieval and modern architecture? Good evening 🌚 NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

A world of perspectives (162)

June 11, 2023

11/06/2023, Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪 Salue, chère lectrice! Another amazing day at the Mauerpark is over. Today’s experience has filled me with great numbers and feedback from my customers. I have sold out of several motifs and drawing sizes, so this week I will need to replenish my stock quite urgently. At some point during the day I was thinking: how glad I am to have as my “job” an activity where I am not told what to do, I am not criticised or envied (or at least not openly 😂), where the “colleagues” I have around are great and kind to me… and where everything goes smoothly… During the last part of the market, a friend came over and helped me with the selling and packing. She really got into the role and after a few customers she was already explaining and interacting with them very naturally. At some point I also had the lovely visit from I., who came by to greet me with her bright smile. All in all, a splendid day! But tell me dear reader… How was Sunday?What do you think about the distribution of the stand? Good evening 🦉🛸 NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

And if I become very tiny? (159)

June 8, 2023

Ink and pencils 11/03/2016, Salerno, Italy 🇮🇹 Do you remember, dear reader, those days when I used to teach drawing in Italy? [link to 068]. Today’s drawing is another exercise I used to give. In this case, the focus was to think of everyday things as something different. With that aim, I used to invite students to use their own phone and to draw it several times, changing the point of view and making compositions as if they were buildings of a city. The game was to see something as familiar as their phone and see it as an ant would see it. By changing the point of view, students are likely to better understand the relationship between the external morphology of a building (e.g. when viewed from a taller building), and the quality of the interior space (i.e. when they enter and experience the building as human beings). I used to do these kind of explorations since I was very young: I remember making drawings of my parents’ house as if I were seeing it from a bird’s perspective, and then switching to a very low viewpoint, as a child would see the same house. But tell me dear reader… With what daily element would you like to create a city?How will you call a sunrise with a rising apple? Applerise? Good evening 🥰🫶🏻🍹 NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

The Secret of My Eyes

June 6, 2022

The Secret of My Eyes is a small painting of 12,9 x 18 centimetres made back in September 2017. I can recall few but important things about the moment in which I drew it. For example, I remember that geographically I was in Italy, more precisely in Salerno… Yet, my mind was somewhere else… Let’s try to figure out where: Nosce Te Ipsum Dolina and Borges The artwork NFT The Secret of My Eyes in progress © Lufo Art, 2017 Nosce Te Ipsum During those years a big influence marked my days: George Gurdjieff. In fact, we talk about years in which I was constantly questioning myself about the sense of being. But… being what? Being nothing, just being. This might sound a bit of a silly game of words… Nevertheless it is a very simple yet powerful reflection that recalls very ancient teachings from different schools, and the legendary greek γνῶθι σεαυτόν, namely Nosce Te Ipsum in the Latin translation, or know thyself in English. The person who introduced me to those concepts was K., with which I used to meet very often those days… … Ok, yes, we were dating ????, but that is not the point: K. introduced me to G., E., E., and A. With them, I shared beautiful and intense days, learning about me as a human and about the human being as a part of a species. While meeting with that group, I read the books that P. D. Ouspensky wrote about G. Gurdjieff: first, Fragments of an Unknown Teaching (AKA In Search of the Miraculous), and then The Fourth Way. These books and their teachings totally marked a stage of my life. Furthermore, they are still with me (the books) and within me (the teachings). Nowadays, I can see Gurdjieff’s teachings on The Secret of My Eyes: for example the triangle, as one of the mystic figures that I like the most, then the eye, and finally the person which is… reflected on the eye or captured within? Take a look and you tell me: The Secret of My Eyes in progress © Lufo Art, 2017 Dolina and Borges Other influences while drawing The Secret of My Eyes were Alejandro Dolina and Jorge Luís Borges. Dolina has been a great companion not just for this painting, but also for my travels, for my sleepless nights, and in general for my life. Indeed, the flow, thoughts and reflections of his podcast La Venganza Será Terrible are there: the pleasure of the lecture (you might want to listen to this amazing chapter about it), the reference to Ramón Raquello and his Orchestra, etc. Jorge Luís Borges is also there. Indeed, we can read: I offer you the loyalty of a man who has never been loyal… which is a reference to one of his English poems. Also, there is a mention to Rafael Cansinos, who has been of great influence to Borges himself. Indeed, much probably I knew about Cansinos while listening either to Borges or to Dolina. Both Dolina and Borges were very present within those years of my life. Effectively, I used to listen to them almost every day: on the train while going to work, with my headphones during a walk coming back home, or when I was painting… View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lufo Art (@lufo.art) The Secret of My Eyes The artwork explores music, literature, surrealism, space, time… Indeed, there are the influences mentioned above but also a mention to The War of the Worlds of H.G. Welles, which I might have been listening to during one of the drawing sessions. Furthermore, the many circles, dots, lines, and colours connecting one thing with another, are also a symbolism of how those concepts where connecting the ideas and feelings that I had in my mind. Finally, at the centre of everything there is the self, the person… This tells and reminds us that humans cannot see themselves using their own eyes… So… here it is, there you have…. The Secret of My Eyes: The Secret of My Eyes © Lufo Art, 2017 NFT Last but not least, a little surprise: The Secret of My Eyes is the second item on Lufo Art NFT’s gallery. Right as Instant, this artwork aims to help the project Proof of Humanity following a scaled scheme of burning. Yet, The Secret of My Eyes has a surprise: it comes with an unlockable content… oh dear, but now… the anxiety! What could it possible be?! What do you think about The Secret of My Eyes? I read your comments! ???? Have the best day of your life! Tschüss Dr. Luquitas

Instant, the snapshot of a dream

April 20, 2022

Instant © Lufo Art, 2013 The artwork Instant was born in 2013 as a proposal for the contest Skywards Future Artists. According to the contest’s jury, the artwork did not match the requirements, so it was never took in consideration as a candidate. I was sure to have matched all the specifications, and ask them to clarify what was the problem about… but they never replied me back 🥹. Artwork’s concept With Instant I tried to made possible an impossible vision: the shadows reflected on the other side of where they are supposed to be, the hand ¿opening? ¿closing? around that… ¿building? ¿Device? that is ¿falling? ¿raising?… The artwork is the snapshot of a dream, where everything is confusing and surrealistic, but at the same time totally possible and understandable (for who dreams it). Instant (process) © Lufo Art, 2013 Context and curiosities When I painted Instant, I was living in a university residence at the very centre of Córdoba, Argentina. The place was simply horrible: I shared room with three more persons, the “bedroom” was very small, maybe even less than 10 m2… The kitchen was something impossible to use and I don’t want to recall the traumatising memories in the bathrooms…. I remember there was the space for two bunk beds and a tiny corridor in the middle, nothing else. To one side, there was a window from which the beautiful eyes of L used to appear for some time… To the other side of the room, there was the door to a bathroom with double door, shared with another similar room with even more people…. … who knows, maybe when I drew Instant I was wishing just to get out of that place. René Magritte’s artwork In 2017, got such a big surprise when I visited the Musée Magritte in Bruxelles. I was walking among René’s wonderful paintings and enjoying his work when I found a poster project from 1938 that brought me back (or forward?) to 2013 and to Instant. Such a curious coincide, isn’t? Poster project for the Belgian textile workers’ union (La centrale des ouvriers textiles de Belgique) © René Magritte, 1938 What have you done with you artwork Luquitas? The original drawing finished at the hands of a person that used to do my days happier: A. I remember that I knew that she was going to pass through Córdoba’s bus main station for some and stop there before heading to her city again. When I knew it, I ran to the station to meet her, and I brought the drawing with me. Without even thinking it, I gave her the drawing, feeling that she was going to be someone who would appreciated it. I hope that I was not wrong although I never knew what was the final fate of Instant. In another occasions (after and before 2013), I drew spots from the city with A., sharing beautiful moments of expression and silence with her. I saw her a couple of years ago again, but sadly after that last meeting our connection “vanished” up to the point that we never talked again… Well, at least I have a wonderful digital version of Instant. Closing The artwork Instant has had many interpretations from friends and art lovers. There are no few persons that see explicit sexual components on it: a vagina, even a penis in the place of the thumb. Honestly, I never had the will to include such expressions but, in the end, how to be sure? Does it matter? I know that I wanted to mix several words: the reminiscences of the Sagrada Familia that I saw for the first time two years before this painting, the vernacular architecture of the Amalfi Coast from Italy, the expression of the eyes that enjoy what the mind is creating… What do you see in Instant? Write me below, don’t be shy! 🥰 Have the best day of your life! Tschüss Dr. Luquitas

Tag: watercolour