During my study abroad experience, I got the opportunity to visit the Colosseum in Rome. This was so incredible because it's something that, as architecture students, we see constantly in text books. But, a text book could never do this justice. The Colosseum is so much larger than I ever imagined. I just had to stand there and take it all in, which for me is often best done through sketching. So, I pulled out my sketchbook and put some lines on paper to try to capture everything that I was seeing. It's sketches like this that bring back so many memories about my trip.

This sketch was done inside the new packaging science building at Clemson. This is the view that you get when you first walk inside and can look directly back through to the outdoors. I chose to show the orange wall in color even though this sketch is mostly black and white because it definitely stands out within the space. This sketch was done in class with the intention of learning the idea of frame of reference and how to draw perspectives.

These two sketches are from one of the most memorable experiences that I had during my entire study abroad experience. They are from a hike that a group of three of us took from Camogli, a city about fifteen minutes from Genoa, where we were living, to the beach at San Fruttuoso. Beginning the hike, we really knew nothing about what we were getting into. There were several trails to choose from. Little did we know, we chose the expert hiker trail and the hike that we had heard would take 2 hours ended up taking 5. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life and also one of the most risky experiences of my life. There were times where we were literally hanging onto a cliff by a chain with nothing but our own two hands to keep us from falling the long fall to the Mediterranean Sea. That being said, this hike was absolutely gorgeous. The view from these heights was unlike anything I've ever seen before. You could see clear to the bottom of the water. These beautiful views just encouraged me to want to sketch. The top sketch was one of the views along the hike and the lower sketch was done while sitting on the beach in San Fruttuoso. Both were done in pen.