During the dark times of the pandemic’s isolation, a silver lining came into view. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon Michele’s class but I am very glad I did. It gave me a sense of purpose, routine, and constant challenges.

Michele Bajona is a contemporary figurative artist born in 1971 in Vicenza, Italy. He studied architecture in Venice and began as an artist with the master of his hometown, Otello de Maria. He specializes in watercolor with Frederic Wong at the Art Student League of New York. He has been an active member and professor at the Cercle Artistic S. Lluc in Barcelona. The artist has shown his work in group and individual exhibitions, standing out with the first prize for best documentary video at the 54th Venice Art Biennale, Padiglione Italia. He currently lives and works in Mexico City.

Throughout 8 online sessions, Michele demonstrated live watercolor techniques and provided insights and tips on the application of pigment with water. He is a very patient and thoughtful teacher and I learned a great deal with him. It’s an honor to call him my teacher and if our paths cross in person I would love to attend a live workshop or masterclass with him.

One of the biggest challenges during this class was that we couldn’t use a pencil to sketch our painting, we went in straight with watercolor. This helped me see beyond the line and start appreciating the shapes light and shadow play in portraits. It was extremely challenging since I was comfortably used to always sketching a portrait and then coloring. I believe my artist’s eye benefited from this challenge a great deal. It wasn’t always smooth sailing but I’m pleased with my progress.

Here are all my exercises from the online class:

Thanks for reading. See you in the next post.

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