La Casa Rotta, Italy Print

I joined this Italian community, which is part of an eco-village, in February 2019. They had bought this abandoned 300 years old house 12 years ago and restored in a way that shows the old in its full glory. DIY style, natural materials, exposing the history as much as possible, hence the name La Casa Rotta (Rotten house). My initial plan was to be here only for a month. Little did I know that the world and life had different plans. It became my lockdown home. I was very grateful for them allowing me to stay there as long as necessary since I had no home to return to. As a "thank you" I wanted to draw their house and give it as a present to the hosts. This is the drawing that later inspired me to continue to draw in this style and this scale onwards. Like all the other drawings in this collections, the original of this image was drawn on the other side of an old, unused A3 poster, the only paper that was available in the house at that time. The glossy, slippery surface of this paper allowed for the pen to slide more effortlessly and ink to flow extra smooth, increasing the contrast between the white and back even more. I ended up spending 4 months in this house. The time was used drawing even more and learning how to tile walls and floors. The exchange between both sides was successful and proved the importance of community in times when things don't go as planned.