First day in Rome! So stoked at the fact that I'm actually here. So far, we've only spent a few hours exploring a tiny portion of the city, and I'm already awestruck. - I will say I'm disappointed in myself at not bringing any art supplies with me (besides a few pens). I intended to, but in the scramble to get everything ready, it somehow got missed despite the priority level I put it at. However, I'm going to try to look at it more as an opportunity to treat myself to a nice sketchbook (maybe a leather-bound one?) while I'm here. - I love the way modern-day melds with antiquity here. Coming from the US (and a relatively new area of Omaha at that), it's mind-boggling to be surrounded by gorgeous buildings that have been there for centuries and marble steps warped smooth by the millions of feet that have walked there before mine. - It's an excellent breeding-ground for architectural decay--I keep coming across amazing little highly-textured distressed areas everywhere, and I'm finding it hard to limit myself in the number of pictures I take. I hope to find a good balance between taking reference photos to bring home with me for future projects, and seeing things with my own two eyes instead of through a lens. But I think I'm doing alright so far. - Another thing I love about this city is its color palette. Everywhere I look I see deep ochres, buttery yellows, burnt oranges, soft peach-tones, (grossly) sage river-water, and vibrant vines crawling all over the place. I feel as though I've stepped right into a painting. Or a series of thousands of paintings done by a variety of artists over the years. - I can't wait to take it all in over the next two weeks 🇮🇹☀💠⛪ . . . . . . #italy #rome #urbandecay #potentialreferencephotos #artistsabroad #artistsoninstagram #artinitaly #architecture #architecturaldecay (at Rome, Italy)