In the history of traditional painting and architecture, both students and professionals in these disciplines were encouraged to begin their projects by a combination of design and drawing which required concentration, measurements, and a freedom in the gestures and movements of the hand -- termed for centuries "freehand" drawing. In French and Spanish the term is "dessin au main levée" / "dibujo a mano alzada." 

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The presentation of the many watercolors, pencil drawings, and charcoal/pastel images on this page along with the likewise numerous analytic line- and shade-sketches that served in my career as a creative artist and a professor of freehand drawing (disegno a mano libera), was put together to propose a rather unusual configuration of the more realistic land/seascapes/architecture vignettes together with the analytic preliminary lesson drawings to underline how much both modalities of imagery are intertwined and dependent on each other. The effect of painting the myriad combinations of these forms on double-leaf wooden doors speaks thematically about the workings of Art and the act of focusing the eye and the controlled freedom of the hand in producing a pleasant sort of narrative for a living room or dining area highlighted with such elements. The doors become literally "passages" of understanding and pleasure, even as they invite reverie and study on the part of the friends and family members who spend time in these spaces.

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(NOTE: The shapes and colors of the various images can be modified, according to taste.)