I always paint alla prima from my imagination directly on the canvas.  So imagine trying to teach a free-spirited French Expressionist a new, very strict, rigorous, disciplined, and laborious skills of the renaissance masters ?  Well, here I am learning the techniques of the Renaissance and giving it my all at an academy in Florence.  Here I am working on the preliminary drawing before I attempt to copy one of most challenging French classical artists in the history of art: "Bourgereau". Bourgereau is particularly challenging, even for classically-trained artists because he painted skin so smooth like a divinely guided angel that few can imitate.  Bougereau is usually the "last test" of refinement even for the "classically trained" trained artist who have spent 4-8 years in an academy.  For an expressionist artist like me, it's like striving for the sun and only landing on the moon.   The moon will have to do, at least for now... Nonetheless, what matters is that we always keep going in the direction of our life purpose.