My name is Danilo, and I am a web designer and developer, or at least I have become one. Before my "fork" I studied to become an illustrator, and Bottega Musci is the name I have given to this parallel pursuit.

Opportunities for light and space

After a period of self-teaching, I enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino, where I was guided through a constant exercise aimed at developing my graphic technique. I was taught that this technique should convey my poetic to the observer—a blend of meaning, emotions, and sensations.

The training journey began with copying ancient works and then continued with freehand drawing. After experimenting with various subjects, I ventured into depicting feathers using a variable-width fountain pen. The captivating challenge of creating parallel and ultra-thin lines to represent the barbs led me to discover the pleasure of meticulousness: the gesture becomes meditative and punctuates the satisfaction between tension and completion.

Through the representation of feathers, I discovered what I wanted to feel and convey, along with the challenges this approach entails: even such a simple element can have formal, chromatic, and luminous variations, how to depict it correctly using only parallel and uniform lines? To avoid losing the essence of the line, I attempted to fragment it, creating rows of progressively and regressively spaced points, expanding the range of available densities.

To evolve my method and make it capable of visually translating any type of material, I chose a subject that comes in a large number of variations, each time in two dichotomous parts. Half rigid, straight, rough, and half scattered, intricate, fluid, the tree became the protagonist of my research for almost two years. In the form of small and large series, I drew and engraved hundreds of trees, discovering the expressive possibilities and the limits that must be set to maintain a strong sense of wonder.

Once I mastered the technique, I devoted myself to interpreting subjects of various natures. I chose and continue to choose themes that can keep me engaged, leaning toward what can fascinate me and bring me pleasure, offering me opportunities for light and space suitable for expressing beauty, appetite, irony, or eroticism.