Born in Rome, where she lived most of her life, Francesca

Leardini earned her BA at the Sapienza University of Rome,

where she took art history classes with Prof. Corrado

Maltese, and her Ph.D. at UCLA.  In Los Angeles, where

she moved in 1998, she attended numerous studio art

classes and workshops at the Otis College of Art and

Design, UCLA, the American Animation Institute, and Santa

Monica College. She had the opportunity to improve her

knowledge and practice of different drawing and painting

media under the guidance of teachers and artists such as

Glenn Vilppu, Joe Blaustein, John Zarcone, Fred Manseau,

Nicole Duet, Karl Gnass and Alexandra Cabri.