Venice 2024 - Part 4 - Doorways, Cistern, Piazzale Roma Restaurant, Rialto Fish Market

I love the colors of the doorways in Venice. This one I found in a small courtyard. I just followed the street to see what was there and it appeared in front of me. 

By our apartment in Campo San Polo there was what I believe was a water cistern. In present time it is mostly used by people to sit on or in the case of the bambini, to climb on. While I was sketching this there were two boys of school age who had been chasing each other. They came over to look at what I was doing and I got the "bella" approval. They kept coming to check on the sketch.

One morning I headed up near the Piazzale Roma, or bus terminal. I found a spot with a nice view of a cafe. I believe the woman and her son on the right were actually sketching too. They both had either brushes, pens, or markers in their hands and they kept looking up and then down to what they were working on. I was barely balanced with my materials on my stool so I couldn't get up to check. They left before I finished.

Quite a few mornings I headed up to the Rialto Fish Market to buy something for lunch or dinner. It was always fun to watch the customers select their fish and have the men wrap it or cut it. I liked the big fish that was in the bin on the left. I did this in my tiny Stillman & Birn sketchbook. It was hard to stand and sketch holding onto my backpack and my fish purchases.

Venice 2024 - Part 2 - Bridge to Cross, Gondolas, Cafe in Campo San Polo, Trattoria Dona Onesta

Sketching in Venice is always fun. There is a new view every time you turn around...like this one. 

The afternoon I painted this was iffy...it had been sprinkling earlier so I wanted to be in a covered area. I found a spot just at the edge of the Rialto Fish Market. It was empty because the fish market closes by 1:00. I was under the structure so all I had to worry about was putting my materials and backpack on the wet ground. There was this wonderful view of these gondolas that actually were near the stop for the traghetti, the gondolas that go straight from one side of the Grand Canal to the other side for a quick way to get across.

This cafe is located in Campo San Polo where our apartment was located. It is a good place to have capuccino in the morning, but these ladies were there for lunch and were having something a bit stronger than coffee. When they were leaving I showed them the sketch and thanked them for being such good models. They loved the sketch and asked if they could take a photo of it.

Sometimes when I'm walking around I pass something so colorful that I have to stop, like this trattoria with all the signs hanging on the wall. My Daniel Smith transparent pyrrol orange paint came in very handy on this trip.

Campo San Polo

 We are renting an apartment in Campo San Polo. I did a composite sketch of vignettes from the area. Most of the squares or campos have fountains. Perfect to fill water bottle or get a drink. The pigeons love it too. 

Below that is a face…part lion and part human over one of the doors.

On the top right is a group of trees that provide welcome shade to those seated underneath.

The sketch on the bottom right is another smaller tree that provides a little shade. Behind it you can see one of the awnings of Trattoria San Polo. We’ve eaten there quite a few times. It is close to our apartment and you don’t have to cross a bridge to get there, and the food is good. That makes it a winner in my eyes.