Restaurant Near the Grand Canal

 I like finding a scene that has a bit of a different view. This was sketched along the Grand Canal past the entrance to St Mark's Square. A small canal juts through between where I was seated and where this restaurant is located. I smiled when I saw the red checkered tablecloths.

 I had one small section left in my Hahnemuhle concertina sketchbook and found a great scene to finish the book. There is an area with covered arches near the Rialto Market. One of the arches opens to the Grand Canal. The gondolas kept going down the small river across from it so I was able to to sketch the gondola activity based on a few boats that turned into that canal. I am hoping to take photos of all the paintings in this sketchbook and maybe make an iMovie. If I get it done and don't have major problems with it, I will post it here on the blog.

Sitting by the Canal

 Thud is a fun spot to sketch from. There are always people sitting and watching the activity in the canal. There aren’t a lot of spots where you can sit unless you want to sit at a table and eat or drink. This couple was there for a long time, and left just as I was almost finished painting them. Then I added in all the other details.

Venice 2024 - Part 8 - Arched View, Squero di San Trovaso, Ferrovia

 There are a lot of views hidden at the end of meandering streets like this one.

While I was in Venice I tried my best to post to creativespark.art and do the scavenger hunts. 

This sketch was done for one of the hunts. It is the stove in our apartment and was done on my iPad with Procreate.

The next sketch is one of my favorite places in Venice. It is the Squero di San Trovaso, a landmark 17th century boatyard that builds and services wooden gondolas. There is usually some activity going on that is fun to watch. Of course the gondola I started to sketch first (the prominent one nearly in the center) was finished. The work had been done and they carefully put in into the canal and it was gone! Luckily I had enough of the details and a photo to help me finish that gondola.

A few days before we were leaving I went over to Ferrovia (the train station) to get our tickets for the trip back from Venice to Milan. After booking the tickets I came outside and was attracted to the view across the Grand Canal and the people sitting and standing on the steps of the train station. One lady must have been really tired from her commute. She was leaning against her suitcase resting her head.

Venice 2024 - Part 3 - Piazza, Near Home, La Salute, Across the Canal

 One morning I found a piazza that I hadn't been to before. They were having some sort of reunion and by the time I finished this sketch there were a lot of people around, many with small children. When I started it was rather quiet.

I didn't have much time for a sketch this particular morning because I was meeting my brother and sister-in-law. They were leaving on a cruise of the Adriatic the following day. I found a spot near the apartment and did a quick, direct watercolor painting in a small sketchbook.

One of my favorite churches in Venice is La Salute, or actually Santa Maria della Salute. It is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at the Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere. Both last year and this year the exterior is covered for construction work. However the exterior work doesn't diminish the beautiful interior. It was starting to drizzle so I thought I made a wise selection for sketching. I sat on a bench and sketched a portion of the ornate decorations over one of the altars. 

I seem to have timed things right because as I was finishing up services were starting at that altar, so I enjoyed the choir and the prayers for a while.

Another day I returned to the same area. I walked down along the Punta della Dogana and sketched the view across the Grand Canal. In the background of the sketch is the San Marco Basillica. (This way I didn't have to sketch the whole thing. lol) This spot on the canal is busy with a vaporetto stop with boats coming and going, many gondolas taking people for rides, and a few Alilaguna boats that travel in the Venetian lagoon taking people to their hotels or to some of the other islands. I used artistic license to leave out a lot of the activity going on there.

Gondola at Rest

 

Nearby there are always some gondolas at rest on the Grand Canal like this one.