Venice 2024 - Part 1 - American Airlines Flight, Train Ride, View from Our Apartment, Sketching With a Friend

I think most urban sketchers begin their trips with a sketch either of the view of the airplane through the windows of the terminal or a sketch done on the plane. We arranged for a wheelchair at JFK for Jerry so we never sat at the gate waiting. Instead I sketched on the American Airlines plane. This man was across the aisle. The lights had already been dimmed on the plane after dinner. 

After our plane landed in Milan, we navigated our way from the airport to Milan's Central Station and then the fast train from Milan to Venice. The trip took about 2 1/2 hrs. I captured the couple across from us, the luggage, and a bit of the view out the window.

This is the beautiful view out one of our windows in the living room of our apartment in the San Polo area of Venice. This is the same apartment we stayed in last year. It was perfect for us...lots of room, an elevator, and walk-in shower that Jerry could use easily. We had a very rainy day, so I am glad we had a nice view.

A NYC Urban Sketcher friend was also in Venice for a few days. I met up with Marion for an afternoon of sketching and a nice lunch.

This was the view that I was sketching.

City Trip

Last Sunday I made a solo trip into the city. The American Watercolor Society Show was going on at the Salmagundi Club, and it is one of my favorite exhibits. Since I was going in by train I did a sketch on the LIRR going in. This lady had such bright red hair (dyed).

I went in to the city on the 8:20 train which arrived in Penn Station around 9:40. The exhibit didn't open until 1:00, but I had a plan to sketch before it opened. I took the subway down to 14th Street and walked over to Union Square. There was a beautiful cherry tree in bloom right by one of the subway entrances in the park, so I sat myself down on a bench and started painting.

Then I meandered around Union Square for a little while. There are always vendors selling something, and they were also having some Earth Day events and exhibits. I sat at a table and sketched looking uptown. I included some of the people conversing, some vendors, and a bit of the exhibit booths from the Earth Day celebration. I lasted there until about 2:00 and had just packed up my materials when it started to rain lightly. I ducked into Whole Foods and grabbed a snack (fruit) and waited for the rain to stop.

The AWS show was great! There is always some amazing work...and a few pieces that make me shake my head. I really enjoy seeing paintings by people I know from workshops I've taken, or from following them online. I was a nice ending to my day in the city. By the time I got home it was around 6:30...definitely a full day.

Before and After

Yesterday I decided to go into the city and join the NYC Urban Sketchers. My usual partner on these trips wasn't going in, so I took the train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station. It is usually a pretty nice trip because I get on at the first stop and can pick my seat to give me a sketching view. I sat where the center seats of the train car face each other, but I felt it was too close to sketch the people in the other center seats. Instead I focused on a man 2 rows back and across the aisle. He was seated with a woman but I could only get a glimpse of her thru the seats. This was my "before" sketch...meaning before I met the group at the American Museum of the Native American. Those sketches will be in tomorrow's post.

It had been a fairly cold day and we were happy to be inside. When we came out after our show and tell the sun was shining and it felt rather mild. I started walking toward the subway station and turned to see the autumn colors against the tall downtown buildings along Battery Park. So I stopped, pulled on my hat, took out my small sketchbook and materials and painted the view. This was painted quickly because I was standing up and trying to balance my equipment without dropping anything. It is a direct watercolor done "after" our time at the museum.