#435 'Sunrise, The Grand Canal' 50x50cm

A studio painting developed from a plein air piece. I painted this subject over 15 times, so I know it well and felt comfortable painting it bigger. One for my solo show in May in London!

Plein air study

Sketch book drawing on location (later in the day with more traffic on the water)

Venice Summary!

Home from Venice and my studio line up, I can't fit them all in! 

I do feel pleased and proud with what I achieved in a month. 

I felt sad leaving such a wonderful & inspiring place. I am already planning a trip to go back next year! I enjoyed painting with the other artists and having my family to stay. 

What an amazing trip!!

I am planning a solo show in London next year 

with many of these Venice paintings and the title is:

'London, Venice, Coast & Country'

Watch this space!!

'Maria Della Salute'

My favourite subject while in Venice I must have painted it over 15 times! 

Here are 9 of them in chronological order bottom right to top left...

A short video of my studio and Venice paintings!

#400 'Morning Boat Ride' 10x12"

I experimented with putting the glow around the building next to the sun to give a sense of strong sunlight. There's not much water activity early on but I managed to paint the Vaporetto water bus as it was moving across the Grand Canal! By around 8-9am its teaming with boats, nice early as you still get water reflections and light.

The Maria Della Salute (dome building) is white where the 'window' is but painting it white in this light wouldn't work so I put a warmer colour in than the dome and slightly lighter in tone to differentiated the two.

#399 '4pm, Maria Della Salute Venice' 8x10"

Braved the afternoon crowds on the Academia Bridge, it can be so hectic on there, I had been put off doing it the whole trip, also the risk of being moved on by the police, they have been known to move artists on from prominent tourists spots.

Anyway I love the afternoon colours on the Grand Canal, so rich and vibrant. The water was tricky with lots of different shades and tones with the strong shadows and the light from the sky.
Decided to keep the buildings loose and not overworked - hard to do this as you want to make them just right and 'perfect!' 
You can see more in your subject when the sun is behind you and lights your subject, instead of contra jour when the sun is in your face and its behind the subject. So knowing how much detail to include is key, being a small panel I didn't put much in, looked wrong when I tried, I put more interest in the foreground left. 
I hope to do a bigger studio painting from the subject.

#398 'Nocturn, Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

An impulse paint! As I hadn't planned to do a nocturne, I usually arrive early get myself set up and draw in and wait until the light hits the sky and water and then scrabble to get it down! This time I really noticed the lights on the water and intense orange strip of sky, I couldn't resist it!
Difficult painting in the dark, luckily a lamp on the Academia Bridge was over my head but it's still a little bit of guess work, I'm pleased with the result though.

#397 'Gondola Ride, The Grand Canal' 8x14"

We went back to this spot to do it again! With a wider format board and looked at the aerial perspective, there is a lot of sky colour put in the distant buildings.  The colours of the sparkle are tricky to see, but they start warmer yellow/warm colour and go to a lighter whiter colour in the middle.

Perched on the end of a jetty, Sally my painting buddy had a one paint brush casualty over the edge!

#395 'Evening Sparkle, The Grand Canal' 8x10"

A great spot at the end of a jetty close to the Maria Della Salute for a wonderful sky line and also near the gondola action! The sparkle was a so bright on the eyes!

#393 Monet's Spot no.2 8x10"

9am softer more diffused light than the 8am painting with rapidly moving water sparkle. Not putting in too much detail like windows, just suggesting them.

#392 'Morning Sun, Monet's Spot no.1' 10x12"

8am - Strong tonal contrast with the sun peeping over the building. Warm sky and cool water colours.
Blocking in and simplifying the tonal shapes with a yellow glowing sky.

beginning stages with water sparkle

See next post for 9am....

#390 'Early Sun, The Grand Canal' 10x12"

My favourite spot from the Academia Bridge! I don't get tired of this view. The sun coming up and just peeping over the buildings creating a lovely warm glow, contrasted with the cooler water.

#385 'Dawn, Maria Della Salute' 8x14"

I tired a portrait format, which I was surprised at how well it works. With a limited palette and harmonious colours.

#384 'Venice, Early Evening' x2 paintings

I wanted to get some movement in the water and variation in the sky.

I did a very quick one while the sun was going down.

#381 '10am Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

Painted without drawing out first as I know the shape now.
Risked painting in the day hoping I wouldn't be moved on by the police!
Not too many colours to keep it harmonious. Painted the sparkle first before it moved out of my painting view.

#380 'Late Afternoon, The Grand Canal' x2

I painted the one below first as it was above the San Giorgio Maggiore and a huge sparkle 
on the water. 

and then as the sun went around it was above Maria Della Salute which is the main picture.
I had started this one the other way up see pic. But thought the composition would be stronger if I turned the board to portrait!

#377 'Hazy Light, Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

The scene got better as the light came around the buildings and sparkles on the water!

#375 'Maria Della Saluete 7am' 9x14"

Another gorgeous dawn paint plus a quick painting thrown in too!

I spoke to artist ken Howard as he was on the bridge he saw my finished painting and made a positive remark about it. (I went home smiling!) He also said the Italian police are now being kind to artists after the bad press they got a couple of weeks ago. (big yay!)

It was nice to try a different format other than the trusty 8x10" I had been working on.

#369 'Afternoon Light, Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

I am finding it difficult to keep up this blog and do the intensive painting! As some times I'm managing to do 4 paintings in a day.

So I will still keep posting but write less as the writing part takes so long to do! Better that than not posting at all....

Monet & the famous Ken Howard paint this view.  Not an easy subject and I wanted it loose, brushy and rich colours..... 

I painted with the artist Julia Hawkins always good to see how someone else tackles it!

Julia & my easel, what a setting!

#368 'First Light, Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

Did painting no.367 then immediately wanted to paint the scene again as the light was gorgeous! I moved off the bridge but just next to it in a cafe space. 

I'd just started mapping in when the guy said you have 30 minutes until you need to move...So I painted like billio and this is the result! It shows it can be done a painting in half an hour. It's sketchy but spontaneous and hopefully has the essence of the moment. 
Fairly limited palette and checking the tones - the sky was darker than the water ...

#367 'Pre-Dawn Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

This was so fun to paint!! Although a little daunting too as many artists over the years have painted this subject standing on Academia Bridge from Monet to Ken Howard...

We are very lucky as this bridge is a few minutes walk from our house. It's a dream subject for me, wonderful shapes within sky and water setting, and it changes every day and hour! So I hope you can bear with me for painting it several times while I'm here :-)

The buildings make such a great skyline shape but the actual body of the buildings its deciding how much detail to put in. The low light means you can't see much and it's quite far away. But I felt it needed some suggestion of windows and things. As I paint this scene more I think I will experiment with how much to include.

#237 'Maria Della Salute' 8x10"

Monet painted this scene along with Ken Howard. You can see why with water, lovely shapes and light!

When I started it was still hazy with the mist. But an hour into it and the sun was shining and intense, it totally changed the scene. I was floundering trying to paint what I had first seen but struggling as it was so different. I was thinking of wiping it but with nothing to lose I decided to change it to what was there at that point, warm sunshine (and no mist!) And just kept saying ‘paint what you see’...which helped. 

The sky I had painted yellow but with the sun out it was blue so I painted over the top of the yellow.
The buildings were tricky to get enough detail to give the essence but not overdo the windows!  I'm pleased with the outcome :-)