“I’m not getting on.”

“You have to get on.”

“I don’t, I’m not going.”

5 minutes earlier, you could have mistaken us for locals, idly chatting to a friendly looking Italian who had informed us we needed to take the Linea Arancio (Orange line) to San Marco.

The journey time? Well …it could take anywhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour. He seemed vague, but of course, why should he know details about the journey.

We’d caught a late night flight into Venice and were waiting for one of the last ‘Alliguna’ boats from the airport.

The energy started to change and people formed an orderly queue beside a man clinging precariously to the side of an extremely buoyant boat and then it dawned on us.

The small lurching vessel moored in the dock, that I had 100% assured Vanessa we wouldn’t have to go in, was indeed our transport.

And the vague Italian man … he was the Captain.

The rain lashed into the small space at the rear of the boat, tourists and suitcases packed in together and then I heard Vanessa say  “Scusami, Scusami, we’ve changed our minds, we’re getting off at the Rialto Bridge”

3 stops earlier than I’d planned.

Our Venetian adventure had begun…

Waking up to clearer skies, I eagerly packed my pads, pens and cameras into my backpack, put on a warm jacket and couldn’t wait to get out into the narrow streets to absorb the atmosphere and a few espressos. I had come to sketch and paint studies to take back to my studio, keen to capture the magical Venetian light.

It’s dangerous walking around Venice with a sketchbook because every view is just so…sketchable.

There are so many elements within the city that ‘help’ your drawings, it’s an absolutely fantastic place to observe and practice your compositions. What’s great about the small canals and the tall buildings, is they always create a shadow contrast in the water.

This is even apparent on overcast days because the sky is still much lighter in tone than the shadows cast by the buildings. You can see in the photo above how you have a lovely dark and light pattern in the water from the cast shadow underneath the gondola, also the reflected sky shape and the cast building shadow.

The canals give you a good sense of depth in front of you and then a focal point (through another building) at the end. And more often than not, these buildings have a great balance of dark and light patterns through the windows and shutters.

St Mark’s Square is a blissfully quiet space first thing in the morning. It quickly fills into a throng of human traffic, pigeons and seagulls. You get these great flashes of red throughout this scene, from the chairs, the pillars on the Basilica and the red coats. It’s such a great place to see dark silhouette shadows of figures against the light greys of the surrounding stonework.

The position for this sketch is based on a painting by one of my favourite artist’s Edward Seago.

Edward Seago, A Winter Morning, The Doge Palace, Venice, Oil on Board (1910 – 1974)

Not much at all had changed with the view and it was interesting quite how far back his position was for capturing the expanse of the monuments, with the Doge’s palace to the left and us looking out towards the silhouette of San Giorgio Maggiore in the distance.

I was working with a Muji 0.5mm marker and a couple of grey Faber Castell fibre tip pens.

The water is such an amazing Phthalo/greeny blue and when the sun shines you get an incredible brilliance of dappled light that adds movement to the water.

San Giorgio Maggiore has a lovely warmth of orange to the brickwork which works so well against the warm sky and then the greener sea.

Back at my studio a small acrylic study is in progress, I’m applying thicker paint with a palette knife for impasto marks.

Wandering over some of the many bridges in Venice can be a great way to change your viewing position for sketches and include some of the man made architectural elements.

The superb wall colours along the canals are framed by the dark accents on the waterline. Here I was drawn to the flash of vivid red in the top right of the image that is then repeated in the triangular shapes of the windows

The rich colours on the buildings give you a great palette to work with.

The contrast in colours you get in Venice are so stunning, the deep green of the water, the warm Venetian reds which have a salmon pink quality to them and then an odd flash of a strong Cadmium Red that helps to bring out the rest of the colours.

When faced with a view straight on, it can be hard to decide what to focus on. You don’t have the depth present in the canal views, so I opted for a quick watercolour sketch of the details of the shuttered windows.

I’d packed with me a home-made acrylic Pochade box from a 59p plastic organiser. (The term Pochade comes from the French verb Pocher – to sketch) I’d cut thin strips of stay-wet palette paper to fit into small sections to create a super lightweight acrylic Plein air kit. Hidden behind the canvas board are some tear-off palette pieces ‘cut to size’ that fit snug inside the lid.

Here’s a close up of the box which worked extremely well for something so compact, I’m always on the look out for a neat, light streamlined kit when hitting the streets.

Detail from a watercolour and ink sketch of a Venetian shuttered window using the Lamy water soluble ink with Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue Winsor & Newton pans.

We couldn’t resist a Grom Gelato, although my personal favourite, the Cioccolato Extra Noir, (super dark chocolate sorbet) has had a slight tweak to the recipe with the new addition of dark chocolate chips. Personally, I preferred it smoother but I can’t show you any evidence that this version wasn’t well received.

Sketching at the top of one of the largest squares in Venice, San Giovanni e Paolo (also known as San Zanipolo in Venetian dialect) You can just see the edge of the impressive Basilica on the right. It was this view, where the light was creating a strong contrast for the shadows under the bridge, the texture from the foliage and smaller buildings receding into the distance that caught my eye.

This was another quick pen sketch with my viewing position further back so I could include the fab shape of the street lamp on the left. Most of the street lamp was sketched with a thicker fibre tip pen and then just a few thin lines with the Muji pen to add detail.

The wide stone bridges can be the perfect resting edge for sketching equipment.

I love how you always see crisp white linens against the darks of the arches and shutters. The sun just catches the edges of the poles in the water and the sides of the frames, and then you have those repeated colours of the different tones of the warm oranges and stronger reds from the crumbling paint on the brickwork to the terracotta pots on the balcony edges.

Where is my Pochade box now!

Piazza San Marco for the sun setting and you get these gorgeous pinky hues and the Basilica becomes a muted tonal silhouette. The dark shapes of the gondolas and street lamp help to frame this classic Venetian view.

Here’s a quick shot of the main painting I’ve been working on for a new Impressionistic Acrylic Course bringing pastel colours together onto a larger scale studio piece.

Early morning at the Rialto fish market, where the energy of traders and fresh produce available is fantastic to sketch.

It’s housed in such an elegant building, with the red canvas within the arches contrasting against the white details.

Even the letter boxes look exciting!

Carnival preparations were in progress during our stay and the mask shops are plentiful.

We meandered up over to the Ca’d’oro Museum. I’d gone to see a Van Dyck Portrait on display on the second floor but unfortunately, that area of the gallery was closed on our visit. But we had the treat of wandering through the Palace entrance which is usually closed to visitors, it was stunning and we were fortunate enough to have it all to ourselves that morning.

Loved the pattern of the mosaic floor to the diamond shapes in the wall behind, the craftsmanship and detail are fantastic.

This unfinished portrait on display is a great way to observe the under-painting and process of the piece.

You can see the warm Imprimatura ground that has stained the canvas and then the crisp line drawing on top. The lines look like they have been transferred using charcoal.

Well, it wouldn’t be a trip to Venice without a hot chocolate at the oldest coffeehouse in Europe, the most beautiful Caffè Florian in Piazza San Marco. Established in 1720, frequented by Casanova, Lord Byron, Proust and Dickens we were in good company. I opted for the extra cream option, let the good times roll!

Moonlight view on the Grand Canal next to the Ponte dell’Accademia.

We left feeling totally inspired and to put your mind at rest if you are thinking of visiting Venice, the return Alliguna boat journey was super, smooth sailing!

The New Venice – Light & the Landscape Course is now available.

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