Venice : A Sinking Feeling
[Santa Maria Della Salute, sketched from a secret garbage handler’s dock]
Venice. Is there any more romantic city? The maze of narrow streets, the glittering mystery of the carnival, the doomed (?) feeling of rising sea level. I have always wanted to travel here.
Sadly – there’s something wrong with my brain. This trip, for whatever reason, I wasn’t charmed by the place. I have to think that’s on me, not Venice itself. I came unprepared to find the real city.
We did meet our friends Stephanie Bower and Sean Andrew Murray – both in Italy by coincidence at the same time as ourselves. So that was the highlight. To be able to sketch next to other talented artists is something I don’t want to take for granted. I’m spoiled that way :) We go out of our way to have those experiences.
Seeing Stephanie’s masterpieces of perspective appear so easily for her – that’s always a pleasure – and a stern lesson. Her skills are frankly intimidating. Though she’s a patient teacher, I’m a lazy student when it comes to the discipline of architectural views. Mine are the painter’s cheats. Style over structure.
[The Grand Canal from the Academia bridge, early AM before the relentless heat and crowds]
We may not have given it enough time. Only a week. We might have not budgeted enough cash. A struggling artists resources don’t go very far. A great deal of what there is to see in Venice is barricaded behind a living wall of tourists. Being willing to buy some special access passes to things, stay in some historic hotels, and hire a few water taxis probably would have helped.
[Bridge of Sighs – from directly below the usual vantage point – lucky low tide opportunity]
Even though I enjoy the sketches we got – this faux Sargent Bridge of Sighs being a favorite – I hope to return with a better frame of mind some day. I’m kicking myself for not making friends with locals, and not doing better research in advance. I could see there is an extensive artistic community here. This is going to take a more serious attempt another time.
[St. Marks – only the good parts – minus a few thousand people in the square]
A brush with the Black Death in Sienna
The note on this sketch says “…sound of out-of-tune bells – how does this happen?”. It seemed to me that someone would have fixed such a thing over the hundreds years these bells have been ringing. Damn tourists! Like spoiled kids, right?! Always wanting a perfect experience :)
So yes – one of the days during the Cortona event we did a side jaunt to nearby Sienna. We’d already spent some time sketching on location with plenty of 1:1 feedback, so it seemed we might as well toss everyone into the pool and go on a sketching tour.
We got dropped off at the Plaza del Duomo and started by choosing a series of meeting points – circulating around a small area, and meeting at a visible landmark in an hour. So you could stick together if you wanted, or choose to have some alone-time with your sketchbook if you preferred. Either way, we’d be back together for the next leg of the tour.
It seemed like a good model for this group of sketchers – people could find their level of artistic freedom vs. instructor attention. Each time we regrouped, people could see what we’d all found in the way of subjects. One person spent each session sampling dessert at a different café. That’s a sketcher who knows how to have fun :)
When I’m touring a new place, I like to alternate between the big picture, (street views or architectural portraits), smaller details of structures (carved ornaments and such), and the “human element” – which is sketching people whenever possible – or in the case when it’s all tourists and no interesting characters – then I’ll draw statues :)
There’s great story I heard about this gate:
Apparently this free standing gate leading from the basilica square to the larger oval track in the city center (where Sienna’s famous horse races take place) was originally intended to be the side entrance to a huge cathedral that would have massively enlarged the basilica, making it the biggest church in all Italy.
Except. The Black Plague occurred, and killed off both the work force and general enthusiasm for that project.
The gate, and some walls are still there today, implying just how impossibly big this structure might have been. It’s astonishing to stand in the street and imagine it roofed over with giant arches.
It’s always kind of magic to me, the way you sketch things, and later come to find they have some fascinating story. If you wander an area and just draw the interesting stuff – you’re always finding great things. You don’t need a guide book. Just looking at stuff, you can tell – that thing is something important!
This kind of fortuitous exploration is really inspirational to me. I feel the finding by accident, and the sketching by instinct and interest, connects me to history in a way that I’ll never get from books or documentaries.
The Cortona Panorama
So, of course I’ve already mentioned, we’ve recently been sketching in Cortona Italy. We were there in June teaching a workshop – which I was actually a little nervous about initially.
This was to be my big first sketching event outside the umbrella of UrbanSketchers.org and I was unsure what it would be like. I was working with a company I’d never partnered with before, and we’d chosen a town I’ve never seen. So there were a lot of questions how the event might go. Of course I need not have been concerned.
The best thing about these workshops is the people. Anyone willing to drag themselves halfway around the world to go sketching is someone worth knowing! From the first day, our little group was exploring Cortona, drawing together like old friends.
By the end of the week, we’d been doing a lot of pen and ink sketching, and I was raring to get in a for-real painting. People were interested in seeing a big demo, so we set up at the lookout point in Piazza Garibaldi and I did this 9×24″ panorama.
I was – again – a little nervous going in. I’d been drawing all week, and felt a bit rusty with the brushwork. Plus, I was a bit concerned about tackling this incredibly complex view. Not that I was going to back down once I’d set up the easel. You just stick to your game plan – do the things you are always telling people – “simplify, see the big shapes, draw with dry edges, let water play inside, come back when dry to re-enforce darks”. And miraculously – one of my favorite paintings of the trip just appeared before our eyes – like watching someone else paint it.
Flying out to Singapore!
Heading out to Singapore for the big USK symposium first thing tomorrow. In case you can’t make it – here’s the notes for my workshop. Maybe you can try and sketch a few characters back home. More news when we hit the ground sketching! ~m
Urban Sketching show opens Sunday in Pointe Claire
My friend Shari Blaukopf has been working with the Stewart Hall Art Gallery in Pointe Claire on the exhibition “A Sketch in Time”, which opens tomorrow, at a Picnic Vernissage Sunday July 5th from 10am to 4pm. They will have a small selection of sketchbooks and urban sketching watercolors on display in the project room of the gallery for the rest of the month of July. There will be a few of my favorite older works hanging alongside paintings by Shari and our fellow urban sketcher Jane Hannah.
There is an open invitation to come sketch with Shari and other Urban Sketchers, as well as other activities (info here). I would have liked to be there myself, except I’ve been called away to work on a sketching project down south, which I hope to be able to announce very soon. But if you’re in the Pointe Claire area, I hope you will stop by. 
~m
Just finishing up a week with Simo and Carolyne
We had a fun little reception in the garden at Villa Guadalupe here in Volterra. Everyone put out their works to recap the week and we had a nice gallery tour. We’d done the same at the class in Cortona, but I wasn’t smart enough to take iPhoto’s :) 
Here’s our teachers Carolyne Peyron and Simo Capecchi. They took us to all the best places in Volterra, and had new ideas to try at each spot. I was stubborn and stuck to my watercolors – but everyone else learned a lot from Chinese ink, found newspaper collage, blind contour drawing, even painting with wood stain borrowed from some workmen, and alabaster dust from the floor of a sculpting studio. 
By the way, here’s the view from the villa, and a look inside. You can stay with our wonderful hosts if you like – here’s their air BnB [link]. 
I just wanted to get the word out to any of my readers that my friend and painting buddy Shari Blaukopf has just launched a Craftsy.com class.
Click HERE to Register for: Shari Blaukopf’s Sketching Landscapes in Pen, Ink and Watercolor
Quick sketch from Cortona
Updated with a proper scan now that we’re home. This is a typical street view in the old village of Cortona. You can’t help but make sun-drenched sketches in this town – it is after all the inspiration for Under The Tuscan Sun. (The novel, and the film).
Workshop in Cortona starts tomorrow!
We’ve been here a couple days, just looking around and enjoying the town. Lovely medieval achitecture, and spectacular views. Tomorrow we meet the drawing group.
This is going to be a great workshop – it’s a small group, which means lots of 1:1 feedback. The town is small enough we can get around on foot, and there are terrific drawing subjects everywhere you look.
I might not be posting for the next few days. We’ll see how busy it is.
Thanks ~ m
The other day, James and Jeannette Gurney were in town, for the Benjamin Constant show at the Beaux Arts and he happened to mention his new making-of video: Tyrannosaurs: Behind the Art.
I’ve just received a free download from him – and am glad to give it a very positive review!
In this 40 min video, James takes you inside his studio – giving you an over-the-shoulder look at his painting process. He shows tools and materials, his painting methods – from the ideation and initial drawings, through the under painting in casein and eventually the finished effect in oils.
Here’s a great bit (below) where he selectively textures the surface with acrylic modelling paste, so the passages of color to follow can be worked in glazes and scumbles over top. A very efficient method of painting.
Much of the film is on ‘how to be an illustrator’ – more so than how to paint. He gives valuable tips on research and scientific extrapolation from living animals, shows his rough designs and color mockups, as well as the client’s feedback and his final choices. We get to see a plein air study done for authenticity – and even go with him to the client as he delivers the finished paintings. Something that is becoming a rare event in this world of digital art and email.
This kind of first hand career advice is great stuff for someone trying to figure out the profession of illustration.
But you’ll also find plenty of close up demonstrations of his painting method.
In the video he creates two paintings – showing bits of the work from start to finish. Jumping through time to give us the best parts – rather than long stretches of potentially repetitive ‘watch me paint’.
This is not a class for the raw beginner – he is making a real illustration, not taking time to simplify steps for students. So, besides some talk about materials and color choices, you are going right into the real deal.
While he will not explain every brush stroke for you – there is a lot to be learned from careful observation of his painting. It’s well worth watching multiple times. You’re seeing him work up close and personal. If you wanted to paint exactly like James Gurney – the method is here for you to learn from.
I’m always impressed with how efficient his paintings are. You can really see the weight of his experience. No stroke is wasted – every part builds on what went before to a rapid conclusion.
It’s impressive how well he directs himself – painting and shooting the film at the same time, he knows when to set up the cameras and get a great shot. My favorite part being a daring correction where he blithely paints out a finished dinosaur face to make a change he felt improved the storytelling.
His reasons are sound – but it’s a bold change many artists would have shrugged and hand-waved over. A perfect example of what makes a great illustrator. Commitment to getting the story right – even if that means giving up a great bit of painting.
You can purchase the video – entirely shot and produced by James and his wife Jeanette – from his online distributors at Gumroad (credit card) or Selfy (paypal). It is well worth the moderate $15.00 fee. If you are a fan of his work, and would like to see more of the great content on his excellent blog – order your copy today!
