Venice Windows Watercolour

Watercolour 27.5 x 18.5 cm

Since I've been in a bit of an artistic slump of late, I've been tidying my studio.  I found this watercolour, abandoned two years ago, so decided to finish it.  I hate wasting paper.

The painting is too big for my scanner and it's not great weather for photography.  But it's done now and I can move on.

Editor's Note: I've replaced the original photo I posted as the colour was too saturated.

Watercolour sketches

Moleskine watercolour sketchbook

The weather is still very changeable but there were real patches of sun this morning so I headed out to sketch a tiny detail of the valley we overlook from via Dante.

My local painting group is getting together again on Wednesday afternoons. This time everyone is trying watercolours rather than oils. I've been carrying around a photo from a trip to Venice. It's a beautiful old building full of decaying detail. With limited light and time, I restricted myself to sketching one of the doors.

Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

Collagraphs and Monotypes of Italian Subjects

Corso Italia Collagraph Print 14 x 22 cm

This handpulled collagraph print was developed from a sketch I made in the historic centre of our Tuscan village, Castiglion Fiorentino.

A reversed scan of my original sketch was transferred to a piece of cardboard and the outlines carved out with a sharp blade. Additional texture was made by gluing plastic net, tissue paper and pieces of scrap watercolour paper to the plate. The plate was then coated with Acrylic gloss medium and varnish and inked with black oil based etching ink. Areas of ink were wiped away before printing on C.M. Fabriano 100 percent cotton paper using an etching press.

I'm a big fan of the beautiful monotypes of Martin Stankewitz which he prints with oil paints. Since I have quite a stock of oils and have decided it's not one of my favourite mediums for painting, I got quite excited about the possibility of using up my paint for monotypes. Below is my first effort.

Venice Lagoon with San Giorgio Maggiore 8.5 x 10cm monotype

After this experiment, I'm even more excited about the potential of monotypes in oil paints. This photograph doesn't do justice to the beautiful silky finish of the paint on the paper and the result is much more painterly than I can achieve on canvas because painting onto a plexiglass plate, I don't get caught up in too much detail.

It's a lot of work for one unique print but I think I'm hooked.

Venice Etching

Bird Woman of Venice - Etching & Aquatint 24cm x 24cm

limited edition prints for sale

This is my first attempt at a copper plate etching with aquatint.

The picture is based on my own photograph of a woman shooing birds from her balcony, high above a Venetian canal. At first I thought how sweet, she's feeding the pigeons but when I enlarged the photograph I realised I'd probably witnessed a daily battle between this woman and the birds who squat on her tiny balcony. What struck me about the picture was how much the old lady's arm was beginning to resemble the wing bone of a bird - almost as though she was going through a metamorphosis that would one day see her too fly away.

Here's how I went about making the print.

Burning lamp black on to the varnished copper plate

I believe you can simply use a dark tinted varnish for this first stage of etching but loved learning the traditional smoking technique demonstrated here by my printmaker teacher, Rick Woodbury. Once the thick layer of lamp black is wiped away the copper plate has a hard dark ground into which I scratched my drawing.

Copper Plate before etching in an acid bath

The bird in front of the old lady's arm got in the way of the focal point of the drawing so Rick showed me how to use block out varnish to stop that area being etched by the acid.

The process of inking the plate is time consuming and pretty messy so I was covered in ink by the time I finished and I wasn't able to take photographs. Currently each print I make takes me about half an hour of inking and wiping the hot plate.

First Proof

In order to bring some darker values into the plate, and after using more block out varnish to preserve the highlights, Rick showed me how to dust it with powdered Gum Arabic. The plate was then heated to melt the Gum Arabic on to the copper and then it was back into the acid bath. I got quite a shock when we fished it out to see what a dramatic change I had in the second proof.

Second Proof after Aquatint

Now the hard work started, as I had to scrape or burnish back the aquatint pitted areas to make softer transitions between light and dark values.

Third Proof

That's more what I was aiming for and I can't tell you the thrill of pulling back the paper after the plate had passed through the press. I had no idea what it was going to look like. I don't think I will ever get over that excitement no matter how many prints I may make in future. I scraped and burnished a few more refinements and then pulled the final print that you see at the top of this post.

The print is too large for my scanner, so I've had to photograph it for this post. When I get some more sunlight I will replace this with a clearer photograph which I will have signed and numbered correctly.

I've never offered any of my art for sale before but since my plan for 2008 was to finally sell something here's your opportunity to acquire a rare piece of art! You are welcome to email me for further details.

Awarded to this post by The Colorist - Many thanks Casey.

Playing fast and loose again....

Watercolour & Ink - Canson sketchbook

Trapped inside most days lately by an unusually wet, grey autumn in Tuscany, I have been dreaming of Spring and the opportunity to get out sketching again. Of course I then have to admit I never get around to that much plein air sketching. It's because I am too slow. So the exercise I have set myself is to do some fast and loose sketches from the huge library of photographs I take (when I really should be sketching).

These are both from my computer screen using my Mont Blanc pen with Pelican Brillian Brown ink which I love because it's not in the least bit waterproof and bleeds happily all over the place when I add watercolour.

I took my sketching material on a trip to Perugia in Umbria yesterday. Didn't sketch a thing because we stumbled upon From Corot to Picasso - a magical exhibition from the vast Phillips Collection (Washington).

Vincent was there with House at Auvers; Modigliani with his beautiful Elena Povolozky; Cezanne Still Life with Ginger Jar, pears and Pomegranate; Picasso Woman with a Green Hat. Some days are absolutely perfect!

Watercolour Rio De S. Vidal Venice

The little red house on Rio De S. Vidal - Venice

I have two favourite houses in Venice - houses as opposed to Palaces of which there are many and one really finds it hard to choose. The first of 'my' houses is Peggy Guggenheim's former home (now a museum) on the Grand Canal, the other is the little red house in Campo S. Vidal which one passes on the way to the Accadema Bridge.

I painted the little red house for Nina in her Flying Pictures sketchbook themed Polychromatic Behaviour.

I follow Lindsay in Nina's book.

Nina's book is a beauty. You can see everyone's contribution to date on the Flying Pictures Blog. Casey has the book in France and as she's already finished her pages, it is probably now on it's final journey home to Nina.

Casey's book has arrived in Italy and as soon as I come up with something appropriate for the last entry that will mark the end of the Flying Sketchbook Exchange for me. But it is far from over yet because I still have to post Lindsay's contribution to Casey's book.

After John Singer Sargent

After JSS Campo dei Gesuiti (Venice) watercolour 26 x 36cm
Original painting 1902-1904 is 35 x 50cm (Private collection)

This is my second attempt to copy a John Singer Sargent watercolour, the first some time ago, I think was more successful.

The Sargent and Venice exhibition I saw earlier this month was inspiring. It would have been wonderful to paint in the gallery which I had pretty much to myself, being on the tale-end of the exhibition. Unfortunately not enough time.

It isn't until I try to copy Sargent that I realise how deceptive is the simplicity of his watercolours. This palette is quite simple but the values are very hard to get. I will attempt this picture again, taking a little more care with my vertical lines and proportions. Next I will try this palette with one of my Venice photographs.

Venice Door, Take Two

Watercolour 7" x 10" /Cartiera Magnani HP Portofino

I think this is better than my first effort but not close to what I was hoping to achieve. I want these Venice paintings to be looser than my usual efforts and I'm really struggling against too much detail. While these narrow canals deliver beautiful reflections they are usually devoid of dramatic shadows.

Next step, I think, is to attempt to copy some of John Singer Sargent's watercolours , before I come back to my own images.

Venice Door

Watercolour 10 x 7 in Cotman CP Not

I'm struggling to find my Venice palette. This is much too warm and cheerful for my taste. I think I'm a bit closer with the water.

Sargent and Venice

Pen & Watercolour Pencil large Moleskine sketchbook

I've just had a couple of magical days in Venice wining and dining with Margaret and David and enjoying a feast of art. I couldn't believe my luck when I discovered the Sargent and Venice exhibition had been extended into September. A couple of hours with John Singer Sargent's inspiring watercolours was such an education. The next day, looking for a quiet spot to sketch I stumbled upon an Albrecht Durer print exhibition which was a rare treat too. I desperately wanted to sketch the cloister at the Museo Diocesano which was the venue for Durer but I had a train to catch and they don't allow photographs. Finally an exhibition Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art at the Palazzo Fortuny was an the opportunity to see the amazing Veiled Lady 'Purity' by Antonio Corradini.

And sketching in Venice? Not very productive I'm afraid. I should have heeded Katherine's advice on sketching en plein air and realised that the friendly early morning sunlight was going to turn into a blazing torch before I'd finished my drawing. I had to complete it at home.

I 'd carted watercolours and paper along with my pencils and pens in my sketching stool/bag on my back, but such were the crowds and other temptations I didn't get to use them. I did manage some photographic references that I hope to make into paintings in the next couple of weeks.

Venice is even more special now I see her through the eyes of Sargent, Turner and Whistler and the thousands upon thousands of dreamers like myself who stand clutching a sketchbook, awestruck by her beauty.