New Venice watercolours

Only 4 days to go to open studios and today I am looking through my sketches of Venice to mount a few of them. My favourite are those of gondolas on the Grand Canal. I can picture the gondolas bobbing up and down and the postures of the gondoliers as they delicately steer their boats. You need to have incredible strength .. I am sure it is not as easy as it looks. Below are a few of my recent favourites:-

These watercolours are done with Schmincke pan watercolours and a large squirrel brush for either washing or finer marks. I use a sepia crayon to capture a few key lines. I always need to remind myself to keep it simple. Sometimes less is more in these small sketches.

If you want to learn more about my watercolour painting, come along to my open studio in May or email liz@lizmilburn.co.uk to visit by appointment.