Venice truly is a city for artists: the magnificent architecture, the changing colors through the day, the reflections in the water, the gondolas plying their way along the canals contrasting with the water-taxis and the 'modern' boats. Sure, the main attractions are crowded out with tourists, but you step a block or two away and it feels like you've the city to yourself.
I walked around endlessly, camera in hand, snapping away at things that caught my eye (see a selection here: Colours of Venice). The same buildings and scenes look quite different on a sunny day and a rainy one, in the harsh midday light and at sunset.
I also spent a lot of time just sitting, absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of the city, letting the everyday life go on past me. If you get too caught up in 'doing' all the sights of a city, you often miss out on the small things that give a city its character.
The pages here are from the sketchbook I kept. I have subsequently also pasted in a lot of the photos I took. My sketching kit consisted of a small watercolor set, a water pen, and a permanent black pen.
The sketch shown here was done sitting on the stairs of the Santa Maria della Salute church, looking out over the Grand Canal. When they're not in use, gondolas are protected with a cover in a very striking blue. When there were a whole bunch together, I started to get totally absorbed by the patterns and repetition (see this photo for an example).
