grand canal

Arches HP 300 gsm, 10" x 14".

this is the prospect of the grand canal north from the accademia bridge, about 10am.

this was the laggard of the cluster of paintings started with it. the perspective drawing was difficult and tedious to do freehand, and the canal water took a lot of layering to get right. then there are all those windows ...

the "castels" along the grand canal are a marvelous sight. each one rides on a huge plug of wood pilings, and each structure is timbered to the rafters like a ship. they literally cruise on the marshy soil. there are many subtle displacements of the vertical walls, like the uneven pitch of wave rocked rowboats tied to a pier.

venice is for me the most remarkable functioning city in the world; it works because its industries have always been compact and "clean" -- commerce, art and tourism.