Drawing and Baking

Unfortunately, yesterday was an extraordinarily humid day with water droplets visible on the glass in our windows.  So when everyone was assembled in the painting class, Sharon told us that she had experimented that morning by laying down a wash and doing a bit of painting.  It still wasn't dry at 10:00!

She went on to tell us that if we working with a dry surface and a minimum of water, we might be able to have a dry piece by the end of class.  However, if we had planned on working wet on wet, we'd have wet paper to take home - not something you'd want to do.

I opted to do some drawing instead as did a few others in the class.  There's a photo of the Grand Canal in Venice at night that has been teasing me for some time.  But it is a piece that really calls for a lot of preliminary work - specifically drawing.  That's the only way to figure out the perspective lines of all the many buildings as well as the curves of the domes.  The curve of the canal has to show - it's not a simple straight line.  Drawing would also help determine what to keep and what to leave out - there are many small boats both actively plying the water as well as moored near the buildings. Are they critical to the overall composition?  How many windows, doorways, decorative woodwork are essential to make a building recognizable?  

I can't say that a drawing will resolve all those issues or answer all those questions, but it will certainly help me understand this scene better.

A drawing isn't easy to photograph well enough to make a clear image (or it isn't easy for me), but you might be able to get at least a sense of what's there on the page so far.  The buildings (the first is Ponte del Academia which is very ornate) on the left are not as stolidly blockish as I have drawn - I was more intent on getting the perspective lines on the top and bottom correct.  In the distance is the church Santa Maria della Salute on which I spent some time, and the rest of the right-hand side indicates the water line of the various buildings. That's important because each building has a slightly different waterfront edge and is part of the curve in the canal..

Clearly, there is much more drawing to do before I even begin to think about painting.

  

Today I took a break from both drawing and sewing to go to a local apple orchard.  We bought a bag of Galas for eating and a bag of 17 Macouns for cooking.  We wanted Cortlands which is my usual baking apple, but they aren't ready quite yet.  I asked for a recommendation for a substitute (so many of the apples that are grown in today's orchards are new to me) and was told Macoun was tart and firm so we took them.  

The crisp is made and smells oh, so tempting, but it is for a bonsai picnic this Saturday.  I didn't made a tiny version for us to try this time so we'll just have to wait.  

Silly me!