In painting this canal scene in Venice, I used one of my old paintings from 3 years ago as a reference source (shown below).  I painted "Venetian Holiday II-4" right after my visit to Venice in 2006.  While my memory was still fresh, I used a couple of photos and a sketch to make the painting.

Three years later, traveling down memory lane, I find myself still remembering some but not all the things that my senses had captured during the trip.  The older our memory gets, the fuzzier and simpler (or forgotten!) it becomes.  Good memories may come back as glorified images and bad memories as nightmares.

I thought, for today's painting, it would be interesting to revive my 3-year-old travel memory and see what I'll come up with.  So, I spent a few minutes gazing at "Venetian Holiday II-4" painting and try to remember the feel of the place...

    "Venetian Holiday II-4" (2006) as reference


And, this is how I made a new painting:

 Compositionally, I didn't make a big change but decided to take a more close-up look.

  I painted all the buildings in one go.

 Then I brought the colors of buildings down to the water, and then added finishing touches.

  I ended up with a more abstract painting with a different mood in it.  It's more romantic, if I may say so.


Venezia VII

Click here for a larger image of "Venezia VII" painting.

Media: Original watercolor on paper
Image Size: 8.25 x 11.5 in. (on 9 x 12 in. paper)
Purchase: Sold