Art: Venezia (step by step)

The subject is an advertisement poster for Venice that I found in the 2010 calendar I got in Venice in 2009, and which I kept because the illustrations are pretty.

Canson artbook, 10,2 x 15,2 cm (4 x 6 in), 96 g/m2 (65 lb). It took me 3 hours, although it felt much quicker.

The paper is almost too thin for this medium (the paper warped), and a bit too small for this level of detail. I’m using a set of 30 acrylic paint markers from Artistro that have a fine tip that is 1 millimeter wide. At this scale, one millimeter is pretty thick. I find that thinner lines can be achieved in swift strokes, but that is at the cost of precision (in my case).

Masking tape, pencil sketch of the front of gondolas, mooring posts and basic shapes for buildings, next to the reference image at the top of a tall narrow calendar.

Pencil sketch that will be covered by the acrylic paint.

Sky, city line, silhouette of gondola and water painted in shades of yellow, orange and gold. There is an envelope on the back of which I try out the colours.

I do not have the exact same colours as the reference image. I’m trying out the pens I have on the back of an envelope.

I found colours that I think will work well together.

More gold, a lot of black, some brown, red and orange for the big gondolas and the mooring posts.

Close-up of the main drawing nearly done now that the gondolas and mooring posts are coloured.

Photo showing the work in progress with now a large vivid blue rectangle at the bottom, the calendar at the right, and 12 acrylic paint markers I used.

Almost done! All I need to add is “Venezia” in block letters at the bottom, and remove the masking tape.

Finished work in the open artbook on a white table
Finished work in the open artbook on a white table