Blue Door, Venice

I'm continuing my little series of Venice Door paintings with this lovely door on to a canal.

The doorways of Venice are something special to paint. Sometimes they're a little funny side street where both your shoulders almost touch the walls, a medieval passage. Sometimes there's a beautiful wrought iron gate with a courtyard glowing beyond. And sometimes they open right onto a canal, like this one.

Is the only way to get into the building from the water? There's certainly no sidewalk. Or if you twist and turn and find the back of the house is there a prosaic entrance on a tiny street. (Please don't tell me, I prefer to wonder in this case!)

The ironwork on the windows and above the door is very plain, with just a slight decoration above the door. Simple, beautiful proportions. The door had been painted so many times that the moulding edges had been blurred under the layers of paint. The stucco is broken in places, and random bricks and stones show through. The whole wall glows in muted, ancient color.

I really enjoyed painting this watercolor. It's very simple but the scene has a lot of what I love about Venice, lovely bright colors, textures, and the wonderful light bounce glimmering from the reflecting water.

Doorways are always such a joy to paint too. Full of possibilities, just behind that blue door. Doesn't it make you want to open it and explore the inside? I know I do!

I'm never going to stop painting Venice!

The original watercolor painting is on deckle edged Twinrocker handmade watercolor paper. Reproductions are cropped to exclude deckle.