Friday Funday:Swandolas and Bird-dogs

   "Swandolas and Bird-Dogs", a 20" by 16" oil painting, is available at Michigamme Moonshine Gallery for $275.00.

Sometimes I like to let my imagination take me to odd places and meet odd people. Today, I want to revisit an old favorite of mine: "Swandolas and Bird-Dogs".
  I've been to Venice five times! When I was a kid, the U.S. Air Force stationed my Dad -and me and my Mom- to Italy. We spent four years there, frequently touring the rich culture and history of the Italian countryside and coastlines. Venice was near-by, only a few hours from our base at Rimini, so we visited the magical lagoon a few times. Once, when I was 13 years-old or so, my parents wanted to go again. I stayed behind because I was sick of Venice. Can you believe that?! I was sick of Venice? Dumb kid!
  Now that I'm older and nowhere near Venice, I'd love to go back! Someday I will, but for now I'll dream and desire. I don't recall exactly what went through my mind to create this painting, but I'm sure it had to do with a desire to see the dreamlike, fantasy-world quality of Venice during Carnevale di Venezia. The costumes, the masks, the festive spirit!
  I went through some old National Geographic Magazines I have in my studio. I found an article on Venice. I also found an article on trumpeter swans. Why not have people floating around on giant swans instead of boats or gondolas? Maybe they'd be called Swandolas. 
  Who would ride a swan? They're elegant and beautiful birds. People of Royalty used to keep them as pets in their gardens. OK, so a princess would ride a swan. Now I had the basic idea, it was time to start painting!

I sketched the layout in pencil on the canvas, then went over it with a dark purple paint mixture. Before the outline was dry, I started filling in the background buildings, exaggerating the height of St. Mark's Square. This kept the distant lines soft and hazy. 

I added light to the atmosphere in the background to bring out the architecture. Then I began defining the water and fleshing out the figures. 

I created the building just behind the Princess, and continued fleshing out the figures. Here, the dock worker's gondolier-style uniform is given more detail and color. The piling and cobblestones are starting to take form.

I brightened and finished the foreground figures, especially the Princess and her guard. You can see the difference between their torsos and their legs.

 

 

  Notice the 'birds'. No painting of Venice would be complete without a flock of pigeons! However, if you look closely, you'll see that they each have a dog's head. It's a funny part of my childhood visit to Venice that made its way into this painting. When I visited Venice for the first time at about nine- years-old, we went to The Doge's Palace. I misread the literature and thought it was The Dog's Palace. I wondered why it was The Dog's Palace, until my Mom set me straight.
   Thank you for re-visiting this creative journey with me. I hope you've enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to comment!