Venice is best explored on foot. From a narrow alley to a bustling campo, from a bridge to a facade weathered by time, every turn offers a new composition. Drawing thus becomes a privileged way to observe, understand, and tell the story of the city.

This workshop invites participants to explore Venice through drawing, working directly from its architectural heritage and urban landscapes. Participants will learn to observe the perspectives of the calli, the proportions of the buildings, the bridges, the canals, the doors, the windows, and the details that give the city its unique character.

Through travel journals, observational drawing, and urban sketching, the course also examines how artists have depicted Venice over the centuries, particularly through vedute and the preparatory drawings of the great Venetian painters.

The goal is to develop a personal perspective on the city: to learn how to select, simplify, and compose in order to capture not only what one sees, but also the atmosphere of a street, the light of a campo, or the movement of a living city.

• Develop observational skills through Venice’s cultural heritage.
• Understand the principles of perspective as applied to urban drawing.
• Create a composition based on a street or public space.
• Depict architecture and its proportions.
• Work on lines, volumes, and values.
• Learn to suggest depth and distance.
• Draw bridges, canals, facades, and architectural details.
• Capture light and shadows in a drawing.
• Develop skills in quick sketching.
• Create a personal travel sketchbook dedicated to Venice.
• Develop a sensitive and personal graphic style.

Skills Acquired Upon Completion of the Course

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Construct a coherent urban perspective.
• Observe and accurately depict the proportions of architectural structures.
• Organize the different planes of a composition.
• Use lines to suggest volume and depth.
• Render the effects of light and shadow.
• Simplify an urban landscape without losing its identity.
• Create quick sketches from observation.
• Incorporate figures and elements of daily life into a composition.
• Use different levels of detail depending on the artistic intent.
• Create a cohesive series of drawings depicting the streets of Venice.

Day 1 — Observing and Drawing the Venetian Street

Morning — Venice as a subject for drawing

• An introduction to urban sketching and the travel sketchbook.
• The depiction of Venice in art history.
• Vedute: observing, framing, and composing a view.
• Analysis of drawings and depictions of the city.
• Understanding the distinctive features of Venetian urban space.
• Calli, campi, fondamenta, bridges, and canals.
• Principles of perspective applied to streets.
• Horizon line, vanishing points, and guide lines.
• Construction exercises based on Venetian facades.

Afternoon — Facades, Doors, and Windows

• Observing the structure of a facade.
• Proportions and repetition of architectural elements.
• Windows, balconies, arcades, and doors.
• Rendering textures and materials.
• Stone, brick, marble, stucco, and weathered surfaces.
• Working with lines and values.
• Quick-sketch exercises.
• First page of the sketchbook: a Venetian street as told through its facades.

Day 2 — Perspective, Light, and Movement

Morning — Drawing the perspectives of Venice

• The long perspectives of the fondamenta.
• Depth effects in the narrow alleys.
• Drawing a bridge and its surroundings.
• Canals and vanishing lines.
• Building a composition around a viewpoint.
• Foreground, middle ground, and background.
• Distortion and interpretation of perspective.
• Exercises involving different framing techniques.
• Transitioning from analytical drawing to freer drawing.

Afternoon — Life on the Streets

• Integrating figures into the urban landscape.
• Proportions and silhouettes in motion.
• Gondolas, boats, and traffic on the canals.
• Vendors, residents, visitors, and everyday scenes.
• Conveying the scale of architectural structures.
• Play of light and shadow in the calli.
• Quick sketches and graphic notes.
• Working on rhythm and spontaneity.
• Composing a complete urban scene.

Day 3 — The Venetian Sketchbook: Telling a City’s Story

Morning — From Sketch to Interpretation

• Analysis of the drawings created over the first two days.
• Selecting subjects and viewpoints.
• Simplifying architecture to strengthen the composition.
• Prioritizing details.
• Using negative space and reserved areas.
• Emphasizing light or atmosphere.
• Harmonizing a series of drawings.
• Work on the graphic continuity of a sketchbook.
• Search for a personal style.

Afternoon — Creating a final series

• Choosing a route or a Venetian neighborhood.
• Creating several complementary sketches.
• Composing a page for a travel journal.
• Combining general views and details.
• Final work on values, shadows, and graphic accents.
• Optional addition of notes, annotations, or narrative elements.
• Presentation of the sketchbooks and finished works.
• Group analysis of the different interpretations.
• Summary: drawing Venice as a journey, an architectural experience, and a sensory experience.

• Illustrated theoretical and historical contributions.
• Analysis of drawings and depictions of Venice.
• Perspective and construction exercises.
• Demonstrations of urban drawing.
• Direct observation of Venice’s heritage.
• Sketching from life.
• Quick exercises and in-depth studies.
• Guided individual work.
• Gradual creation of a travel sketchbook.
• Group analysis of the artwork.
• Exploring the connection between art history and the practice of drawing.

• Regular communication with interns.
• Observation of completed exercises.
• Progressive assessment of students’ progress in perspective and composition.
• Analysis of drawings created from life.
• Individualized support.
• Evaluation of progress in drawing skills.
• Presentation of work at the end of the course.
• Self-assessment of acquired skills.
• Issuance of a training certificate.