Jazzed about painting Venice!

At this point in my new Venice painting I’m starting to get jazzed.  It’s starting to come together.  I made a big composition change by turning the gondola on the diagonal instead of viewing it from behind.  I felt there was too much water with too little activity.  This way the gondola leads the viewer further into the painting. 

I’ve covered the majority of the canvas with several layers of paint.  I’m starting to play colors off each other, trying to get an overall harmony.  I’m working on strong lighting, dark shadows and reflections.  Filling in missing details. 

My tendency is to always add more detail but my goal in this painting is to create an overall Impressionistic feeling.  Normally I would paint every brick but in this painting it will be implied by adding texture and dabs of color.

From this point on I want to take a somewhat realistic painting and instead of tightening up and adding detail, I want to blur and soften hard edges, add dabs of color and sunlight, blend colors together without muddying them and add texture. 

I love impressionist work and I’m challenged by it.  It’s against my nature to be free flowing.  Some of the way I’ve worked on the water, almost organized and carefully placed color, reminds me of the way Seurat painted.  I’d like to loosen up more and give the water more of a flow.  We’ll see where I go from here.  I’m loving working on this piece. 

Let me know what you all think.  Any opinions or feedback would be most welcomed.