Venice. The Prison 1903

John Singer Sargent painted Venice. The Prison using watercolor. Look at how the washes of blues, browns, and greens combine to create architectural and marine forms. I can almost feel Sargent's presence, standing there with his brush, trying to capture the shimmering light on the water, the weight of the old buildings pressing down. I bet he was chasing after a feeling, something just out of reach. It is so exciting when you know what you want to do but not quite how to get there! Think how the brush dances across the paper to create the water, how the strokes are loose, almost improvisational, reflecting the constant movement. Sargent was part of a long conversation among artists, each trying to figure out how to translate what they see and feel into something tangible. For me, painting isn't about perfection. It's about embracing the messiness, the uncertainty, the happy accidents that can lead to something truly unexpected.