Vienna

  A short reprieve from the hectic life centered around school projects arrived the week before last affording us the opportunity to spend a few days in Vienna, the capital city only about 2 hours away. It proved to be an excellent chance to recharge batteries and simultaneously gather inspiration for the studio.

   Vienna is impressive coming from Graz. Everything is bigger, more decorative, and neatly laid out. It has always been a city, whereas Graz has grown into one, and it is enjoyable to see the planning that went into it's design. Identically constructed buildings mirror one another, gardens are neatly trimmed, and a decorative gold edge runs through the city, dusting the tops and fences and bottoms of cupolas. I followed this glowing band of gold as the sun set the first evening we were there.

  One of the many things that I enjoyed was the number of people out and about. There was a lot going on which made it easy to be find enjoyable passtimes. We visited a number of cafes, parks and a museum.

  I did not have much opportunity for urban sketching, perhaps one day I will go just to draw but this was a family occasion and I kept my sketchbook in my handbag most of the time. The obvious exception was a coffee break  at one of my favorite cafes, the Palmenhaus.

 The natural history illustration course is coming up again in March and, although I haven't committed to it completely, I wanted to prepare for it by studying some of the linework in the Albrecht Dürer lithography at the Albertina museum. We looked at a lot of pieces. Several other artists were represented for comparison and I was able to examine similarities and differences I would have missed only a few years ago.

 These alphabets immediately drew my interest.

  As a pleasant counterbalance there was an exhibition of modern art in the cellar. The large Andy Warhol picture dominated an entire wall.

   And of course there was a ton of construction as usual causing lines to zigzag across the sky cutting it into smaller squares and triangles. Some of these interest me based on their compositional opportunity.

  Vienna has so many beautiful facades that I would love to paint or sketch. Needless to say, I now have a lot more photos in my reference photo collection.

If you liked this post you might also like:

-Carnival
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Bonus: I did get a chance to do a couple of small paintings during the trip.

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