Gareth Naylor

Atmospheric paintings of Japan

Category: Paintings of figures

  • Pencil sketches of a very young child asleep

    Pencil sketches of a very young child asleep

    In 2012 I had one of the best experiences of my life. My daughter Anne was born. 

    Well I call her Annie. 

    But it is really spelt Anne.

    And in Japanese it is “An” and this is the kanji “杏” and it means apricot.

    It was only after having children, and I adopted two before this, that I realized how wonderful children are. 

    I wish that I’d known this when I was younger. 

    Alas such is life, we tend to learn after the fact and then suffer. 

    It’s not very fair but then again nobody said it would be.

    Anyways, for me, the best thing in life has been having children.

    So during this year and the next few I had very little time to go gallivanting outside and painting landscapes as I was very much house-bound looking after my baby. 

    But I took advantage of this marvellous situation by doing a lot of sketches of my daughter. 

    And here are a few of those sketches.

    Pencil sketch of a very young child asleep
    “Face of an angel”
    Pencil sketch of a very young child asleep
    “Beautiful repose”

    Luckily there’s a date on this sketch. 

    Annie was born on August 6 of 2012 so this must be May 31st of 2013. 

    I’m so grateful for that date because at first I thought these sketches were from 2012 but now I know they are from 2013. 

    This year (2021) I have been organizing my artwork, which consists of over 1000 pieces, and one of the biggest problems has been knowing when I created a piece of art and it made me realize the importance of dating my work. 

    Sadly I’m still not putting a date on my work although I do show each new work on Instagram (well most of them) which dates it for me. 

    But I perhaps shouldn’t depend on that too much and I should add a date in pencil on the back of each artwork.

    Pencil sketch of a very young child asleep
    “Beautiful posture”

    All of these sketches are of Annie sleeping.

    This was the best time to draw her as she wasn’t moving.

    Also at this time, I was free. 

    Furthermore, I like to draw sleeping figures because they are a very interesting subject.

    The sleeping posture is often very interesting.

    The pattern of the folds on the bed sheets is also interesting.

    And the feeling of relaxation is wonderful.

    And the face often has a calm and almost angelic appearance.

    Pencil sketch of a very young child asleep
    “Simple line drawing of a sleeping child”

    Sometimes I would do a very simple line drawing of Annie such as above. 

    Although it’s very minimalistic I like it very much.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Paintings of mother and baby

    Paintings of mother and baby

    In 2012 my daughter Annie was born. 

    And every day I would see these wonderful scenes of mother and baby together.

    So I did a lot of sketches and sometimes even a few paintings. 

    Here are two of the paintings and a sketch.

    I especially like the painting above of mother and baby sleeping together.

    For me, it is an image of perfect peace.

    I know that I didn’t paint the baby’s face very well but I still think it is a good painting.

    Watercolor painting of a mother sitting on a chair and holding her baby.
    “Mother and child”

    Here is another painting of mother and baby but this time awake. 

    I’m so grateful for those net curtains in both paintings as they provide a beautiful background.

    Pencil sketch of a mother sitting on a chair and holding her daughter. Both are asleep.
    “Mother and child sleeping”

    And here is a pencil drawing of mother and baby that I am quite pleased with. 

    I think my wife’s face doesn’t look very relaxed in this drawing. 

    In actuality, I think it was. 

    But I’m showing this drawing despite that because I still think it is a very good drawing and full of very exciting and energetic strokes.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a woman sitting in a chair

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting in a chair

    For a long time I haven’t drawn my family.

    But in the past I would often draw them.

    And occasionally I would do a painting of one of my family members.

    I especially enjoyed drawing my wife because she looks so feminine and elegant.

    I sometimes like to look at her fingers and toes which are particularly nice in shape and length. 

    My fingers and toes are short and stubby.

    And I am very happy with the painting of her above.

    This painting was done in 2012.

    I did several paintings of her in front of these net curtains. 

    I noticed that the folds in the net curtains made an interesting and beautiful background.

    At the same time the pattern of the folds is delicate and doesn’t compete with the subject which is the figure.

    When painting a figure, I have learnt that the background is one of the most important and also one of the most difficult considerations.

    Perhaps I need to start doing paintings of figures again.

    Especially as I enjoy it very much and because such paintings can look very interesting.

    It is also a subject that I haven’t explored very much which makes it exciting.

    The biggest problem is finding somebody.

    Pencil drawing of a woman with a floppy hat sitting on the ground
    “Female elegance”

    And here is a drawing of my wife wearing a floppy hat.

    Like the painting above, this drawing was done in 2012.

    I am very pleased with this pencil drawing.

    However, I don’t like to draw with a pencil.

    Because although you can achieve some beautiful effects with a pencil they smudge too much.

    With this pencil drawing, I did an orange wash over the pencil lines in order to stop them smudging.

    You can spray it with a fixative but I never do. 

    I don’t like any kind of aerosol. 

    I think that those tiny particles coming out of aerosols must get into your lungs and be harmful. 

    And this is why despite having a full can of fixative in my artbox it never gets used!

    I have no idea what I’ll do with it. 

    I guess one day it will just get binned.

    But that would be so wasteful and so for now I just keep it.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe
    “Mystery woman in a coffee shop”

    Sadly, I have no idea when I painted this picture.. 

    I’m guessing that it was 2012.

    But it’s just a guess.

    And I have no idea where this place is.

    Neither do I know who the woman is in the painting.

    She could be my wife or a complete stranger.

    I should have kept some record of my work such as a pencil date on the back of the picture and a brief note about the place or person.

    But in my salad days I was just focused on painting.

    And that was a wonderful freedom.

    And hopefully such deep focus made me a better artist.

    But later on, it caused a big conundrum when it came to organising my work.

    Because I didn’t record my artwork.

    And also because I have painted a lot of pictures.

    I think that I presently have about a 1000 paintings even after throwing many paintings away.

    Anyway, I found this small painting while I was attempting to organize my artwork.

    And what I can say about this picture is that I like it. 

    And this is why it never got thrown away like so many other paintings.

    I love the shape of those chairs and the soft atmosphere of this scene.

    The colors are also pleasing with the contrast of a warm brown and a cool blue.

    Perhaps I should call this painting “A mystery woman in a coffee shop”.

    What do you think?

    What title would you give it?

    If you can think of a great title I will let you have the painting for half the price.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • A simple line and wash watercolor of a woman reclining in a chair

    A simple line and wash watercolor of a woman reclining in a chair

    I’m really happy with the minimalism of this painting. 

    And when I look at this painting it makes me think I should do more paintings of figures. 

    There is a beautiful combination here of line and wash.

    And the areas of shadow are a beautiful mix of warm and cool colors. 

    I especially like that touch of pure blue in the shadow areas. 

    When I look at that it makes me wonder if I’ve actually improved as a watercolor artist. 

    I think my shadows are a bit boring nowadays compared to this.

    And the composition is great. 

    The way the figure occupies the space of the paper creates wonderful negative spaces within the surrounding areas of the paper.

    I think this is one of the lucky paintings that worked out well.

    And there were probably many failures which I threw away. 

    But the truth is I can’t remember as this was painted over 10 or 15 years ago.

    Gareth.