Gareth Naylor

Atmospheric paintings of Japan

Category: Paintings of interiors

  • Watercolor painting of the sunlit interior of a Japanese train

    Watercolor painting of the sunlit interior of a Japanese train

    A more accurate title might be: “The blinding brilliance of morning sunlight on the train”. But it’s a bit of a mouthful.

    So I was on the train because I went to Beppu. This is the city next to mine which is called Oita. And I went to see an exhibition space in a small hotel.

    To date, I’ve exhibited in a bank, a green tea shop, a steakhouse, a cafe and a few other places but never a hotel. And this was not a normal hotel. It was a small, old-style Japanese hotel. Such a hotel is called ‘ryokan’ in Japanese.

    Built in the Taisho period (1912-1926), this hotel has some beautiful spaces and a traditional Japanese garden.

    Personally, I think it could do with a lick of paint but my friend assured me the Japanese like the slightly brownish walls.

    I didn’t have a lot of time so I was soon back on the train and heading home to Oita city. During the train journey I was a little bored so I drew the passengers on the train. It was a lot of fun.

    And these drawings inspired the watercolor painting above back in the studio – a.k.a – the kitchen table.

    The train route is by the sea and in the morning you get a spectacular sunrise that floods the train with light.

    I tried to paint just such a sunrise from memory and a dose of imagination.

    I love to paint light but perhaps in this painting I went too far.

    Still, I like it. In fact, I won’t be able to separate myself from this painting for a while and it will also inspire new paintings.

    That’s all for now.

    Gareth.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in September of 2014. I edited it in 2022.

    The exhibition was a waste of time. I didn’t even sell one painting. But this is the way it can go for an artist. In fact, this is the equation of my art career: a lot of time, effort and hope and nada back – well, very little.

    I also missed out on a strange Japanese dance that my artist friend organized at the hotel during the exhibition. I really would have enjoyed seeing it.

    The dance was held in the garden and the dancer surprised all the spectators, and purposely so, when she appeared from under the house itself which, like old Japanese houses, is raised up on supports.

    She appeared in an extremely slow fashion, like a slow crawl, and I think she crawled around the garden and as she did so she slowly unrolled a long roll of cloth that she had wrapped around her waist.

    Below are two more paintings of people on trains.

    Watercolor painting of the sunlit interior of a Japanese train
    “Sunlit interior of a Japanese train 2”
    Watercolor painting of the sunlit interior of a Japanese train
    “Sunlit interior of a Japanese train 3”
  • Watercolor painting of the interior of a traditional Japanese building

    Watercolor painting of the interior of a traditional Japanese building

    This painting is of a small restaurant in a region called Kusu.

    This region is a very rural and rugged part of Oita prefecture.

    And I visited this restaurant with my family.

    Our main purpose, though, was to see Shiramizu falls.

    And next to this restaurant is a river that leads to the falls.

    Alongside the river is a footpath.

    It is quite a long walk along the footpath to the falls.

    But it is a very pleasant and scenic walk.

    And the waterfall is very high and dramatic.

    After our walk to the falls and back we stopped at this small restaurant to have lunch.

    I can’t remember what we ate but I’ll never forget this building.

    As you can see from the painting, it’s a traditional Japanese building.

    I found the interior of this building to be both beautiful and comfortable.

    And the atmosphere was also very pleasant.

    During lunch I took a few photos and from them later at home I painted the picture above.

    There are so many things that make this interior a good subject for a painting.

    There is the beauty of the wood and the wooden structure.

    And the reflections within the wooden floor are beautiful.

    There is the lovely design of the big sliding doors that lead to a covered verandah with a beautiful view of the surrounding natural scenery.

    And then, almost like a model, there is the relaxed figure of the old man sitting on the verandah and taking in nature while having a smoke. 

    Finally, there is the elegant figure of the woman sitting on the floor and eating lunch.

    What a wonderful scene for a painting!

    In this traditional Japanese restaurant there are no chairs.

    People sit on cushions.

    They are called “zabuton” in Japanese.

    I personally like sitting on the floor as I find it to be far more comfortable and relaxing than sitting in a chair.

    I’ve been to this place several times and I also once had a disastrous painting holiday here.

    I’ll talk about that misadventure in a later blog.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

    Postscript 

    I have to mention going to another restaurant in this area.

    Although I had a simple meal at this restaurant, I think it was spaghetti bolognese with salad, it was one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever had. 

    The salad in particular was so fresh and tasty.

    I’m sure the salad came from the garden by the restaurant and that the salad vegetables had been picked that very day or the day before. 

    It was run by a very old couple and I’ll never forget how the old man moved so slowly as he went around serving people and collecting dishes. 

    And we had to wait quite a while. 

    It was definitely worth the wait but I do remember wishing that he would speed up a bit while at the same time appreciating that he couldn’t. 

    But I have no doubt that this old couple had lived to such a ripe old age by eating all these fresh vegetables from their own garden.

    I just wish that I’d remembered the name of the place as I would have told everybody. 

    And yet, the irony is that they probably don’t want more people coming – not unless they have a young person working for them who can take on the extra work.

  • 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.

  • Watercolor paintings of people drinking coffee at Starbucks

    Watercolor paintings of people drinking coffee at Starbucks

    In the past, I often went to the Starbucks cafe in the painting above. 

    I loved that place.

    I remember once as a Christmas present my wife gave me a Starbucks gift voucher.

    And I remember how delighted I was with that voucher.

    I always drank a cappuccino and I still do. 

    But I not only enjoyed the cappuccinos.

    I also enjoyed looking at the cafe decor.

    And I enjoyed looking at the figures.

    It was visually exciting.

    And I used to draw what I saw.

    And sometimes I would even do a quick on the spot painting.

    It was during this period that I did the painting above of two girls at Starbucks drinking coffee. 

    It surprises me today, to see what a brave watercolor artist I used to be that I would actually paint on the spot in Starbucks. 

    I’m not sure if I’d have the bravery to do that today.

    And here is one more on the spot painting that I did at Starbucks.

    Watercolor painting of figures in Starbucks coffee shop
    “Coffee time”

    I think these paintings are beautiful examples of line and wash art. 

    They are simple and light but cheerful works.

    I hope at some point I’ll do a few more paintings in this style.

    This coffee shop, which was in a department store called Forus, has now gone but the happy memories have not.

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a wooden chair in a Japanese apartment

    Watercolor painting of a wooden chair in a Japanese apartment

    This painting is very old and very valuable to me.

    I lived in this apartment with my wife and her two children.

    I first came to Japan in 1999 and about one year later I was living in this apartment.

    I lived here for about 6 or 7 years.

    At some point during that time I painted this picture.

    It’s painted on wood pulp paper.

    With this paper, the paint seems to stay on the surface rather than sink into it as it does with cotton rag.

    Because of this you get an interesting textural effect which sometimes I like and sometimes I hate.

    In this painting I like it.

    But it’s not a great painting.

    The lines of the sliding door are poorly done.

    That said, I love the composition, the colors and the reflection in the floor.

    And this picture has enormous sentimental value for me.

    I have many happy memories of this place.

    I’ll also never forget moving from this place.

    It was a nightmare.

    My wife and her girls had so much stuff. 

    Trash might be a more accurate word.

    I was frantically trying to stuff all of this “stuff” into boxes while the removal men were sprinting down the hallway, picking boxes up and scooting off with them.

    I had to finish packing everything before they got all the boxes.

    It was like being in a crazy computer game.

    Although you might be impressed by how efficient these removal men were, I was experiencing a strong feeling of pressure from them.

    Time was money and they weren’t going to waste their time.

    And they were a bit too quick.

    In their haste several things were broken.

    Anyway, I’m writing this in February of 2021 and we still have the chair in the painting.

    Although maybe not for long.

    This chair along with 3 more and the kitchen table are a set.

    But my wife wants a new table and chairs.

    Well there is a permanent and deep mark in the table which I made from painting on it constantly for several years.

    I used to call myself the kitchen table artist at that time.

    But it is proof that you don’t need such things as a studio in order to paint and I did some great work on that table.

    And I had my paints permanently set up on that table at one time.

    Anyway, I will be sad to see these chairs go.

    But I guess everything goes at some point.

    And just because something passes away, just because all that is solid passes into air, it doesn’t mean it is worthless.

    It just means it is vital to enjoy every day of having the things (and people) we do.

    Luckily, a painting can last a very long time.

    And I’m happy that even after all these years I have this painting and the memories it brings with it.

    So that is all for now,

    Adieu mon ami,

    Gareth.