Gareth Naylor

Atmospheric paintings of Japan

Category: Paintings of sea scenes

  • Magical painting of Japanese islands in the moonlight

    Magical painting of Japanese islands in the moonlight

    I don’t know how it was for you when you were twenty but for me it was a very hard time.

    I lived alone. 

    There was no girlfriend, no friends, no drinking or nightclubbing.

    I could have been living the life of a monk except there was no God in my life either.

    I had a part-time dead-end job in a supermarket and was ‘studying’ at college.

    In reality, I was really like a piece of driftwood just floating around without any meaning or purpose.

    I lived in a silent room with no TV, radio or computer.

    My only company, was the thoughts in my head.

    I’ve never found those thoughts to be reassuring, quite the opposite. 

    Years later, I learnt to pay them no attention and that has served me well.

    You may think life could not be worse. 

    But it could. 

    For there was always the weekly walk to the laundrette.

    Abandon all hope ye that enter was how I felt about entering this place. 

    It was the “mundane” in full force and it seemed to suck all possible magic out of life – not that my life had much magic in it at this time either.

    It was probably for this reason that I would take a fantasy novel with me. 

    The book acted as a magical talisman protecting me against the mundanity of the laundrette.

    And my favorite writer was Jack Vance. 

    There was a kind of magic about his writing, a wonderful exoticness of far away places on other planets, that totally removed me from the laundrette.

    And I think the exoticness of far away places attracted me to Japan. 

    I had dreams of living in a traditional wooden Japanese house in the middle of a rice field.

    In reality I ended up living in a 3 storey concrete apartment. 

    And I found out that modern Japan was actually pretty ugly. 

    Tidy but ugly.

    It was only through trips into the countryside that I started to see the beautiful Japan that I had dreamed about.

    And one day I found the exotic and magical Japan that I’d hoped for. 

    It was a place that seemed to be quintessential Japan.

    It’s called Sasebo and it is in Nagasaki prefecture.

    When I first arrived at this place I almost drove the car off a bridge as I got mesmerized by the view of a huge American naval fleet. 

    It was the first time I’d ever seen such a sight.

    But even more mesmerizing was the boat trip I took later around some of  the 200 islands.

    The shape of some of these islands is strange and beautiful.

    And for me the scene in the painting above with those strangely shaped islands is the kind of thing that the romantic in me was looking for.

    There is something magical here and I keep returning to the photographs I took of these islands and painting another picture.

    In the painting above I wanted to emphasize that magicalness by attempting a moonlit scene.

    I think I succeeded somewhat.

    And that will do for now,

    Gareth.

    Postscript

    I tried to translate the title of this painting “Exotic Islands in the Moonlight” into Japanese and found that the word exotic in Japanese is batakusai (バタ臭い) which literally means smelly butter.

    And I further learnt that this phrase is what Japanese people used to call Westerners.

  • Painting of a beautiful Japanese beach at evening time

    Painting of a beautiful Japanese beach at evening time

    Recently we went on a family trip to Matama. 

    This is a coastal area famous for its sandbanks that look so beautiful when the sun sets. 

    And, luckily, we had arrived on a very sunny day.

    The tide was slowly coming in and creating a dramatic pattern of meandering streams through the sand.

    A lot of people were on the beach digging. 

    Out of curiosity I asked what they were looking for and was told mategai. 

    I later found out that this is a long, white tubular thing that doesn’t look appetising at all. 

    In English it is called “Gould’s Razor Shell”, which doesn’t make it much clearer for me.

    You catch a mategai by digging a small hole and then sprinkling salt in it. 

    The mategai then rises and you pluck it out and put it in a bucket of water. 

    Or at least I guess so because I didn’t watch that closely.

    During my “research” on the net, I found one foreigner who described mategai as a fairly edible bivalve mollusc. 

    Mmm, “fairly edible”, could you imagine that description on a restaurant menu. 

    It would be like ordering a “fairly edible soup”.

    But the people on the beach looked pretty excited.

    And in case you didn’t know, the Japanese eat some strange things.

    To give a few succulent examples: fresh and warm turtle blood with red wine – they have that at a place called Ajimu in my own prefecture; raw horse meat – they have that in the prefecture next to mine, Kumamoto, which is famous for this speciality – and then in Tokyo I think they eat locusts – or try to, it seems they sometimes run out because of the high demand.

    Such strange things are what make Japan such a wonderful place. 

    It reminds me of my favorite novelist Jack Vance and his wonderfully exotic and fantastic worlds. 

    I wonder if he was inspired by Japan. 

    I’m over using the word wonder but it’s the right word to use.

    Anyway, to return from wondering to wandering.

    I did a lot of wandering across the beach to find pleasing images to paint and I have now done quite a few paintings from this one trip. 

    It has become a “series” which almost sounds like the word “serious” and that’s what a series really is, when you get very serious about a subject and paint a lot of pictures of it.

    The painting above is one of my favorites. 

    As you can see, I didn’t hold back with the colors.

    And my sunglasses might have influenced the painting somewhat. 

    They are tinted and they give everything a warm glow. 

    I actually like this effect and don’t mind it getting passed into the final image.

    There was a small restaurant by the beach and after the sun set we ordered toriten which is basically fried chicken. 

    I don’t think they offered mategai but I didn’t bother to ask either. 

    In many ways, I’m not so adventurous.

    We ate our fried chicken whilst enjoying the view of the sun setting over the sea. 

    It was a moment of calm, content beauty.

    I hope you all have such moments.

    And that’s all for now, 

    Mata ne,

    Gareth.

    Postscript

    I originally wrote this story in May of 2016, 

    I’m editing it in August of 2021.

    And I also re edited it in March of 2024.

  • The Kitchen Table Artist

    The Kitchen Table Artist

    A few years ago I met a young man who had decided to live out his dream and become an artist.

    I was quite surprised by his decision because he seemed such a sensible and pragmatic person. 

    I never took him to be the kind of romantic fool that chooses to become an artist – such as myself.

    The first thing he did was rent an apartment room as a studio.

    He thought this was essential. 

    He even grew a wispy beard that made him look somewhat Amish. 

    I must admit, that I was a little shocked by the change as before he’d been a smooth-faced, suit and tie man doing an office job at the local city hall.

    At this point in time, I’d been painting seriously for quite a few years and all without a studio. 

    I’d never even contemplated getting a studio.

    I was also quite poor.

    If I had any money it went on art materials.

    I think this wannabe artist wanted the studio because it was free of distractions. 

    In my opinion, this was already a bad sign.

    And I was right.

    I don’t know what exactly happened, either he didn’t go to the studio, or when he got there he wanted to return to the distractions, but either way it was eventually an expense he couldn’t afford and the studio went and so did the dream of being an artist.

    For some reason, which I still cannot fathom, he had this notion that a real artist needs a studio.

    I suppose as an artist who paints outdoors a lot I know that painting isn’t limited to a studio.

    In fact, for a long time some of my best work was produced outdoors. 

    Perhaps this is because there is a ‘charged’ feeling when you paint outdoors and this energy seems to mysteriously pass into the work.

    But even when you paint indoors, you don’t need a special studio space in order to create beautiful paintings.

    The painting above, for instance, was painted at my kitchen table. 

    And I have a wife and children.

    So this is not some solitary space in which I can be the Artist.

    Yet, despite being painted in such a “humble” setting, I think the painting above is a beautiful piece of artwork.

    And just in case you are wondering.

    This painting is of a place called Sasebo in Nagasaki prefecture. 

    It’s famous for having over 200 islands. 

    For me, it’s a source of deep inspiration.

    Anyway, I wanted to show that beautiful art can be created anywhere if there is the desire or will to do so.

    Of course, if I ever got the chance I’d like a studio too.

    Or at least I think I would. 

    What I really want is for my brush and paper to be about 5 steps from my bed. 

    And that’s what I have now.

    What do you think, is a studio essential for an artist? 

    Did it make a big difference in the quality of your work or in any other way?

    Postscript

    I originally wrote this story in April of 2015. 

    I no longer paint at the kitchen table – much to my wife’s relief. 

    There was a period when I literally colonized the kitchen table and permanently had my art materials on it. 

    The family ate their meals on another table in another room. 

    Sadly, I didn’t put any cover on the table and one area of the table became rotten. 

    It was so bad that vivid green mold began to grow there. 

    I must admit that I was a bit alarmed when I saw that.

    And perhaps it was for this reason, although I’m not sure now, that I migrated to a room upstairs which then became my bedroom and my “studio”.

    That was a much better arrangement for everyone. 

    My brush and paper were about 5 steps from my bed!

    Now I live in another house. 

    But I still have the same arrangement.

    In fact, some might consider it better.

    As my brush and paper are now only about 3 steps from my bed. 

    That’s all for now,

    Gareth.

  • Retreats towards success in painting a difficult subject

    Retreats towards success in painting a difficult subject

    Last year, 2014, I went to Sasebo, which is in Nagasaki, Japan. It is a wonderful place with many many islands. It’s called 99 islands though there are actually over 200.

    I was with the family and thus had no chance to paint on site as I like to do so I had to do my paintings from the photographs I took of this place.

    However, I soon encountered difficulties in trying to paint this scene well.

    And I became thoroughly disappointed with my results.

    I felt like I was trying to paint a scene that was beyond my ability to paint well.

    Finally, I became so disappointed by my repeated poor results that I had to retreat from this particular subject and forget about it. I did this by focusing on other painting subjects.

    After a week or so I returned and had another attempt. Again I got disappointing results and this led to another retreat.

    The third time I met with success. And I consider the painting above one of my successes.

    However, I still feel that even this successful result can be improved upon. And I’m now enjoying doing further paintings of the same scene with some variations.

    Gareth.

    Postscript

    I originally wrote this story in February of 2015.

  • Watercolor painting of a rough sea scene

    Watercolor painting of a rough sea scene

    This week I went to the sea. It’s only a ten minute bicycle ride from my house.

    I didn’t know how it would go though as it was one of those hit or miss days when the sky is very cloudy and dramatic which would be wonderful to paint and yet there is a big chance that at any moment it will rain and I’d have to quit painting and go home. 

    Luckily it didn’t rain.

    But it was very windy and I almost lost a paint brush as my brushes started rolling off the sea wall. 

    But what an amazing experience to watch big waves crashing against the sea wall and feel the refreshing touch of sea spray on my face. 

    I did three paintings but the one I’m showing here is my favorite. 

    It’s almost a monotone painting with just a touch of light blue in the sky. And as I look at how powerful this small touch of color is in a monotone painting it makes me think that I should perhaps do more monotone paintings with a touch of one color in them. Never ignore your creative voice.

    With the mountain I added some water to the top of it to soften that sharp edge and I think it gives it a more atmospheric and powerful feeling.

    I also think some chance things went well in this painting and they might be hard for me to replicate such as the way I softened the mountain edge and the pattern of sparkles on the sea.

    What I’m trying to say is that this painting is a one off.

    Admittedly, it’s a bit of a rough painting but at the same time it captures so well the energy of the moment. 

    While I was painting this scene, I saw incredible light effects happening as the sun moved between the clouds. At times there was a thin horizontal strip of light across the sea which changed from a brilliant bright white to a murky orange green and then the sun would burst out even more and so powerfully that I had a vertical line of sparkling light coming towards me across the surface of the sea that made everything else dark. I didn’t try to capture such moments because they were so fleeting and so overwhelmingly powerful.

    I should perhaps have added a ship as a focal point but I think the painting works well enough just as it is.

    That’s all for now, Gareth.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in August of 2014. I am editing it in 2022. 

    As I was looking at this painting and what I wrote, it made me think that I have to get out and paint more. Over the course of the last few years I’ve lost that get up and get out artistic drive I had. 

    Instead, I’ve retreated to the studio. And although I’ve done some great things in the studio, there is a special energy that you can sometimes capture in your artwork when you paint outdoors and I think this painting is one where I caught that special energy.

    This painting also confirms something that I’ve been thinking about recently which is that the divine lies not in the perfect but in the imperfect. This is not, as I wrote, a perfect painting, it is in many ways very rough, but it caught something special and is probably a one off that I’ll never be able to replicate exactly. And I don’t say this to sell the work because it has already been sold.

    It was one of those rare creations that sold pretty quickly. If only they were all like that.

  • A wonderful day at the beach

    A wonderful day at the beach

    I was running like a maniac at the sea and falling into the high waves and it was wonderful. I did it again and again.

    Then I ran into the sea and dived into the waves. 

    And then I floated in the sea. I discovered that I float very well. And the feeling of the waves lifting me up was wonderful. I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the sensation.

    It was therapeutic, more importantly it was a chance to be silly and play. 

    I couldn’t remember when I last did this. Has it been so long?

    This was at Sumiyoshihama beach and the second part of my story about a family trip to Kitsuki. The first part of my story was about painting Kitsuki estuary and encountering a water rat.

    While at the beach, I managed to do a painting. In fact, I normally always manage to do a painting.

    But at first it wasn’t easy to find a scene to paint. I walked about 2 kilometers in hot weather with all my gear looking for a scene to paint. I ended up returning to my original starting point and finding a scene there. 

    There were some young men on the beach. They were bare-chested. And I liked the contrast between their pale bodies and the dark green background of the trees. Also the skin color and beach color were almost the same which made for a wonderful composition. Furthermore, they made a great focal point.

    The family also had a really good time. They went shopping while I was walking around looking for a scene to paint.

    Women just love to shop and they always seem to find a chance to do so. 

    But I have to add that my daughter looked so cute in her new bikini. In fact, they all looked rather nice in their new bathing costumes.

    I’m quite happy with the painting above that I did of the beach. I think the beach, with the lovely gradation and texture, is the best part of the painting. 

    And the figures are pretty good too. Sometimes my figures look too similar. Whereas here there is some variety with some figures being a little stocky and some being a little thin. 

    Sadly, the trees are merely passable and perhaps the best I could do on such a hot day when the paint dries quickly in the sunlight.

    Below are three more paintings I did of this beach. There are some beautiful beaches around this area.

    Watercolor painting of figures on a beautiful sandy beach
    “Figures on a beautiful sandy beach”

    In the painting above, I love the contrast between the white house and the dark green trees behind. I also liked this viewpoint of looking from the sea towards the beach.

    Watercolor painting of figures on a beautiful sandy beach
    “Beach stroll”
    Watercolor painting of a beautiful sandy beach
    “Taking a dip”

    In these paintings, it was really fun to paint the figures and have them doing all kinds of different things.

    You can read the first part of this trip here.

    That’s all for now, Gareth.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in July of 2014. I am editing it in 2022. This story needed very little editing.

  • Painting a hauntingly soft and beautiful seascape

    Painting a hauntingly soft and beautiful seascape

    Today it was very hot and humid. 

    When I think of Japan this is how I normally imagine the weather to be but there are actually 4 seasons.

    Anyway, it was evening time and the sun was shining in a silvery grey sky. It was quite strange but beautiful and I regretted not having a camera with me.

    I was determined, though, to paint that sky. So I rushed home, took a quick swig of juice, sorted out my art gear, and then I was off to the sea by bicycle in order to paint that sky.

    Yet when I came out of the house that particular magic moment had gone and I was just looking at a dullish sky now as the sun had sunk behind the clouds.

    But I was rolling so I decided to keep going and besides, I reflected, these sunsets can change if you hang around long enough.

    In fact, quite amazing things can happen with an evening sky if you are patient.

    So I got to my painting spot and I did the painting above. Although the sky was not quite so spectacular now I added some of that earlier magic that I had seen and produced a painting that I was very happy with.

    Ironically, after I finished it the sky suddenly started becoming redder and redder until it lit up like an enormous flame.

    It was glorious. 

    I took photo after photo intending to use them later in the studio.

    I was so moved by this scene that I decided to do one more painting. 

    This was perhaps a bad idea as I had one very unhappy wife when I returned home. Well, there is the matter of my 2 year old daughter to consider!

    I finished this second painting in the dark with a soft white moon above me. It was magical.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in July of 2014. I am editing it in 2022. 

    I can’t quite recall this event now and I’m not sure if the painting shown here is the one that I first painted.

    However, the reference to a beautiful silvery sky is what the painting here shows and I’m fairly sure that I painted it in 2014.

    Moreover, it is such an amazing painting that I couldn’t help adding it.

    I’m amazed that nobody ever bought this painting. I think it’s one of my best pieces.

    Sadly, I couldn’t find the second painting of that glorious red evening sunset.

  • Creating a beautiful hazy effect in your watercolor paintings by using a tissue

    Creating a beautiful hazy effect in your watercolor paintings by using a tissue

    I am quite willing to try new things if it will improve my work and my latest thing is using tissue paper.

    I have used tissue paper before. However, I soon stopped because I didn’t like the smudgy results I got. 

    But recently I used a tissue again when I painted the picture above. It was just an experiment. I used a tissue on the cliff face and it created this beautiful hazy effect. And just in case you are wondering, this place is called Itogahama beach.

    Please ignore that green tree in the bottom right hand corner of the painting. This experiment was done on top of a previous painting which had failed and which I was reusing.

    Watercolor painting of a misty sea cliff
    “Misty sea cliff”

    And this is another attempt at using a tissue. As you can see it’s not as good as the previous painting.

    However, I will keep trying and hopefully find the knack because I love the effect I got in the first painting.

    That’s all,

    Gareth

    Postscript

    I originally wrote this story in June of 2014. I am editing it in 2022. 

    I still use a tissue in my artwork for various effects such as rim lighting on clouds. 

    However, I am still unable to get the amazing misty effect that I achieved in the first painting here. I’ll have to try again at some point and hopefully figure out the knack of getting a hazy effect.

  • Watercolor painting of a soft, understated sunset over the sea

    Watercolor painting of a soft, understated sunset over the sea

    A few days ago I cycled to the sea and painted the sunset.

    It was very cloudy and I didn’t know whether it would be a spectacularly colorful sunset or a dull one. It ended up being a combination of both. 

    There was some warm orange sunlight but it was soft and understated and accompanied by a lot of dull gray clouds. It was, though, very beautiful.

    I added the boat to give a focal point and to give a feeling of epic size. Yet in actuality, I saw no boats or ships on that particular day.

    After finishing this painting and on my return journey home, via my bicycle, it was a relief to discover that there are still strange river folk around.

    On this occasion, it was an old man with his wife. He was wearing a bright shiny white tracksuit with a fluorescent lime-green band positioned diagonally across his back.

    He was facing the river in a very dramatic manner and holding out in front of him a device that was playing enka music (traditional Japanese music) and singing along to it with complete abandon.

    He had a beautiful voice. But as I was passing he stopped then hawked very loudly and spat. This spoiled the romance of the moment for me.

    And, yet, the whole thing was simultaneously comical and entertaining.

    There is a great deal of public hawking and spitting in Japan. The hawking is so loud that you can hear them in their houses in the morning doing it.

    It’s not something you’d expect from a culture that is supposed to be quite reserved. I only saw some young people behave like that in England. They thought it was impressive, but it wasn’t the thing most people did in England. So now I’m curious about what it’s like in other countries.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in June of 2014. I am editing it in 2022.

  • Watercolor paintings of a wet beach with soft reflections

    Watercolor paintings of a wet beach with soft reflections

    For the last four or five days it has been raining but today the sun came out. It was like a blow torch on my back. And so I scuttled back into the house like a louse scuttling under a brick.

    It’s getting humid in Japan. I call this the soggy season because it rains a lot. But you could also call it the sticky season because everything becomes sticky. It is quite unbearable.

    However, I am having a great time being in the house because I have been messing around in my studio (also known as the kitchen table). I seem to be going through a creative period. 

    Perhaps it’s because I am painting over the top of failed paintings or scrap paper. And it has released all my inhibitions. I highly recommend it.

    Presently, I am interested in a drawing I have of a beach called Itogahama. I have no idea what the name means. 

    Maybe it means “dumping ground” because this beach is covered with rubbish. 

    This is sad because this is a very beautiful beach. It has some lovely features such as a dramatically steep cliff face topped with trees and beautiful outcrops of rocks going into the sea.

    Below are some of my experiments on scrap paper. If you look carefully you can see the pencil marks of previous drawings on most of them.

    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 1
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 1
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 2
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 2
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 3
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 3
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 4
    Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 4

    These experiments led to the painting below. The thing I like most about this painting is the surface of the beach.

    Watercolor painting of a fisherman strolling across a wet beach
    “Fisherman strolling across a wet beach”

    There are a lot of layers in this painting. There is a distant mountain range. Then, there is a distant outcrop. And then in the final layer, there is a nearby outcrop of rocks with trees. 

    Painting this final layer was the most difficult. The reason is that after painting this final layer then I wet the whole beach area and waited for the best moment to paint the beach shadows. 

    Choosing the right moment to apply the paint is very tricky.

    However, it is also fun.

    And while this was still slightly wet, I created lines of light through those soft shadows on the surface of the beach with a damp brush. This gives a beautiful sheen effect.

    After finishing the beach area, I did some dry brush marks for the sea using a very light grey-blue color mix. I was careful though to leave a white gap between these dry brush marks and the beach. This white patch is the sea foam.

    I became so infatuated with this scene that I did another painting of it.

    Watercolor painting of a fisherman strolling across a silvery wet beach
    “Fisherman strolling across a silvery wet beach”

    And then I did another and another. This must be called striking a creative vein!

    Watercolor painting of two fishermen meeting on a beach
    “Fishermen meeting on a beach”
    Watercolor painting of a fisherman strolling across a golden beach
    “Fisherman walking across a golden beach on a sunny day”

    Anecdote

    I couldn’t help adding this extra and totally unrelated story.

    I went to the library today with my toddler. She’s one year and nine months old and a handful. 

    Today, she was throwing books off the shelves, arranging them in a line on the floor and then walking over them. At least she didn’t rip a cover off today. 

    When I went to put the books back on the shelves, she would run off to another section and repeat the whole process. 

    She has this wicked little laugh, a rich chuckle, as she runs off to get up to more mischief. I love the way she sees it all as a game. 

    The librarians have a different attitude. And the security guard even came by at one point. However, he just smiled. Is that nice or what?

    Postscript

    I originally wrote this in June of 2014. I am editing it in 2021. I am very happy with these beach paintings.