Painting of a utility pole in the Japanese countryside

This is an old painting. 

I painted it on the spot around 2010. 

This countryside path is in a region called Wasada. 

It is on the outskirts of Oita city. 

I found this place by chance during one of my bicycle painting adventures. 

At that time, I would cycle all over the local countryside looking for beautiful places to paint.

If I couldn’t find beautiful places to paint then I would look for interesting places or subjects.

And I vividly remember coming across the scene in the painting above and thinking that the utility looked very interesting.

I know utility poles are not very beautiful.

But when you start looking at things like utility poles as shapes then you see possibilities.

And in this painting the arrangement of shapes, including the utility pole, are very good.

The arrangement of shapes means the composition.

There are weaknesses in this painting.

The second utility pole in the distance is too thin and fragile looking.

Another weakness is the  foliage.

The foliage looks too messy and overcomplicated. 

It needs to be simplified.

Also the pattern of the shadowy areas in the foliage needs to be improved.

This painting was done on wood pulp paper.

It is very difficult to get soft gradations of dark areas on this type of paper.

That is why the shadowy areas of the foliage look stuck on.

Despite these weaknesses, I consider this painting a success.

I think the main reason is the strong composition.

And also, the big utility pole, which makes this an interesting painting.

Finally, I like this painting because it has sentimental value for me.

It reminds me of the excitement of my bicycle painting adventures.

That’s all,

Gareth.