Paintings of an old shed and barn in a small, rural Japanese town called Shonai

Around 2021, I began to organize all my artwork.

This is a momentous task as I have over 1000 paintings.

In the process, I found the painting above.

It is an old painting which was done around 2013.

And I still remember seeing the rather dilapidated but picturesque shed in the painting.

I was cycling along the main road through a small, Japanese town called Shonai that is deep in the countryside.

At some point, I turned off the main road and onto a very narrow side road.

And along this road I saw the shed.

I think that as soon as I saw this shed, I felt the urge to paint it.

And I’m happy with my painting of this building as I caught the slight lean of the structure as well as the irregularities of the structure. 

Also, I think the light blue roof looks very good.

And I think the rice field looks beautiful.

The viewpoint of this shed is very good. 

As the gutter by the side of the road, guides the viewer’s eye towards the shed which is the focal point of the painting.

However, I think the foliage is not so well painted or the other buildings.

And yet I’m happy I didn’t throw away this painting.

Because it is a precious reminder of where I’ve been, what I liked to paint and also what my artwork used to be like.

It is so easy to forget these things and not even realize you’ve forgotten.

And here is one more painting of Shonai.

I think it was that old Japanese barn on the left that captured my interest and made me stop and paint this scene.

It is such a beautiful structure.

And I think I’ve done a good job of painting that barn.

The fields are well done. 

I love the combination of yellows and browns and those soft brown dots in the foreground field.

I’m not sure how I did those dots but I’d definitely like to use that technique in future paintings.

Everything else, such as the other buildings, the foliage and the figures are just passable.

And sadly, the mountains are not very well painted. 

In reality they look amazing. 

I normally say that I’ll have another go at painting a picture that doesn’t quite work but for some reason with this particular picture I don’t feel the urge to have another go.

At least not yet!

I have painted this particular scene a few times since though because I found the view very beautiful.

It was near here that I did a painting of some Japanese haystacks in 2014 that I’m really happy with.

That’s all for now,

Gareth.