A few weeks ago, I suddenly found myself with some free time.
It was late afternoon and cold.
So I jumped on my bike with my watercolor gear and started roaming the streets looking for a scene to paint.
At this time of the day, I’m looking for long dramatic shadows cast by the tall apartment buildings.
Sadly, I had left it too late as the sun was so low in the sky that the whole ground was in shade.
And then I saw a building, just the one, glowing like a warm orange candle in the last light of the day.
It captured my interest but then the doubts crept in. I’d never painted anything like this before. I wondered if I could do a good painting. And then I wondered if it would be too uncomfortable as I would be painting in the shade and it was very cold.
The doubts won. I cycled on looking for a more open space area where it might be warmer and there might still be some dramatic shadows on the ground.
Yet after a short while of searching and finding nothing and feeling time slipping away very quickly I returned to the original spot that had caught my interest.
I had perhaps 15 minutes to paint it before that final glow of the sun was gone.
Quickly, I started painting. It was intense. I finished the painting in the dark. And to my surprise I loved the result.
Gareth.
Postscript
I originally wrote this story in April of 2015, I am editing it in June of 2022.
The original title of this story was “Seizing the last light of the day” but I changed this to “Painting the last glow of the day”.
I am still happy with this painting because it was a totally new thing I did but I would like to paint it again at some point and do a better job of it.
Although, that said, I do think this painting captures very well the atmosphere of that moment and that can be something very difficult to reproduce so this thought makes me hesitant to paint it again.
When I arrived, though, I discovered that most of the tulips had gone. That said, I quite liked the scattering of tulips I saw rather than the almost overpowering bright lines of tulips that look so unnatural.
And all was not lost as there were other interesting things to paint in this place. So I left the tulip fields and went to the river where there is a suspended footbridge.
“A View from Above”
The bridge is very elegant. In Japan, most bridges are not. They look like they are built for tanks to cross. They are probably made so sturdily because of earthquakes.
What was really exciting about this bridge in my painting was how the walkway, which looked like a white line across a dark background, acted as a directional line leading the viewer’s eye to the focal point which in this case was the people at the far end of the bridge.
And what a background. A dramatic gorge with beautiful spring foliage and rocks.
In this painting, the figures are a little too big and in a future attempt I will make them a little smaller or the bridge a little bigger depending on which works best.
Next, I went down the gorge to see the waterfall. I’ve done a few paintings from this spot in the past and I couldn’t resist doing another painting from this spot on this occasion. It is such a beautiful scene.
“Waterfall Mist”
I read that the waterfall is about 20 meters high and forms a perfect crescent shape.
Despite being a beautiful scene I spent quite a long time hopping over countless stones in order to find a good composition.
But I don’t mind because the composition is critical and the first thing to think about before doing a painting. I believe that even a beautiful scene will not necessarily become a beautiful painting if the composition is not good.
One of the magical things about this scene is the mist that wafts across the bottom of the waterfall. It was also nice when the mist wafted over me because it was a very hot day. Although at first I thought, in a sudden panic, that it was raining.
It was a very sunny day with a warm breeze. Ideal conditions for drying clothes and watercolor paintings. In fact, my paint was drying out so quickly that I had to keep spraying it with water.
I folded the cover of my watercolor pad above the paper so it acted as a little “parasol” over the paper blocking out the sunshine over half the paper.
Despite the “parasol” the paint still dried really quickly. Truth be told I am a little disappointed with the waterfall part of the painting but I will have another attempt at home.
I ate my lunch while my first wash was drying out completely. Then I did my second wash.
However, I started to feel bad. Especially my head. It felt like a baked potato. I had been out in the sunshine too long.
And it was a great relief to finish the painting and go to a restroom where it was shaded and cool.
Next to the restroom, there was a shop. And I wandered around this shop just to enjoy the cool shade.
But I had spent too long in the sunshine and even in the cool shade of the store I felt dizzy.
After recovering sufficiently, I painted the final picture. This scene is of the river just before the waterfall. When I painted this picture the waterfall was behind me.
“Japanese Torii in a Misty River”
Sadly there is a road across the very top of the waterfall. And there is also an artificial channel in the river. I find that the Japanese have a tendency to do an excessive amount of construction. I wish they could have left the waterfall and the river in its natural state.
Perhaps there is a good reason for such construction.
And despite such construction the river is still beautiful.
I think one of the reasons this river is so beautiful is because of the little grassy islands in it.
Another reason is the gate, or torii as they say in Japanese, which is in the middle of the river.
The whole scene was really inspiring especially as the river was set against a very dramatic sky that imparted a wonderful mood. I literally live for this.
A group of Japanese people even came by and showered me with smiles and compliments before they continued on with their sightseeing. I don’t know about you, but I very much enjoy compliments.
I’m not happy with the painting I did of the Japanese Torii on that day. So the painting that I’m showing here is another version I did. I’m not sure if I did it in the same year but it is inspired by the same scene.
After finishing the painting, I returned to the shop and bought some Japanese sweets called manju for my family. These are basically buns with a very heavy doughy texture and an adzuki bean paste filling. They are very tasty.
I bought these as a kind of peace offering to my wife as she had looked after our toddler all day while I had been out painting.
It was wonderful to return home and to hear my toddler’s excited feet coming to the door. Young children don’t walk, they skip.
She’s only one year and eight months old but she gave me a bow as I entered the house – adorable. Her sparkling eyes, wide smile and rich chuckle of a laugh touched my heart.
By the way, torii means bird abode, perhaps this is because birds perch on it, but that’s just my guess.
Postscript
I originally wrote this story in April of 2014. I’m editing it in April of 2021.
At some point, I threw away the painting of the bridge. I probably wasn’t very happy with it. What I am using here is an image of the painting that I had on my computer. Sadly it was a small image and I had to blow up the image a little and then sharpen it using a photo editing app. I think the final result is pretty okay but it is obviously not ideal.
Since this story was written, I’ve visited Ogata several times and I now have a small series of paintings of this place. However, I never did another painting of the bridge with smaller figures. Maybe one day.
He will soon have an exhibition in a small Japanese town called Yufuin.
And he asked if I would show two of my paintings in his exhibition.
I eagerly said yes. It would be a great way to promote my work.
And I thought it would be a good idea to visit this town and do some paintings of this place for the exhibition.
So Yufuin is a very popular tourist town in Japan.
And the main feature of this area is the twin peaked mountain next to the town.
It used to be a beautiful, even idyllic, place. But then the tourist industry came and started building.
But it still has a few nice features left such as the building in the painting above.
I drove to Yufuin.
It took about one hour.
It was a very pleasant drive through some beautiful Japanese countryside.
However, driving through Yufuin town wasn’t so pleasant.
In fact, it was very stressful.
I took a wrong turn and had to navigate through a maze of very narrow streets that were crowded with tourists.
I drove very slowly down the narrow streets. But still the car was almost brushing up against people. And these people were giving me very pissed off looks.
I know how they feel because I’ve had the same experience.
First painting
It was hard to drive slowly though because I was desperate for the toilet.
And my first painting was done about ten meters from a toilet.
This is the painting above.
I’ve painted this building before but I couldn’t resist painting it again.
And I’m sure this won’t be the last time I do a painting of this building.
I love the design of traditional Japanese buildings.
And thatched roofs are a particularly beautiful feature.
After painting this building, I soon found another subject to paint.
I’ve learnt not to waste time looking for painting subjects but to quickly find something, even if it isn’t ideal.
After I’ve done one or two paintings then I can relax, look around more and explore.
Second painting
So my second painting was done only about a hundred meters from the first one.
It was a painting of a lake called Kinrinko. The name means “golden fish scales”.
And it’s a beautiful scene in spite of some modern changes such as a big white concrete restaurant on the very edge of the lake.
I had to walk around a little to avoid such eye sores and also to find a spot where there were few people and thus no fear of being accidentally pushed into the lake by over-enthusiastic tourists, And despite it being a weekday, there were many tourists.
A near entanglement
Having found just such a spot I set up and was about to make my first pencil mark when a fisherman, or should I say an angler, appeared out of the blue and stepped in front of me.
He threw his line behind him, in other words right at me, and started to fish. After a few minutes he would move over to the left of me and then return.
Perhaps I should have moved but I thought I was here first and so I just continued to paint.
If I had moved It would have taken away the anxiety about having an eyeball plucked out by a fishing hook.
An artist with an eye-patch certainly would be memorable. In fact, there’s just such an artist and he has been incredibly successful. However, I’d still prefer to have both eyes.
Luckily, I finished the painting with both eyeballs intact.
The angler unfortunately had a mishap.
He cast his line when he was to the side of me and I heard a sharp crack.
I don’t know if he snapped a branch or his fishing rod but I realised, somewhat later, why he was casting his line in front of me.
He wasn’t a territorial angler, antagonistic person or sociopath, he was trying to cast his line without getting it caught on any trees.
I just happened to be in the place with the fewest trees.
However, I just kept looking at my painting and the scene in front of me just in case he had broken his fishing rod and wanted to let out some of his frustration on me.
However, nothing happened except a few tourists coming and standing in front of me to take photos. They didn’t even ask. But then again it’s not my land.
I did though really enjoy painting this scene in spite of these distractions.
Sadly, I was very disappointed with my painting so I’m not going to show it here.
Gallery
With two paintings under my belt I felt that I could now relax a little and do some exploring.
Also, I wanted to visit a gallery that my friend had recommended.
There was the possibility that I could show my work in this gallery.
So, I returned to the car and got my portfolio and went looking.
After a 10 to 15 minute walk I found it and it was closed.
This was surprising because it was Monday and the gallery leaflet said it was closed on Wednesdays.
Walkabout
I left this place in a very despondent mood.
And I then went on a long walkabout that lasted over two hours.
During my walkabout I was constantly looking for something to paint but I couldn’t find a beautiful scene.
The new houses are bland boxes with none of the beauty of traditional architecture. Many of the fields have been replaced with greenhouses, which are not particularly beautiful. And there was a huge and brand new car park without even one car in it and that too – as you can imagine – was not beautiful.
At least, they don’t have fields full of solar panels. But I expect that is coming.
Recently, they wanted to cover an outstandingly beautiful green mountain side in Oita prefecture with solar panels. That is to say, cover it all with concrete and then put as many black solar panels on it as possible.
It was only protests by the ordinary people that stopped this.
During my walkabout I got lost in my despondency about the ugliness of the modern world. And I also got literally lost. The latter I quite enjoyed.
Time though was passing. The sun was beginning its slow downward journey that became moment by moment more and more beautiful. I didn’t know it yet, but the day would end in a spectacular sunset.
Third painting
Luckily, after having walked across a few rice fields, jumped over a concrete ditch and wandered down a long lane that came to a dead end I found the river.
I knew the river would take me back to where I had started and so I followed it. And it was along this river that I did my final painting of the day.
It wasn’t a perfect scene. I took the liberty, for instance, of removing a big hotel that was by the side of the river. I hope you don’t mind!
This river was quite dazzling in the evening light and I was entranced by the beauty of that shimmering light.
I walked up and down this river quite a few times before I found the right spot.
In painting, composition is the most essential thing and that means finding the best viewpoint.
It was a delight to paint this scene. There was a wonderful mellow evening mood and it felt very peaceful to paint in such conditions.
Here is the painting that I did on the spot.
“People walking by a grassy river bank”
Although I am happy with the result, it needs improving and I will paint it again at home.
In the second version, I will lower the height of the near riverbank. And I will attempt to make the water appear more dazzling.
I will also add some ducks.
This is because there was a flock of ducks in the water and they looked beautiful.
It was also so cheering to my heart to hear these lovely creatures quacking merrily.
Of course, it may be just my imagination that they were quacking merrily.
They could have been asking who this weirdo is in the floppy hat and the huge sunglasses.
Certainly some passersby had slightly stunned expressions on their faces when they saw me.
At some point while I was painting, I realized that it was beginning to get dark.
And I suddenly had the panicky thought that they might soon close the car park.
If they did, then I would be stuck here.
So I finished the painting off in a hurry.
Then I rushed back to the carpark.
Luckily, despite the late hour, it was still open.
A spectacular sunset
In a relieved mood, I got in the car and started to drive away.
I also had a deep feeling of satisfaction as I had done some good paintings.
Yufuin is in a valley. And so, as I drove out of Yufuin, I was driving up a hill.
And it was while I was slowly driving up this hill, in a very blissful state, that I saw the beautiful evening sunlight streaming through the trees.
It was magical.
And I felt compelled to stop and take a few photos.
If I was more of a free man and less of a family man I would have stayed and painted a picture.
At home, I finally painted this wonderful scene.
It was quite a challenge and I had to experiment a lot before getting a pleasing result.
“Evening sunlight shining through the trees”
Soon, I will be going back to Yufuin to paint some more pictures for the exhibition.
Perhaps I shouldn’t as I will only show two paintings at the exhibition in this town and I already have enough paintings.
However, I have this bad habit of overdoing things.
That’s all for now,
Gareth.
Postscript
This story was originally written in March of 2014. I’m editing it in March of 2021. So 7 years later. How time flies.
There are some things I’d like to add here.
Firstly, I wasn’t proud of my second painting, which is of lake Kinrinko so I threw it away. And even though I still have an image of the painting, I didn’t want to show it.
And I did some new versions of the river painting, as I said I would. However, none of them were an improvement on the original one that I did on the spot!
And this is why I believe outdoor painting is a must.
The wonderful atmosphere you can sometimes get when painting outdoors will add a special magic to your work that you just can’t achieve at home.
I also did manage to get inside the gallery and meet the owner. We became good friends. And I now exhibit my work at her gallery. The gallery is called Dorudonyu Museum. Here is a link to the gallery.
And here are some paintings I did of the train station in Yufuin. It was designed by a famous Japanese architect. I think his name is Arata Isozaki.
“Small picturesque Japanese train station”“Small Japanese train station”
