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Tag: beach
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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.
“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.
“Beach stroll” “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.
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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 2 Watercolor sketch of Itogahama beach 3 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.
“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.
“Fisherman strolling across a silvery wet beach” And then I did another and another. This must be called striking a creative vein!
“Fishermen meeting on a 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.
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Watercolor painting of the beach at Miyajima
Miyajima is one of my favorite places in Japan.
And I have been there several times.
It is an island with a shrine built on the beach.
It is called Itsukushima shrine.
The buildings of the shrine are on stilts.
And when the tide comes in the sea comes right up to the buildings.
It’s very beautiful.
This painting shows the beach at low tide.
At low tide it also looks very beautiful because of the puddles on the surface of the beach.
These puddles slowly get bigger as the tide comes in.
And one of the things I like about this painting are the puddles.
They make the painting much more interesting.
I also like the slightly hazy mountain in the background.
I achieved that effect through repeated washes.
This is one of my old paintings.
I don’t think it is a great painting.
But I think it conveys a little of the beauty and the magical atmosphere of this place.
It is also my first painting of Miyajima.
So this painting has sentimental value for me.
And it is interesting to compare this old painting with my later paintings of Miyajima.
I think this painting was done after my second trip to Miyajima.
But it could have been painted after my first trip.
I wish that I had dated my old paintings!
That’s all,
Gareth.
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Watercolor painting of a beautiful and peaceful beach scene
This is Itogahama beach.
It is in Hiji town, Oita prefecture.
This painting of the beach was done in about 2011.
And I think I painted this picture on location.
Although I don’t think it is a great painting I still quite like it.
This is because it has a pleasing soft and misty feeling.
Also as I look at this painting I feel a calmness.
I have since done many more paintings of this beach.
And it is interesting to compare those paintings with this one and to see the change in my work.
There are many things about this scene that make it a good painting subject, such as the distant mountains, the rocky outcrops and the dramatic steep cliffs.
Those cliffs with the trees on top are fun to paint.
There are many buzzards in those trees and often they come out and glide high up over the beach.
I remember clearly walking along this beach to that second outcrop of rocks.
I wanted to see what was past that outcrop.
I have a strong desire to look beyond a coastal outcrop, or another turn in the road, or a mountain to see what lies beyond.
I think that I’m partly driven by curiosity and partly by the hope of finding a beautiful scene to paint.
But it was quite dangerous in this case as that second outcrop is a very rocky terrain with almost no flat areas.
And the rocks were wet and very slippery.
Still I persevered through this uninviting terrain and at last I saw past this outcrop.
Ironically, despite all that effort I can’t remember very well what I saw.
I think I saw a wide inlet and in the middle of it a small fishing port.
I don’t think it was a remarkable scene otherwise I would probably have taken a photo of it and then done a painting from the photo.
But that never happened.
So my exploration efforts were in vain but that has often been the case.
However, this doesn’t stop me from continuing to explore.
That’s all,
Gareth.
