Gareth Naylor

Atmospheric paintings of Japan

Tag: Fukuoka

  • Watercolor painting of a wet beach with a sky reflection

    Watercolor painting of a wet beach with a sky reflection

    Watercolor painting of a beach with a beautiful sky reflection
    “Walking on the sky”

    What do plein air painters do when it rains? 

    No, it’s not a joke but it sounds like one. In my case, stay at home.

    However, some artists seem impervious to the weather. One such artist is David Bellamy.

    On a youtube video, I saw him paint at sea in a small boat while it was raining and his wash was just sluicing down the paper. And I saw him on top of a mountain in winter painting and there was ice in his washes! 

    You can see this for yourself. On youtube just type in David Bellamy Learn to Paint Watercolour Adventures. This video is absolutely hilarious but also inspirational.

    What makes them even more comical is that he carries on painting and speaking in a calm gentleman’s voice as if everything is fine while his painting is quickly destroyed by the elements. 

    After watching this I’m ashamed to confess that I get upset by a drop of rain on my paper.

    I really admire this artist and his seemingly unconquerable spirit. And I love that mild manner. If only I could be so relaxed about it all and not so reactive. I aspire to be like this.

    Anyway, last Monday I had planned to go to a place called Ogata and to paint the tulips there. This is my second attempt to go and for the second time I couldn’t. This time it was because of rain. 

    Being unable to paint outside is really frustrating for me. It is not simply that the outdoors inspires me more but that it is such a sheer pleasure to the senses and my whole being.

    Outdoors I can feel the epic size of the world around me. Indoors I have a studio about the size of a big wardrobe. It makes a difference. 

    Outdoors I paint real things. There is a feeling of intimacy and immediacy. Indoors I paint from another painting or a digital image.

    However, the one advantage of painting indoors is that you can really experiment. And one of the experiments I do in the studio is to paint over old paintings that are failures. 

    Because these paintings have no value, I don’t have to be careful and am free to try everything and anything.

    The painting above is one such example.

    Here I painted over another painting of a sea scene. In the original painting a big part of the picture was the sky. You can’t see the whole picture because I cut it off. But you can see the top of some cumulus clouds at the bottom of the paper. 

    I changed the background into a beach scene simply by adding a thin line of blue for the sea and, with a big dry brush, a band of green for some headland.

    Then I added a few figures and gave them soft reflections.

    I was delighted with the result.

    This idea of turning a sky scene into a beach scene came by accident though on a previous occasion.

    I was indoors and just doodling over old paintings. 

    Anyway, I was practicing painting figures over a failed painting and I was painting the figures over the sky part of the original painting. And I really liked how powerful the figures looked against this unintentional sky background. 

    And then I had the idea at some point that I could turn this into a beach scene with the sky being reflected in the beach.

    And today, I tried out that idea and am very happy with the result. 

    I think this is a very powerful image because the figures are like crosshairs on a rifle with the beach creating a strong horizontal line and the figures with their shadows creating a strong vertical line. 

    These crosshair-like figures attract the attention of the eye and thus act as a focus point.

    Then I had another go at painting this scene. But this time on a new pristine sheet of paper.

    Watercolor painting of a beach with a sky reflection
    “Soft beach reflection”

    I’m quite happy with the result. 

    I love the feeling of spaciousness in this painting, especially as this is something my paintings rarely have. That said, it might be a little too spacious.

    However, I’m not completely happy with it.

    I think that compared to the original painting the sky looks weak. In the original painting, the sky is very powerful. I probably needed to use more pigment. So I will have another go in the near future.

    Postscript

    This story was originally written in April of 2014. I’m editing this story in April of 2021. 

    Sadly, I didn’t have another attempt at making that sky stronger. I have no idea why.

    However, during this year, I did do another painting of a beach with a sky reflection. It’s a very subtle piece but I like it a lot.

    Watercolor painting of a beach with a dramatic sky reflection
    “Dramatic beach reflection”

    I am still very interested in the surface of wet beaches. They are irresistibly intriguing and beautiful.

    And at some point, I hope to make a small series upon this subject.

  • Painting of a small Japanese village somewhere between Oita city and Kitakyushu city

    Painting of a small Japanese village somewhere between Oita city and Kitakyushu city

    This is one of my old paintings. 

    I remember visiting and painting this place but I can’t give the year exactly. 

    I think it was around 2013. 

    And I remember that my wife was visiting or taking our eldest daughter to Kitakyushu where she was studying at the university.

    However, my wife stopped on route to drop me off and let me do some painting while she went the rest of the way. 

    And then the plan was that she would pick me up on the way back.

    I remember that I had no initial idea where I was going to ask my wife to drop me off but that it ended up being the place in the painting above. 

    It was a small Japanese village that I thought looked quite idyllic – at least from the roadside.

    At first I walked around the village looking for a good scene to paint and finally chose the scene above. 

    I’m guessing that I chose this scene because I liked the way the path curves around and leads towards the cluster of houses, such an arrangement would make for a nice composition.

    And as I look at this picture, I find myself thinking that it isn’t so bad. 

    I can see that the colors work very well together and there is a nice touch of subtle colors, especially in the big trees, as well as a nice combination of warms and cools.

    I also think that this scene would look very nice in the rainy season when they fill the rice fields with water and hopefully, one day I’ll paint this scene with watery rice fields.

    And in looking at and talking about this painting and realizing it is quite good and that it even has some sentimental value for me now, I feel a little regret for folding it in half with the intention of binning it. 

    If you look carefully at the painting you can see a faint crease line down the middle. 

    But perhaps I decided to bin it because I have too many paintings and at times it can feel like I’m drowning in my own creations. 

    So from time to time, I cull my creations. 

    Luckily, after folding it, I unfolded it and decided to take this photo as a record. 

    However, I can’t remember now if after taking the photo I binned the actual painting or kept it.

    One day, I may check.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Painting of a strange but beautiful Japanese national park called Hiraodai

    Painting of a strange but beautiful Japanese national park called Hiraodai

    I think it was around 2013 that I discovered this beautiful national park in Fukuoka prefecture.

    We were visiting my oldest daughter who was studying at Kitakyushu university.

    On the way home, we took a different route from normal and went through this national park.

    I was delighted because this is a very strange place with small mountains that are littered with numerous rocks.

    I later did two paintings of this place and I am very happy with them.

    I like the way I have painted the rocks in these paintings, the soft colors and those textural lines.

    And in the painting above, the postures of the figures are very good, especially the two on the left with the slight slants within their postures that give a feeling of motion.

    And finally the grass and shrubbery is well done.

    It is subtle but at the same time full of colorful variety, and as I look I can see yellow greens, minty greens and a darker more musty green.

    Watercolor painting of trekkers on a mountain path
    “A beautiful day for trekking up a mountain”

    In the second painting, I’m particularly happy with my rendering of the distant hills in this painting with those soft tree shapes and the thin dry brush lines and blobs suggesting trees on the top of the hills.

    And as I look at this painting, it all looks so pleasant that I feel the urge to get on my climbing boots (if I had any) and go rambling up those hills.

    I hope one day that I’ll go back to this park and do a few more paintings. 

    The next time I would take my drone. 

    I can already imagine the interesting aerial angles I could get of those trees and rocks in the midground with some figures on the path walking past them.

    I have to go again!

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a traditional Japanese building in Kitakyushu

    Watercolor painting of a traditional Japanese building in Kitakyushu

    Some of my old paintings are a mystery to me. 

    Often I have no idea what year I painted them. 

    Sometimes I can’t work out the place. 

    And sometimes I know the place but I can’t remember the actual occasion when I was there and which led to the painting.

    This painting is a different kind of mystery. 

    I know it was painted in 2013, give or take a year. 

    And I know this place is Kitakyushu city center.

    I remember going there with my family and the experience of being there. 

    I remember all this because my oldest daughter was studying at the university there. 

    But I have no idea what exactly that beautiful, traditional building is. 

    I did a google search for traditional buildings in Kitakyushu city.

    And I found that Kokura castle is in Kitakyushu city.

    However, when I looked at the google images of the castle I saw nothing that looked like the building in my painting.

    I will have to go again some day and check!

    Anyway, I am very happy with this painting. 

    I think it has a very pleasant mellow mood that you sometimes experience on a nice evening.

    And the subtle variety of colors in the distant buildings is very pleasing.

    I especially like the purple color. 

    What I like most though is that thin railing and the shadows it casts.

    That’s all for now,

    Gareth.