The hot and humid weather forced me indoors. But this was not a bad thing. Because in my studio, also known as the kitchen table, I did some watercolor sketches on scrap paper. I did sketches of a wet beach with soft reflections. In the process I struck a creative vein and ended up painting a series of pictures upon this subject.
In May of 2014, I went on a bicycle ride up a hill to visit a famous shrine. It was an arduous ride! But it was worth it. The shrine is called Yusuhara and it is a very beautiful place. I painted several on the spot paintings during this trip.
I have a friend who is a metalwork sculptor. He will soon have an exhibition in a small Japanese town called Yufuin. And he will show two of my paintings in his exhibition. So, as I’m a landscape painter and the exhibition is held in Yufuin, I thought it would be a good idea to visit this town and do some paintings of the place. This story is about that trip.
This is a story about a small exhibition I had in a shop in Usuki. Usuki is a small town in Oita prefecture famous for a lot of traditional buildings, especially temples.
I wanted to paint the sky today because it was very dramatic. It was a very cloudy sky but now and then the sunshine would burst out. It was inspiring stuff for me. So, I went to the river as this is one of the best places for painting a sky picture.
Today was a beautiful sunny day in January. It was a perfect day for outdoor painting. But maybe not if you have a one and half year old toddler. I had a plan though. So, I took my toddler, Annie, down to the river where we could play. But I also took my sketchbook so …
Watercolor sketch of a Japanese river bank on a sunny day in winter Read More »
There has been a lot of construction going on in the city where I live. And this construction has created a road with a beautiful, panoramic view of the city. This is because the area next to the road has become a temporary natural wasteland with no buildings upon it. And I have wasted no time in getting out and painting this amazing view from the road.
I live very near a river. It is called Oita river. And I love to paint this river. I have done many paintings of this river over the years but most of these paintings were not very good and I binned them. Here though is a small collection of early paintings of this river which I didn’t throw away because they are quite good. I think that I did these paintings around 2013.
This painting is of a small restaurant in a region called Kusu. This region is a very rural and rugged part of Oita prefecture. And I visited this restaurant with my family. I was so impressed by the beauty of this traditional Japanese style interior of the restaurant. And I could see that it was an ideal subject for a painting.
During 2013, I would often get on my bicycle and cycle to the sea. It was just a 10 minute cycle ride. And at the sea, I had a spectacular view of Beppy bay. I would usually go at evening time and paint the sun setting over this bay. It was a wonderful experience. And when I was looking through my artwork I found 9 paintings of Beppu bay from that year.