Why I don’t paint flowers
Nowadays, I don’t paint flowers. I have nothing against them. In fact I like them. A real lot. And I got quite good at painting flowers. But you can read here why I prefer to paint landscapes.
old painting
Watercolor paintings of a Japanese river
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.
Watercolor painting of figures walking beneath a very beautiful mellow, yellow evening sky
Here is a series of watercolor paintings of a beautiful countryside scene. This scene may be from a place I visited in 2013. Sadly, I no longer know the name of this place. But I think this place is somewhere between Oita city and Fukuoka city. However, the mellow evening mood of these paintings with the partially dissolved figures was from my imagination. I had a vision of just such a scene. You could call it a creative vision. And that vision inspired this series.
Watercolor painting of the interior of a traditional Japanese building
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.
Powerful watercolor paintings of the sea
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.
Painting of a man and his dog taking a stroll along a countryside path
This is a painting of a country path in a region called Hiji. I have visited this region quite a few times and have found some very picturesque scenes here such as the one above. And as I look at this painting, I find myself thinking that this is a very good painting and I am surprised that I almost binned it.
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.
Picturesque Japanese village in Oita
For a long time, I didn’t used to like painting countryside scenes. And given the choice, I would prefer to paint an urban scene. Urban scenes are easier to paint and usually more interesting. One of the biggest challenges with a countryside scene is painting trees, bushes and grass.
A painting of two fishermen by a beautiful Japanese river
I think that I painted this river scene around 2013. It could have been even earlier. This place is called Kitsuki. It’s a small Japanese town by the sea with an interesting history and a few interesting old buildings. And it has some nice scenes to paint such as this beautiful river.
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.