Gareth Naylor

Atmospheric paintings of Japan

Tag: old painting

  • 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.

  • Mountain trekking with an old Japanese man

    Mountain trekking with an old Japanese man

    In 2012, an old Japanese man asked me if I wanted to go hiking.

    I eagerly said yes.

    First he took me to the top of Mt Ryozen.

    It was my first time climbing that mountain.

    I really enjoyed it.

    The painting below was done from a photograph taken on this climb.

    Watercolor painting of two hikers walking along a forest path that goes up to the top of Ryozen mountain
    “Beautiful climb up Ryozen mountain”

    Another time he took me to a nature park.

    This park had a long walk by a stream.

    I never did any paintings from that trip

    But it was a very beautiful place.

    The old man told me that he used to bring his children here when they were young.

    He told me that it had been a very popular place then.

    When we visited there was almost nobody there.

    And there were signs, such as the neglected rotten wooden posts of the fence by the stream, that not many people come to this place anymore.

    What a shame.

    Watercolor painting of mountain trekkers walking along a mountain path
    “Beautiful Jagged mountain rocks”

    The next time he took me to Kuju mountain.

    I’ve climbed this mountain before with my family. 

    But this time he took me on a different route.

    We went up the ridge of a mountain next to Kuju mountain. 

    There were big jagged rocks rising up out of the ridge of the mountain.

    It was spectacular.

    I did the painting above of this scene.

    I don’t know when I painted this picture but I climbed this mountain in 2012.

    So I think that I must have done it around that period.

    I’m surprised that I even tried to paint such a scene.

    Because at that time I was still learning watercolor painting.

    And this is a very difficult scene to paint.

    At first I wasn’t happy with this painting.

    Luckily I didn’t throw it away.

    And a few years later, by chance, I came across it again.

    I was organizing my paintings.

    I have many paintings and I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the amount.

    And I was throwing away the paintings I disliked.

    That is when I found this painting.

    I looked at it and was surprised to discover that I now liked it.

    I was also happy with it because I find countryside scenes very difficult to paint. 

    City scenes are much easier.

    And my countryside paintings are normally failures.

    But to return to the story. 

    Despite his age this old man was fitter than me.

    And he climbed up the mountain very quickly.

    I would lag behind him a little.

    After the climb we came back down to the car park.

    Here, my friend saw a foreigner and said to me: Don’t you want to talk to him?

    Japanese people always think that foreigners desperately want to talk with other foreigners.

    However most foreigners are rather cold towards one another in Japan.

    I’ve sometimes said “Hi” to a foreigner and received a cold and formal “Hello” or just been ignored.

    And so I said no.

    He was surprised. And I got the impression that he thought I wasn’t a friendly person.

    Anyway he kept insisting and so I said “hi” to this foreigner and we had a brief chat.

    He was actually a very pleasant person.

    Next to the car park was a gift shop, a restaurant and a spa.

    We were aching a lot and really felt like getting into a hot tub.

    So we paid and went up to the spa on the second floor.

    I was so happy to be getting into a hot bath.

    However, when I put my foot in the water I instantly pulled it out again.

    It was boiling hot.

    My foot was bright red.

    The old man, like most old Japanese men, was a tough person.

    And despite my reaction he tried to get in.

    But even he was shocked. 

    And he quickly got out.

    That’s when I knew the water really was too hot.

    We went downstairs and told a member of staff who apologized.

    She told us that somebody had made a mistake.

    Somebody had forgotten to turn on the cold tap.

    She told us that if we waited then they could cool it down.

    But it would take more than 30 minutes.

    So we gave up on the spa.

    After that we got in his car and he took me to a large field very nearby.

    This field was full of trees.

    It was a very beautiful place.

    And then he surprised me by telling me that he owned the field.

    I was very impressed.

    After that we went home.

    That was the last climbing trip we had together.

    I don’t know why.

    I would have liked to have gone on more climbing trips.

    But at least I got the chance to go on a few. 

    And for that I am very grateful.

    Postscript

    So I wrote this story in 2021 from memory.

    I was able to date the story from a blurry photo of Ryozen mountain.

    The photo was dated 2012. 

    I’m pretty sure that all these trips happened in the same year.

    The blurry photo came from a memory card for a digital camera.

    I had downloaded the image from the memory card to my computer.

    This was lucky because all the images on that card later disappeared. 

    Never trust memory cards.

    This old man had some very interesting stories to tell about growing up in Taiwan as a young boy. 

    This was probably when Japan still had an Empire and controlled that land. 

    Old people have some very interesting stories to tell. 

    I remember when I first came to Japan an old man on the bus started telling me that he was a pilot in World War 2. 

    He told me that an American pilot had shot down his plane.

    And how he had to jump out of his plane and parachute down to the ground.

    I’ll never forget how he said all this with a look of cheerfulness. 

    It was almost as though he was recounting a fond memory.

    Video

    In 2021 I had another go at painting the first picture.

    Here is a video of me doing the painting.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Paintings of mother and baby

    Paintings of mother and baby

    In 2012 my daughter Annie was born. 

    And every day I would see these wonderful scenes of mother and baby together.

    So I did a lot of sketches and sometimes even a few paintings. 

    Here are two of the paintings and a sketch.

    I especially like the painting above of mother and baby sleeping together.

    For me, it is an image of perfect peace.

    I know that I didn’t paint the baby’s face very well but I still think it is a good painting.

    Watercolor painting of a mother sitting on a chair and holding her baby.
    “Mother and child”

    Here is another painting of mother and baby but this time awake. 

    I’m so grateful for those net curtains in both paintings as they provide a beautiful background.

    Pencil sketch of a mother sitting on a chair and holding her daughter. Both are asleep.
    “Mother and child sleeping”

    And here is a pencil drawing of mother and baby that I am quite pleased with. 

    I think my wife’s face doesn’t look very relaxed in this drawing. 

    In actuality, I think it was. 

    But I’m showing this drawing despite that because I still think it is a very good drawing and full of very exciting and energetic strokes.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a woman sitting in a chair

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting in a chair

    For a long time I haven’t drawn my family.

    But in the past I would often draw them.

    And occasionally I would do a painting of one of my family members.

    I especially enjoyed drawing my wife because she looks so feminine and elegant.

    I sometimes like to look at her fingers and toes which are particularly nice in shape and length. 

    My fingers and toes are short and stubby.

    And I am very happy with the painting of her above.

    This painting was done in 2012.

    I did several paintings of her in front of these net curtains. 

    I noticed that the folds in the net curtains made an interesting and beautiful background.

    At the same time the pattern of the folds is delicate and doesn’t compete with the subject which is the figure.

    When painting a figure, I have learnt that the background is one of the most important and also one of the most difficult considerations.

    Perhaps I need to start doing paintings of figures again.

    Especially as I enjoy it very much and because such paintings can look very interesting.

    It is also a subject that I haven’t explored very much which makes it exciting.

    The biggest problem is finding somebody.

    Pencil drawing of a woman with a floppy hat sitting on the ground
    “Female elegance”

    And here is a drawing of my wife wearing a floppy hat.

    Like the painting above, this drawing was done in 2012.

    I am very pleased with this pencil drawing.

    However, I don’t like to draw with a pencil.

    Because although you can achieve some beautiful effects with a pencil they smudge too much.

    With this pencil drawing, I did an orange wash over the pencil lines in order to stop them smudging.

    You can spray it with a fixative but I never do. 

    I don’t like any kind of aerosol. 

    I think that those tiny particles coming out of aerosols must get into your lungs and be harmful. 

    And this is why despite having a full can of fixative in my artbox it never gets used!

    I have no idea what I’ll do with it. 

    I guess one day it will just get binned.

    But that would be so wasteful and so for now I just keep it.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Painting of a steep flight of steps going up to a Japanese shrine

    Painting of a steep flight of steps going up to a Japanese shrine

    Watercolor painting of a steep flight of steps going up to a Japanese shrine
    “Visiting the shrine with grandfather”

    I think this place is in or near Wasada.

    Wasada is a region on the outskirts of Oita city.

    In this region, the urban landscape starts to disappear and farmhouses and fields begin to appear.

    I found this place by chance during one of my cycling adventures.

    This steep flight of steps was a good subject for a painting as it is not too high and it has that interesting bend in the middle. 

    This is not always the case.

    On several occasions in the Japanese countryside I have seen similar steep flights of steps going up a hill side. 

    But the ones I can remember were often completely straight and furthermore they were very long as they went up very high hills. 

    Although they were interesting to look at I don’t think they would have made for a good painting because of the sheer scale.

    And I couldn’t help thinking that it would have been exhausting to climb up them.

    I read that in Kumamoto, the prefecture next to Oita, which is where I live, there is one shrine that has a flight of 3333 stone steps and the distance is just over 2 kilometers. 

    It is the longest flight of steps to a shrine in Japan. 

    It takes about 90 minutes to climb to the top.

    Anyway, at the beginning of the flights of steps there is a distinctive stone gate, called Torii in Japanese, that tells you this is the entrance to a Shinto shrine.

    This gate also marks the passage from the mundane world to the sacred.

    I added the figures from my imagination. 

    I thought it would be a nice image to show a boy and his grandfather visiting the shrine together. 

    I’m quite happy with how I painted these figures.

    I am not so happy though with the trees in the background at the top of the hill.

    They are a bit faint and need to be a bit stronger. 

    And perhaps the foliage could be simplified a little more because it looks a little scrappy.

    But overall I think this is an interesting and good painting.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe

    Watercolor painting of a woman sitting and writing in a cafe
    “Mystery woman in a coffee shop”

    Sadly, I have no idea when I painted this picture.. 

    I’m guessing that it was 2012.

    But it’s just a guess.

    And I have no idea where this place is.

    Neither do I know who the woman is in the painting.

    She could be my wife or a complete stranger.

    I should have kept some record of my work such as a pencil date on the back of the picture and a brief note about the place or person.

    But in my salad days I was just focused on painting.

    And that was a wonderful freedom.

    And hopefully such deep focus made me a better artist.

    But later on, it caused a big conundrum when it came to organising my work.

    Because I didn’t record my artwork.

    And also because I have painted a lot of pictures.

    I think that I presently have about a 1000 paintings even after throwing many paintings away.

    Anyway, I found this small painting while I was attempting to organize my artwork.

    And what I can say about this picture is that I like it. 

    And this is why it never got thrown away like so many other paintings.

    I love the shape of those chairs and the soft atmosphere of this scene.

    The colors are also pleasing with the contrast of a warm brown and a cool blue.

    Perhaps I should call this painting “A mystery woman in a coffee shop”.

    What do you think?

    What title would you give it?

    If you can think of a great title I will let you have the painting for half the price.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Paintings of a picturesque Japanese village called Shonai

    Paintings of a picturesque Japanese village called Shonai

    During my wilderness years of getting on my bicycle with my art gear and cycling off into the blue yonder of the Japanese countryside I found a picturesque village called Shonai.

    And I think it was around 2011 that I painted these pictures of Shonai.

    Looking at the painting above, I find that I like the colorfulness of the sky. 

    I can see touches of blue, a light orange and even a dash of red in that sky. 

    It’s very exciting.

    And the shapes of the buildings are well painted. 

    I am disappointed, though, with the trees, bushes and grass. 

    That said, with trees, bushes and grass you need a combination of softness and contrast and that is difficult to achieve in watercolor.

    And yet overall, I like this painting because when I look at it I feel very relaxed. 

    I don’t know how I managed to convey that feeling of relaxation. 

    So I have to study this painting and learn how I created that feeling of relaxation.

    Then, hopefully, I can express that feeling of relaxation in my new paintings.

    Watercolor painting of a farmer pushing a wheelbarrow in rural Japan at evening time
    “Idyllic rural Japan”

    This is another painting of Shonai.

    I really like this particular scene and I have painted it several times. 

    I think what I like in particular is that meandering path.

    It looks so interesting.

    Also, it leads the eye of the viewer into the painting and makes them look towards the distant mountains.

    And I’m very happy with my painting of the distant mountains. 

    There are some nice subtle effects in the distant mountains. 

    And the sky is bright and warm but also pleasantly softened and subdued.

    I’m also quite happy with the trees in the background too. 

    I managed to paint the shape and edge of them right.

    However, I’m a little disappointed with the houses.

    They are a little too blue. 

    If I’d done the walls white or brown it would have been better. 

    And I think the utility poles need to be a bit thicker.

    They look like they will snap at any minute.

    But the overall feeling of the painting is very satisfying for me.

    And when I look at this painting I experience the feelings of calmness, light and space.

    Watercolor painting of a Japanese river in the countryside
    “Countryside river”

    This is a painting of the river that runs through Shonai. 

    I think this painting captures a little of the ruggedness of the natural Japanese landscape.

    And this painting almost works. 

    The river is quite beautiful and the grass by the side of the river too. 

    I also quite like the sky and the distant mountain.

    But the foliage is not well done. 

    The shadows need to be softer and a little simpler. 

    Also the trees in the top left hand corner and the tall trees in the middle don’t look very beautiful.

    I think, though, that this scene has potential and if I did another painting of it it might look very beautiful. 

    Final word

    Looking at these paintings I had the fancy that it would be interesting and fun to revisit these places in Shonai and to paint them again. 

    I’d love to see the difference. 

    I hope that happens but presently I have too many projects.

    That’s all,

    Gareth.

  • Paintings of rural Japan from cycling adventures

    Paintings of rural Japan from cycling adventures

    Watercolor painting of rural Japan
    “A quiet scene of rural Japan”

    Roughly around 2011, I painted these pictures.

    This area is called Wasada and it is on the outskirts of Oita city.

    They built a shopping mall here and although it is nice it has led to urban sprawl.

    There has also been an increase in billboards. 

    At first there were just a few but now there are many.

    And I dislike them because they are ugly and they obscure the surrounding beautiful scenery of fields and farmer’s houses.

    This painting shows one of the nicer areas around Wasada.

    It’s next to Nanase park.

    With this painting, I’m particularly happy with the distant hill. 

    I like the way I have painted it. 

    It’s different from my normal style. 

    Everything else in the painting could be improved. 

    But I’m glad I painted quite a complicated subject.

    And below is a painting of Nanase river which runs through Wasada.

    Watercolor painting of a Japanese river called Nanase
    “Japanese fisherman with a net wading through the river”

    I’m very pleased with the viewpoint of this painting.

    I think this was the view from the top of a bridge.

    I’m also happy with the composition.

    The figure of the fisherman made for an interesting focal point in the painting.

    And below is a small village that I found further on and possibly this is no longer Wasada but another area.

    “A pretty Japanese countryside road”

    I thought the composition was quite interesting.

    And I’m happy with the bright, cheerful colors in this painting.

    It was near here that I encountered a snake in the reeds by the river.

    Luckily, it was as frightened of me as I was of it.

    That’s all, 

    Gareth.

  • Watercolor painting of an old-fashioned Japanese street that I found by accident

    Watercolor painting of an old-fashioned Japanese street that I found by accident

    I can’t say I like this painting very much.

    It’s not particularly well painted. 

    But it was painted around 2011 when I was still learning watercolor painting and struggling very much with this mercurial medium.

    And this painting reminds me of how I would cycle around the city looking for beautiful or interesting scenes to paint.

    Normally I was thoroughly disappointed.

    But occasionally I would find something beautiful or interesting and this was one such time.

    I was cycling through a dense cluster of unremarkable houses on the edge of the city when I turned a corner and came to this street of old-fashioned Japanese buildings. 

    It was such a surprise.

    I’m not sure if this street is beautiful but it is very interesting and I enjoyed the surprise.

    I wonder if many people in Oita city even know about this street.

    Older buildings are interesting because they are full of ornamentation. 

    I see a lot of new houses being built in Oita city and although these houses are okay and I think very nice to live in, they have no ornamentation. 

    It seems that ornamentation is anathema in modern building. 

    But perhaps the reason is that it would be too expensive nowadays to have such ornamentation not unless it could be quickly done by a machine.

    For me, there is a kind of poverty in that.

    This is not to say I like all older buildings in Japan. 

    I think many of the buildings in the Showa period are very ugly. 

    But the Taisho period and earlier produced some beautiful buildings.

    And as I look at the buildings along this street I feel a love for the interesting surfaces and patterns they used on the walls of these buildings as well as the heavy tiled and ornate roof tops.

    Distinctiveness, beauty and craftsmanship have disappeared in the bland modern world.

    Gareth.