An English Watercolour Artist in Japan

yesterday, i went to yufushi on my bike via the river. i really didn't expect to find anything exciting to paint so i was completely surprised to come across the beautiful wooden building below. i truly couldn't believe it. i painted this picture standing in a big apartment car park. i was slightly worried that the owner of the space where i was standing would suddenly appear. it was also a really hot day. and as i painted this picture my calves were being slowly barbecued. i had to turn around every so often to stop the burning sensation. i know how a pig on a spit feels! for some reason i got paint everywhere - over my shirt, on my legs. the owner of the house came out a few times and i wondered if he'd come over and take a look at my painting but he didn't - perhaps that was a good thing.







after painting the wooden house, and feeling quite happy because i'd found something beautiful to paint, i explored a bit more and came upon the fantastic view below. to be honest, this scene was just too much and i wasn't too happy with my first attempt so i surprised myself by having another go.






i returned home on my bicycle watching a wonderful sunset. a good day all in all.　and then at home i worked on the picture below which is from ogatamachi. the people 'beamed up' from a photograph taken at nanase river.

  

A week last Monday I went to the library - equiped with all my outdoor art materials. Although I didn't think there would be anything worth painting I actually found two subjects. Admittedly, in real life they weren't that beautiful but the fact that I could make a painting out of something not so beautiful really made me happy.








  

This week, in my 'studio', I have been doing a few small paintings from the photographs I took by the stepping stones at Nanase park. I really have to start using better quality paper but I find it difficult to paint and be relaxed because I worry about the 'cost' of making a mistake.









































  

yesterday, I cycled by the river to Nanasegawa kouen. It was a beautiful day. I saw a brass band rehearsing by the side of the river and the farmers flooding the rice fields with water. It was nice to see a young boy running through muddy water of the rice field, he seemed so happy. And the whole scene seemed very idyllic. When I got to my destination I was happy to see lots of children playing in the river by the stepping stones. As I had hoped, they helped to turn a quite dull and ordinary scene into something extraordinary. Below are two quick watercolour sketches that I did on the spot. Luckily, I kept it all simple thus avoiding muddy colours or an overly complicated painting. I took photographs as reference for when I produce a studio painting.














  

Sunday 15th feb 2009. It was a wonderful day so I decided to go and paint outside. Near to where I live there is a very picturesque old wooden temple called Manjuji. I have painted here on several occasions. On this occasion I chose to paint an entrance. Although a very simple subject the dappled sunlight on the walls surrounding the entrance and the shadows across the ground as well as the strong darkness of the entrance itself I found very appealing. The difficulty was the foliage, there was just so much of it that I really had to simplify as much as possible. It turned out to be a great painting session. There were very few visitors and I had a very peaceful, relaxing and fun time. Only near the end of the painting did it start to get cool as the sun became lost behind clouds.