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Here are four watercolor paintings showing places where I have either lived in or visited while in Japan.
This is a beach scene of the western coast of
Tanegashima, near
the city of Nishinoomote. I lived on the island of Tanegashima
in Kagoshima
Prefecture for about a year, and this location was one of
my favorite places. Many of the beaches have white sand and blue-green
water. Given the beauty of this scenery, I was surprised how
uncrowded most of the beaches were while I lived on the island.
It seemed nobody went to the beach. I was quite happy to have
an entire beach to myself on most occasions.
NEW!!
I call this one "Tanegashima Sunset from the Kuwaharas" -- the Kuwaharas are my aunt and uncle on the island of Tanegashima, and I lived with them for a year. This is the view from the front of their house. This is a study in light - to see the way the sunset's light hits the clouds, the buildings and the car parked on the street.
The painting on the right shows a lighthouse on the island of Yakushima, which neighbors Tanegashima to the southwest. Yakushima is known for its giant yakusugi cedars which are among the oldest living things on the planet. I visited Yakushima in 1997 on a Golden Week holiday. I highly recommend visiting this remote location for its amazing natural surroundings, which are unique in Japan, if not most of the world.
This is a mountain scene from the small town of Yubara, near Minakami in northern Gunma Prefecture. I worked as an Assistant English Teacher in Minakami for a year. The town is known for its skiing areas and onsens (hot spas). This scene shows the Tone River flowing through the town of Yubara during summer. Mount Tanigawa (not shown here) is actually the source of the Tone River, which cuts through most of Gunma. You can see a snow-capped mountain in the distance.
The
painting on the right shows a harbor scene on the island of Sadogashima, or simply Sado,
as it is often called, located off the coast of Niigata. I went
on a cycling trip with some of my ALT (Assistant
Language Teacher) friends during the time I was living in
Minakami. We loaded our bikes on a ferry and spent much of the
1995 Golden Week holiday pedaling around the s-shaped island.
The biggest challenge in painting this one was capturing the
weathering and rust on the boats. Sado, by the way, was once
a penal colony where prisoners mined for gold. The paper is Fabriano,
a paper which tends to leave a hard edge of concentrated color
on the borders when the paint dries.
This is a recent painting from 2001. It shows a
tree in early spring and a small adjoining 'tea room' (I'm not
what it's really called) in the Koenji Temple grounds. Koenji
is a town in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo known for its trendy
clothing shops, restaurants and rock and blues music scene. As
you can see, I took a digital photo first and used a print out
as a guide. The hardest part of this one was trying to make the
bright yellow buds stand out. The paper is Arches cold pressed.
While it doesn't leave a hard edge, Arches is probably the best
for bringing out the brilliant color of the Winsor & Newton
paints, recognized universally as the best available.
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