Watercolor Paintings of Japan 2017By Gareth Naylor

Title: “Evening Grace”

Place: Kuju, Oita Pref.

The cover image of this calendar is from a painting trip to Kuju, a beautiful national park. It was on this same trip that I painted the picture for November. This cover one was from the beautiful sunset I saw as I was returning to the car and going home. I almost entitled it “50 Meters from the Car”.

Title: "People Walking through Dappled Shadows to the Shrine"

Place: Yusuhara Shrine, Oita Pref.

Just after New Year’s day I went to this shrine which is on top of a mountain and surrounded by trees. There are many steps to the actual shrine. On New Year’s day and for several days after many people visit this shrine. That particular day was a beautiful sunny one and the colorful foliage created lovely soft and cool blue shadows.

Title: “The Calming Drama of Evening Light”

Place: Kunisaki, Oita Pref.

On a family trip to Kunisaki, a very rural part of Oita prefecture, we stopped at a beautiful, traditional Japanese building. It had originally been a Sake distillery but was now an art gallery. Whilst there I saw a photo in a magazine of an interesting rock in the sea. It was nearby so we went and I found this beautiful small harbor.

Title: "Graceful Evening Shadows"

Place: Yufuin, Oita pref.

I visited Yufuin many times in 2016 because I had a major exhibition there and wanted a few paintings of the place itself. This is one of the lovely sunsets that I saw while there.

Title: "Spring and Shadows"

Place: Near Shidaka Lake, Oita Pref.

This began with a family trip. We found this beautiful place in the mountains with a large lake and a walking route. We only walked a short distance so I returned at a later date and did the whole route. It took a few hours and was quite demanding as I took all my painting equipment. Ironically, only at the end of the walk, about 500 meters from the car, did I paint this picture. But I think it captures the beautiful green foliage of Spring.

Title: "Clutter and Calm - A Japanese Fishing Port in the Last of the Evening Light"

Place: Nishi Oita, Oita Pref.

I have often been to this port and tried to paint it. This painting was just a whimsy. I found the image on my camera, liked it and tried to paint that soft and moody evening sunset. And it was one of those that just worked straight away.

Title: "Quiet Evening Moment Fishing by the River"

Place: Oita River, Oita Pref.

This is my local river “Oita river”. I walk here every day. I love this river. I’ve done countless paintings of it and very few have been good. This is one that worked. I like to think it captures the dazzling light you get here in summer time.

Title: “Small, Rural Shrine”

Place: Bungo-ono, Oita Pref.

The prefecture where I live used to be called Bungo - don’t you think that is a funny name. And traces of this name still remain, such as this particular place which is called Bungo-ono. It is a small place in the countryside where they have an outdoor pool surrounded by rice fields. I and the family cooled down here and escaped a little the intense heat of a Japanese summer.

Title: "Narrow Street in Usuki"

Place: Usuki, Oita Pref.

Usuki is famous for it’s old temples. But I also like these narrow streets. Some of the buildings look very derelict and are sometimes propped up in a very ad hoc manner. You can see little inner courtyards that are overgrown with rambling weeds and undergrowth.

Title: “Cool, Calm Shadows”

Place: Oita Castle, Oita Pref.

I love the shape of these trees. It was a struggle to paint them though. They are by Oita castle and they cast really beautiful shadows across the road. This is a place I’ll return to and paint again.

Title: "Evening Shadows by Oita Castle"

Place: Oita City Center, Oita Pref.

I’m a sucker for shadows. I love the exaggeratedly long shadows you get during evening time and that’s really the focus of this painting. I have to say that I use to hate the wall on the right. And then one day I saw that at an angle it could look visually interesting - I hope you agree.

Title:"A Beautiful Moment"

Place: Kuju, Oita Pref.

This, as I mentioned at the beginning, was from an all day painting trip. I love to go off somewhere far away and beautiful and spend the whole day painting. Unexpected things happen though on these trips. On this occasion, I was walking across the field in the foreground of the painting when I suddenly saw some bulls in it - they were far away but they were still in the same field as me. Nothing, I am glad to say, happened.

Title: "Gnarled Trees by a Temple Gate"

Place: Nishikimachi, Oita Pref.

This is the gate to a temple and is about 500 meters from my house. It has some beautiful traditional Japanese buildings and is resident to many monks. I was taking my 3 year old to nursery school and passed this place on the way. It looked so beautiful on that particular day that when I came home again I went straight out and painted it. Luckily, it turned out really well.