Monday, 28 December 2015

A couple of arty bits...

Like I promised to myself, I have been carrying on with my artwork during my time in Japan, although truthfully a lot of it hasn't been related to Japan at all! 

Anyway, here are a couple of pieces I've done which have been inspired by my travels...


'On the Bridge'- watercolours.

This piece was inspired by a short trip I made to the town of Kurashiki, Okayama a few weeks ago. During my stay in Kurashiki there were lots of girls dressed in their beautiful Yukatas, having their photos taken against the autumnal colours and old Japanese town backdrop. 

One girl was standing on a small stone bridge that crosses the river passing through old Kurashiki, dressed in her lovely outfit with a simple parasol. Most passers by stopped to take her photo. I was inspired by how all attention focused on her and everything else seemed the fade into the background. I tried to capture this concept in my drawing with simple line buildings in the back, and the bricks from the bridge seeming to disappear...




'The Old Tea House'- pen and watercolour.

In Hiroshima there is a small garden tucked away amongst the bustling city; Shukkeien Garden. You can see my previous post about Shukkeien with more photos. Anyway, Shukkeien also includes a traditional style tea house nestled in the garden's small woodland area. It's a beautiful little building and when I see it I always come up with these little stories in my head of who might live there! This was a practice at drawing buildings, but I also left some of the background uncoloured, as if the tea house is slowly bringing the picture to life.


I'll try my best to get some more artwork up soon! Next week I'm off for a round trip to Kyoto and Tokyo so keep an eye out for lots of photos!

Sunday, 20 December 2015

Hiroshima Dreamination 2015


Last night I took a trip downtown to check out Hiroshima's Dreamination! The illuminations are found along Hiroshima's Peace Boulevard for 2 km, and are available from November 17th until January 3rd.

Here are some of the highlights from the display. Sorry they're not the greatest quality, I only had my iPad on hand and of course it was dark and very busy.













BANANAS!


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Stupid traffic...

Until next time!

Back to Kyoto!

A few weeks ago I went for a short weekend trip to Kyoto with a group of friends. We went in hopes of catching the last of the beautiful autumnal colours, but I think most had gone by this point... It was still a good trip, if a bit brief! I'll be heading back there in January, as well as Tokyo so keep an eye out for that post!

Anyway, here are some snaps from the weekend...


Our first stop was Heian Shrine, a shrine built to commemorate the first and last emperors of the city, and is about 10 minutes by bus from Kyoto Station. On approach to the shrine you are greeted by a giant torii gate that stretches across the rode!



Next we made a brief stop in Maruyama Park where there were many women in their beautiful Yukatas hav their photos taken.





Plus this little guy!


He's so cute!
And of course we made a stop at the Studio Ghibli store in Gion!


Jiji <3
Oh no it's Izzy looking like an idiot again...

We finished off our trip with some delicious shyabu-shyabu after a long day of travelling and walking- perfect on a chilly Autumn evening!

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mmmmm Tomato and Basil/ Curry broth!