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!