Category: Japan

The Bamboo Grove is the start of a series for me and is inspired by my travel to Japan. The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is a short train trip from Kyoto and it is awesome to walk through with the towering bamboo on each side of the path. I took photos of a musician playing a Japanese flute and the music created a magical feeling amidst the calm of the bamboo grove. I started with a photo followed by a thumbnail (bit bigger but less than A5 size) to get going. Then an ink drawing … and now I am working on a larger charcoal drawing and the beginnings of a painting in gouache. The colours are muted greys, greens and ochre with a base pigment in a turquoise blue. I haven’t decided on a title for these art works and they are definitely works in progress.

I am using gouache for the painting “the Bamboo Grove” – gouache is very versatile and can be used as a very translucent medium through to very opaque. I have been applying the paint in thin layers and gradually building up the dark tonal values. This is still a work in progress and there is more decision making to happen – the bamboo grass along the edge will add further softness. The colours I have chosen so far are mostly muted greys and greens – I think they are creating the calm I felt in the grove.