Southeast Asia Sketchbook: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Nepal 2012-2013

  drawing of a statue on the street in Bangkok

quick sketches of classical Thai dancers at Erawan shrine in Bangkok, Thailand 2011.

quick sketches in pen of a beggar in the streets of Saigon, Vietnam 2011 

girl on the bus to Cambodia

some of the amazing architecture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2011

Erawan shrine- Bangkok, Thailand

some rose apple sketches

rooftop in Bangkok

sketch of a Thai woman

wood carving 

china town lanterns in Bangkok

orchid studies at the hotel

quick sketch of some monkees at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu, Nepal 2012

sadhu (holy man) sketch at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu, Nepal

Plein air painting in Northern Japan 2011-2012

        In 2011, my wife accepted a teaching position in Aomori, Japan.  This would be our first move outside of Florida and the changes were dramatic to say the least.  The town we lived in, was on the very northern tip of the main island of Honshu.  We were about 2 minutes from the mountains and 1 minute from the ocean.   It was a landscape painter's paradise.  Because of it's northern location, we had a particularly brutal winter as well as an extremely hot and humid summer, but this made for an interesting introduction to the Japanese countryside.  This would be the first year that I would take a serious approach to landscape painting.  I tried to paint from life daily and if the weather was too miserable, I would paint still-lifes of the local seafood. Here are some photos of my outdoor painting journey during my first year in Japan.

 Early morning at Ichiyagani Park in autumn 2011.  This was one of my first attempts at painting outdoors.  It was a quiet and peaceful way to start the day.

Ichiyagani Park: Sunrise - 8" x 10" - oil on gessoed wood

I found this secluded location about 15 minutes by car
from my house.  It was a beautiful spot, on the cliffs right next to the
Pacific Ocean in a small town called Tomari.

Sometimes the weather made it pretty much impossible to go painting outdoors and I had to adapt.  This meant painting fish from the local market!  Umai!

The snow is beginning to melt....Spring is here!