Sunset, Nagoya Japan

Nagoya Japan was largely business-like with many large structures and office towers, yet there were many instances of spectacular landscape especially along the river. Here, logs from a timber-mill float on the mirror-like river reflecting a brilliant sunset. A bridge with modern design and the ever-present city-skyline dominate the background. Painting reflective water is always a challenge no matter what the media. In oil painting, greats like Monet and Tom Thomson used small interlocking brush strokes to create vibrant reflections, the american Turner and the old English masters used glazed-watercolour techniques. But a common theme among all is to use value contrast. Here, the logs are done in a fairly dark tone, which provides a contrast with the water. In the end the water ends up looking brighter than it actually is as a result of the contrast. To play up and enhance the effect I added some even darker highlights to the logs. 5x7" cold press, 2006.