October 17, 2025

Many of you know I recently traveled to Sapporo, Japan, for the very special occasion of my son’s wedding. I won’t turn this into a full travelogue, but of course, I couldn’t resist packing my acrylic paints. Between family gatherings, wedding festivities, and endless toasts, my paint kit stayed in the hotel until the final days of our visit when most everyone had left and I could finally sneak away to paint.

Our hotel, by design, was adjacent to Nakajima Park, which is one of my favorite spots in Sapporo.  I’ve painted there a number of times over the years.  Usually, we visit in the spring when cherry blossoms turn the park into a pink paradise. This time, though, it was early autumn. Only a few trees were beginning to show a slight color and most of the landscape still a sea of green. Paintings with mostly green are a challenge for artists, as it is difficult to bring out the variations of color to make a pleasing piece.

I set up in the Japanese Garden and started a piece, but after about half an hour, I was tempted to give up. The composition felt flat and dull. Still, I decided to push through. After over an hour or so, the painting started to come together—still unfinished, but promising. I reluctantly packed up and headed back for more family activities. Here are a few photos from that day.

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The next day was rainy and blustery, so couldn’t go out to paint, but the day after that was nicer.  After another hour plus session, I finally think I got a keeper.  Below are some photos.

Here is a quick snapshot of the painting.

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BTW, in my recent studies on how AI can improve your paintings, I asked ChatGPT for several examples on how it would paint the scene.  I think I like mine better!