Long for the Sea

I feel as if the summer is ending although we still have another two months. The amazing long days with bright sky until ten o'clock in the evening are becoming things of the past and now days are getting shorter and shorter. In Britain the peak of the summer is actually the summer solstitial but not August.


When we get to half way through something, we start to think about the end and the latter half always pass faster just like sliding down a slope. And we are hardly proof against the component of the force parallel to the slope...

予定のない日

Moorhen （バン）
To create something, we need time to do nothing particular or time to try and experiment. I really appreciate this long long summer holidays without any schedules.

白亜の海岸

「誰だって夏海岸へ遊びに行きたいと思はない人があるでせうか。殊にも行けたら、そしてさらはれて紡績工場などへ売られてあんまりひどい目にあはないなら、フランスかイギリスか、さう云ふ遠い所へ行きたいと誰も思ふのです。」　宮沢賢治"イギリス海岸"より
ドーバー海峡に面してこそいないけれど、スワネッジ近くの白亜の海岸の上を歩いた。"さう云う遠い所"が足下にある夏。



Isle of Purbeck
The white cliff in this painting is drawn with the actual chalks that I picked up there!
Isle of Purbeckと呼ばれるスワネッジがある半島は、地質が非常におもしろい地域だ。様々な地層が海岸に対して垂直に走っていて、海岸沿いを歩くうちに地質がどんどん変わるのがわかる。Purbeck Hillsは石灰岩で出来ており、海に突き出た部分がこの景色だ。
この地域の地質の違いによる植生変化を学んだらとてもおもしろそうだけれど、まだ論文検索までは手が出せていない。

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast said it would be heavy rain and thunder for whole three days when I was planning to visit a family living by the sea. But I knew that even the forecast said something depressing, it would be better than I had expected from that. In Japan if the weather report announce that it is going to be a rainy day, it will really rain for whole day. But British rain often last only for a few hours and we always have some chances to see the sun and blue sky...if we wish and pray for it, I believe.



Black-headed Gull
So on Saturday afternoon and Sunday it cleared up!



Swanage
People always talk about the weather here because it changes a lot within a day or even in an hour. And yet it is also true that they don't care much about it and go out without an umbrella in pouring rain!
British weather seems to be synonymous with bad weather but now it is far better than 38-degree sauna in Japan. I am still wearing my rain wear (actually spring ski jacket) all the time in the middle of July.

Thank you for letting me join the nice trip!

Victory

She was beautiful.



The lower gun deck, the living area of HMS Victory.
板がどっしりと厚く荘厳な雰囲気を醸し出しているネルソン提督のヴィクトリー。歴史資料としても、舞台としても、物語性をもった船。こんなところを取材して、航海の話のイラストを描けたらいいねぇと友達と語り合った。漠然としたアイディアはたくさん思い浮かんでも、そこから航海のような特殊な話を作り出すには、裏付けとなる山ほどの知識と体験が必要だ。

The Stork

I'm not just traveling all the time...sometimes I'm working as well.
I illustrated the beginning of Hans Christian Andersen's strange strange story called The Stork. Because I saw several nesting Storks in France! Although it seems that Storks nest in France migrate through Iberian Peninsula and do not stop by at Egypt. Someday I would love to see Stork's migration.











I asked my friend and put text and illustration together using In Design! I'm so glad that I've learned it.

Englischer Garten

A sketch from Germany trip...time really flies!



That was my second visit to the Englischer Garten in Munich after 22 years! Of course I didn't remember anything.
造園学の授業でイギリス式庭園の代表として習うエングリッシャー・ガルテン。なぜか中国の塔の下にあるビアーガーデンはドイツに来たらビールと思っている観光客で賑わっていた。

View of the islands

Craigleith



Bass Rock
The rock is all white because of the breeding colony of more than 150,000 Gannets! The sky above the rock is also white with many pairs of black dots moving around. That day was clear so that I could draw this using telescope from the tip of the North Berwick.



The flat May island and steep-sided Bass Rock. I learned that Gannets only nest on the Bass Rock because they need steep cliff and strong wind to take off from the land.

Arthur's Seat

Although it was drizzling I started climbing the Arthur's Seat because it was my last day in Edinburgh.



Salisbury Crag
Actually green color is more vivid and beautiful when the sky is dark.



When I got to the top, there were only me and an old lady. She was so sweet that she left me saying "I'll give you the Arthur's Seat on your own." It stopped raining. I could feel a little bit of sunshine and viewed North Berwick Law, Bass Rock and the island of May!
Soon after the sky completely cleared up and the Arthur's seat became crowded...



Heather

Monadnock

I love to think about the structure of the city or town based on the geography. It is always something to do with how to protect the city from enemy and how to deal with natural disaster. Edinburgh has several monadnocks, the result of the volcanic activity around 350 million years ago, which is eroded by the glacier during ice age around 11,000 years ago. The castle is of course on the top of one of the monadnocks.



Calton Hill



Salisbury Crags
Fulmars were nesting on the cliff.
地下で固まった玄武岩質の溶岩が氷河によって削られ顔を出した崖、ソールスベリー・クラッグ。

Edinburgh

The view of the Edinburgh from Princess Street. I painted roughly with wash on location and drew the detail with ink later. I'm still doing Observation and Experiment!



Royal Yacht of Britannica
I was walking in the new town of Edinburgh and found a nice walkway along the Water of Leith. So I decided to head down to the harbor. But by the time I got there, it started raining extremely hard and I couldn't do anything particular... It was as if I went out to get soaked! But this painting of the Britannica should prove my journey.

Bird Paradise

It was like a dream. I joined the boat trip to the island of May, a small island at 8 km off the coast of mainland in the outer Firth of Forth.
念願叶ってメイ島を訪ねてきた。多くの人は、フォース湾の北側に位置するAnstrutherから船で渡るのだが、その小さな町まで行く公共の交通機関がなく、ひとりではとてもたどりつけそうになかったため、North BerwickにあるScottish Seabird Centreのツアーに参加することにした。晴れた朝、ウェットスーツに身を包み、12人乗りのゴムボートで島に向かった。海上を海鳥が飛び交っている。



Puffins were breeding in the burrows in the field of Sea Campion.
ナデシコ科マンテマの花畑に作った巣穴で繁殖するニシツノメドリ。



Kittiewake nesting on the cliff
ミツユビカモメ



Puffin caught eels for the chicks. I learned that Puffin always catches Sand Eels from the same side so that the heads of the eels face the same direction. But checking several photos, I found it is not always true...



キース・ブロッキーのワイルドライフ・スケッチブックの世界がそのまま目の前に広がっていた。
I'm really glad that I brought my telescope over there!