Since moving back to Japan, one of the things I have been most looking forward to is enjoying hanami – cherry blossom viewing. When the cherry trees bloom, you have to make the most of it as soon as it happens because if it rains, if the temperature suddenly gets warmed up or if the wind is strong, the delicate petals blow away – say sayonara to the hanami season.
The first day of hanami was cold and cloudy but luckily, our second hanami day near Kitanomaru Park was sunny with blue sky!
I visited a number of hanami spots at the end of March to the start of April and the best cherry blossom viewing was definitely during the boat ride along Kitanomaru Park. More about the cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo in my blog about moving back and living in Tokyo, Native Expat.
This was such a memorable experience, just like our first wedding anniversary getaway to Barossa Valley and our first Christmas/New Years holiday to the Austrian ski field, I wanted to commemorate this experience with a mini canvas painting from the day!
Starting the painting
I cropped the photo to match the canvas shape and started with a light pencil sketch. As the sky is quite light, I decided to go free painting for the sky and clouds.
After a couple of hours listening to music and painting, this is the progress so far!
I quite enjoyed painting the cloud and sky but I haven’t quite got the right color for the greenery. It’s always a good idea to take a break and look at the painting before I wreck it so this is where I have got up to.
The next steps will be layering and adding a bit more depth to highlight the cherry blossom!
Watch this space…
