Kyoto "Before"
Kyoto "Before" painting series

Kyoto "Before" painting series

Kyoto Before Sunrise

Kyoto Before Sunrise

Kyoto Before Sunset

Kyoto Before Sunset

Kyoto Before Midnight

Kyoto Before Midnight

Kyoto "Before" painting series - BW

Kyoto "Before" painting series - BW

The Process

The Process

Kyoto Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight. I decided to name this series of paintings after the beautiful "Before" movie trilogy my wife introduced to me a few years back. During our trip to Japan in 2019, I fell in love with Kyoto, and it's probably my favorite city that I've visited so far. The sights, the history, the kindness of the locals—everything made it a moving experience. These paintings focus on the Hokan-ji Temple (or Yasaka-no-to Pagoda), which is a pretty popular sightseeing spot that I wasn't aware of at the time! We discovered it by chance, after simply turning around the corner during a night stroll through the city. It's for this very reason the spot is so special to me. After stumbling upon it, I decided to take photos of the structure at different times throughout the day to use as references for this painting series.