Painting Outdoors in Dalefield, New Zealand - Art and Photography

Hello Steemer

I am loving the weather here in Queenstown, New Zealand, it has literally been hot and sunny for the last month! With the weather being so nice again today I decided to go painting outdoors.

Today I went to Dalefield, at the bottom of Coronet Peak, down the road from where I live. Everything is looking a little dry at the moment, but I love the afternoon light and shadows on the mountains, trees and fields.

This is my painting.

Dalefield, New Zealand, 8" x 10", oil on canvas panel, painted outdoors en plein air.

This was the location and the view I painted today. I really liked the tree juxtaposed against the mountains, I added a smaller tree in the distance to help balance the composition.

I set up my pochade box easel and began painting.

I sketched out the scene, the willow tree is one of the main features of the painting.

I start by painting the sky, then I get my shadows in as quickly as possible. The light in New Zealand makes distant objects appear blue.

Next I paint the shadows in the trees in the foreground, using darker tones as it comes forward in the painting.

Next I paint the areas in light, I keep my greens desaturated for the distant hills and trees, then increase the saturation for the trees and grass in the foreground which makes it come forward in the painting.

At this stage of the painting, I start to rework some of the areas I have painted and start adding highlights to the foliage.

I add highlights to the foliage of the willow tree to make it look like it has the direct sunlight shining on it.

My finished painting.

This was the view after I had finished painting when it was well into the evening.

My finished painting with my new brushes I ordered from the UK.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

Check out my website for more of my art: samuelearp.com

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