Oil Painting - Kawakawa River, New Zealand

Last week I finished this painting of a countryside scene inspired by the Northland region of New Zealand. The location is along the Kawakawa River.

This painting originally started off as a plein air painting but after being sat on my shelf for a year I decided to add some detail to it.

Plein air painting (painting outdoors) is a great way to capture the atmosphere and aliveness of the subject you are painting. It will also improve your painting skills as painting outdoors really makes you observe the landscape. Many of my plein air paintings remain just that, loose, painterly and impressionistic but sometimes I add details to them in the studio.

Painting Process Outdoors En Plein Air

Here are some of the progress photos as this painting evolved.

This is what the painting looked like when I finished it in the field

Back in the Studio

After this painting sat on my shelf in my studio for a year I decided to add some details to it.

Here is the finished painting

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