Painting Dart Valley and Ruakaka Beach

[Richard Robinson]

Painting in the Dart Valley, Glenorchy.

Back home now but here's some pictures from my last day painting down south last Friday in the auspicious company of Ben Ho, Mary Mai and John Crump. To get to some of these places it's really a matter of who you know - there's just so much you don't see when you stick to the main roads. John's been painting outdoors here for 30-odd years so it came as no surprise when he churned out a stunning painting 6 times the size of mine in two thirds the time. Learned a lot and am looking forward to getting back there as soon as possible. A big problem I have where we live is that there are just no other painters around who are keen on plein air painting. Seems like an old fashioned idea or something!

Here's the wee painting I did anyway:

'Dart Valley' - 10x8" - Oil on Canvasboard

and here's how the scene looked when we first got there:

I was a bit worried about coming home and feeling like there's nothing to paint around home that compares to the south island. Glad to say I've been out twice already and still had a good time painting, even though the weather was pretty ridiculous for the second outing.

'Sunset Dunes' - 10x8" - Oil on Canvasboard

The block-in. Note the full spectrum palette - thought I'd try it for a change.
Means you spend less time mixing which is nice.

'Evening Clouds' - 10x8" - Oil on Canvas Board

Yup, nice to be home.

[Richard Robinson]

Sounds good Lorna. Just give me a call when you're in the area. 0212121554.

[Lorna Allan]

Hi Richard, I was down in this area over the Christmas period. I agree, very few people like to go out doing plein air painting. I really want to do much more this spring/summer when it decides to arrive. Maybe we will meet up sometime some place.