Painting the Bay of Islands

"Roberton Island" Oil on Canvas by Richard Robinson

This is one of my favorite spots on the planet. Roberton Island in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

"Tapeka Point" Oil on Canvas by Richard Robinson

This is the bay we stayed in for a week, 13 family members.

"Low Tide, One Tree Point" Oil on Canvas by Richard Robinson

A commissioned piece of our local harbour. Pretty sure I've got the hang of seagulls now, mostly.

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Comment by Dorian Aronson on April 4, 2013 at 2:35: No wonder it is one of your favorite places on the Planet. You says so and I believe, you prove it with your paintings and make it one of my favorites. Richard : ))

Comment by Caryl Park on April 3, 2013 at 19:43: Catherine, lets take a slow stroll around the bay and see who has the priviledge of living there, maybe we meet someone friendly enough to know we are tourists and they might even offer us a sail in one of their boats... or is that wishful thinking. I agree totally Jim... my ex lives in NZ happily and I had no idea it was so beautiful.

The reflections in the water in the foreground are so well done I can even see those rocks look a little slippery. I will come back her, again and again.

Comment by Jim Haycock on March 31, 2013 at 11:33: And, one more thought... To me, great art is BETTER than reality! I am genuinely interested in what the artist WANTS me to see. Art is a great way to share our hearts and minds -- more than what we see, even what we FEEL.

Richard, your art does that amazingly well! I know how beautiful New Zealand is by simply seeing the photos, but having never been there, I rely on your art to show me how it FEELS.

Comment by Catherine Spencer on March 31, 2013 at 10:01: Richard, i love the variation of colour in your sand at low tide ... and yes, your seagulls look great. Really like the realism of this one ... makes me want to sit on one of those rocks, enjoy the scenery and squish my toes into the wet sand.

Comment by Caryl Park on March 30, 2013 at 12:35: Jim... that is exactly why we are here, as Richard says... chasing the rainbow.

Comment by Richard Robinson on March 30, 2013 at 9:27: The more you practice the more your sensitivity to colour grows so you get a better sense of what colour should go where or more importantly which colours would not be likely to appear within a landscape within each plain (foreground, midground, background) given the lighting conditions and atmosphere you're trying to portray. As for depth I think getting the drawing right counts for a huge portion of convincing depth. I still feel I'm a long way from painting a truly harmonious and consistent lighting effect throughout an entire scene but I often feel it's tantalisingly close, like chasing a rainbow. If it was easy to catch it wouldn't be worth chasing though right?

Comment by Jim Haycock on March 30, 2013 at 9:11: I've been studying this lately because it's always been a mystery how great painters create depth and consistency in their scenes. Richard and Michael, along with some others on here, do it rather well. From my understanding, it seems that they match chroma and value with the light source and other elements -- such as overcast skies and shadows in the scene to match what we might expect in our minds. Plus, it isn't enough to simply add the right hue and value to specific spots; these all need to be coordinated with respect to each other as well.

Now, if I could only do that...

Comment by Caryl Park on March 30, 2013 at 6:11: I wish I understood fully what you mean by atmoshere color? What I always notice about Richards paintings is that inspite of a fairly colourless picture Richard brings such vibrancy to his paintings without changing the wonderful scenery.

Comment by Michael J. Severin on March 25, 2013 at 12:38: Beautiful paintings Richard !! ...........I love the way you have harmonized the whole painting by putting your atmosphere color into everything!! ....at least it looks like you did that to me?