45.5cm (w) x 31.5cm (h), oil paints on board.
Date produced: January 2011

This is a study of the light and colours experienced in the view from the top of the local hill I regularly walk up to. I produced the study entirely on-site, so that I could readily compare the results I was getting in the painting, to the real colours and tones experienced.

Dry yellow grasses and the greens of healthy gum leaves in the full sun, are seen against a backdrop of blue sky and blue gulf water. The city of Adelaide and the large grassed area of Adelaide Airport behind it are shown on the flat plains ‘below’ the closer trees and yellow grasses from the top of the hill. This painting has been done outdoors, directly from observation and as ‘seen through a window’, in a similar manner to the majority of paintings produced by the French Impressionists.

Even though the painting may appear to have been done very quickly, it actually required about 5 intense sessions of about 2 hours at a time. I came across 2 brown snakes (on separate occasions) while walking up to and down from the spot I did this painting from.