You don’t have to be a hobbit to want to paint a landscape so beautiful, unusual, and magical that it inspires the top filmmakers. Just ask the lucky 50 artists who are attending the Paint New Zealand Publisher’s Invitational this week.
PleinAir magazine publisher Eric Rhoads took an informal poll at the Fall Color Week event in Maine last fall on where the gathered plein air painters would most like to go. New Zealand won.
Only 50 painters were allowed to join the tour, which will hit Auckland, Queenstown, Wellington, Hobbiton—the set of the Lord of the Rings films, Gibbston Valley, Walter Peak, Sir Richard Taylor’s Weta Workshop, and more.
New Zealand has remarkably diverse landscapes, from snow-capped volcanic mountains to giant waterfalls, from tropical forests to startlingly colorful beaches, from rich rolling hills to vibrant towns. Some of the films that were shot in the Pacific country include The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, Whale Rider, Vertical Limit, The Last Samurai, and, of course, The Hobbit. The visiting artists will paint alongside local plein air painters and benefit from their tips and experience. We’ll be reporting from NZ to share what was learned.
