Far North West Queensland outback painting by Alan J. Benge

If you've ever travelled in the outback of Queensland, you will have noticed that once you get past Longreach, there are large stretches of countryside that could well be described as "driving across the surface of the moon."
However this arid, dry country has a distinctive individuality that makes it unique.  Admittedly, it is as flat in places as a billard table. But if you can gain a viewpoint from a hill or rocky outcrop, you will be rewarded with amazing views.
It is one such view that gave me the inspiration to create this outback landscape in acrylic. I found a suitable hill on my way out to an ancient dinosaur quarry near Winton.
 I wanted to convey the sense of a huge, dusty plain, with a relentless sun on the horizon.  To give the foreground more impact, I used silhouette shapes of a stockman, his dog and horse, in solid contrast to provide interest in this part of the composition.  A limited colour palette was used, mainly warm browns, beige, with patches of red.  The background hills are a hazy blur of ranges receding into the distance. 

Outback painting of farmer with drought-parched landscape, Australia

In this acrylic rendition I pictured an outback farmer standing at the gate of his drought-stricken property.
 I used a limited palette of earthy oranges, reds, with black highlights.
I used a red tone on the farmer's shirt because I was attempting to have a warm colour in the foreground which would make it stand out more.
The dirt track leads the eye up to the house and windmill in the distance.