El Bolsón
This is my original plein air painting from a hike I did up to this viewpoint in Argentina’s El Bolsón.
Watercolour & gouache original painting 5.8” x 3.8”

This was my fourth day in Patagonia

Story Behind The Painting
What a first day in El Bolsón! I started the day off in Argentina's northern town of Patagonia, Bariloche, checked out and walked for almost an hour to the bus terminal to catch my 12.30 pm bus to El Bolsón.
I arrived in the small town Bolsón and checked into my hostel. I then grabbed some lunch from the supermarket and caught the next bus to the national park Lago Puelo.
I hiked around beautiful Lago Puelo and up Mirador hill for the amazing viewpoint. I brought my watercolour gear with me just in case, and when I arrived at the top of the hill alone with the incredible view, I decided to get the paints out.
I started painting a section of the amazing panoramic views with the huge lake, snow capped mountain peaks and forestry. I totally forgot about the time, as usual when I'm deep in the process of drawing and painting. Not long after starting a family of 4 kids and their mum sat down next to me. At one point I turned around and the mum was standing behind me taking a photo. She asked if I would sell my paintings and if I had any more, which I didn't at the time. But she took down my Facebook page address and said she would message me there. I thought that was really nice considering I am very new with painting landscapes in watercolours.
The family said goodbye and then I did my best to finish well before sunset. It was just me sitting on the cliff face with my paint materials all delicately balancing on, and being supported by little rocks and the crevices. I finished and checked the time, I had 20 minutes to make my bus which came every hour. I packed away as quickly as I could, took this photo, and started to run down the hill as fast as I could holding my bags close to my body. I was very optimistic that I would make the bus, even though I wouldn't have made it running the entire distance. Fortunately a lovely local lady called Marcela drove by my side and signaled if I needed a lift. She drove me to my bus with 1 minute to spare.