As with most artists of the period, Hobbema worked partly from nature and partly from imagination. He would have made preparatory sketches of his scene in situ, and then used the sketches to create the painting in a studio. His landscape is distinctively Dutch with its flat countryside and vast expanse of sky.

One of the most striking things about Hobbema's 'Avenue at Middelharnis' is that it makes the viewer feel as if they are inside the picture space. (This works best when standing in front of the actual painting.)

The unusual plunging perspective of the straight road means that our eye is irresistibly drawn along the straight road to the village in the distance. The lines of slender trees exaggerate this effect. A more common device was to have a winding road that gently led the viewer's eye through the landscape.

The composition shows what we would see if we were actually standing on the road itself. Hobbema has placed the huntsman's head right next to the painting's vanishing point. His face is at the viewer's eye-level giving the impression that he is walking toward us.

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