In France he was influenced by the painter Gustave Courbet who was taking a new and quite revolutionary realistic approach.

Hone became a close friend of one of Corot's followers at the Barbizon School of landscape painting.

At Barbizon he learned to appreciate colour, texture and tone in the landscape, and applied it in strong and confident brushworks to the painting of Irish subjects on his return.

In Paris, Hone worked closely with artist Édouard Brandon, also a follower of Corot's, and stayed with him at 44, rue du Notre Dame de Lorette.

This allows for a large amount of space to be given to the rich and dominating sky full of white cumulus clouds.