Student’s Comments:
What I like:
- Local creek and feels peaceful and approachable.
What could be improved:
- Trees should be denser with more brushwork.
Dan’s Comments:
What I like:
- The painting is realistic but it still looks like a painting. A thumbnail test is always a good test of realism. If you can make sense of a painting in a thumbnail image, then the big-picture stuff is most likely accurate.
- You did a great job capturing the brilliance of the lights scattered through the trees and reflected off the water. This comes down to good use of value (how light and dark your colors are).
- The water appears both distinct yet part of the landscape. Good job linking these two areas together. A common mistake I see in landscape painting, especially busy ones like this, is disjointed parts. A painting must always be considered as a whole, not as a sum of its parts.
What could be improved:
- Be careful about getting caught up in the details. Focus on big, simple shapes first, then move on to the particulars. You might find that the big, simple shapes do most of the work for you if you get them right.
- I would make the left and right sides at the bottom a touch darker. This would help focus our attention around the middle of the painting and would make the light appear more brilliant by comparison. The value gradation would also add more depth to the painting.
- The negative space for the sky seems a bit timid. Consider making a few stronger shapes to represent gaps through to the sky. But don’t overdo it. Less is more here.
- The shoreline looks a touch rigid. Can we add more of a curve to help lead our eyes around the painting?
Thanks Diane! Look up Isaac Levitan’s work for more inspiration.