Student’s Comments:
What I like:
- I like this painting, in particular, the colours bouncing out life into the painting.
- The white barks of the trees: an identification through colour rather than realism.
- Palette knife painting: my favourite when using oils
What could be improved:
- Choice of style – do I go realistic or flat? More detail or less? This works for me. Just wondering if I am crossing my styles too much?
Dan’s Comments:
What I like:
- The use of color, particularly the brilliant pinks at the bottom. It reminds me of Julian Onderdonk’s work with bluebonnets.
- You did a good job with the technique. Did you use a palette knife for this? It has a bold finish yet it works.
- The composition is nicely balanced and appears natural.
What could be improved:
- The sky is too dark. A lighter blue would make it more distinct and give the painting more depth. See the grayscale of the painting below. The sky is far too dark compared to the land. If you get the values right, your painting will get a dramatic boost in realism without anything else changing.
- The trees appear to be missing shadows. Refer to your reference photo if you have one. They also look a bit too neat and white. For inspiration, check out Frederick McCubbin’s landscapes.
- I like the horizontal theme with your strokes, but it is perhaps overdone. A few vertical strokes could act as a point of contrast and help break up the repetition.
- The leaves and branches of the feature trees are a bit muddy and they get lost against the background. Perhaps a bit of clarity in the form of highlights and dark accents would work well here.
As for your comments on the style, I think the style is fine. It looks cohesive to me.