Student’s Comments:
What I like:
- This painting is influenced by your Dan Scott, Brisbane City, Mist, 2022 in what concerning the red poppies on the green grass. I like the feeling of the olive trees, obtained by broken color and creating some transparency through the trees. The composition is not classical, but I think it works.
What could be improved:
- A better contrast to emphasize the reds.
Dan’s Comments:
What I like:
- Love the style and overall appearance of this one. It reminds me of Childe Hassam’s work.
- There’s a good sense of depth with the foreground (grass and land), middle ground (tree), and background (sky). These areas in space are distinct yet melt into each other with the broken color.
- You did well with the broken color technique. It works well with the blue underpainting that I can see at the bottom. This combination has worked well in a few of my recent paintings, like Brisbane City, Mist.
- I like the play between the warm and cool colors. It feels like an autumn day.
What could be improved:
- It could use some refining and bursts of clarity, particularly around the trees. Look at John Russell’s The Garden, Longpre-les-Corps-Saints (the image at the top of the post).
- The sky needs to be lighter. Not necessarily all parts of the sky, but I think there need to be a few more light strokes at the top. This will add more depth to the painting, and it will give the sky more of a white glow.
- I think the dabs of white are overdone around the middle. They also look unnatural and repetitive.
For inspiration, check out Childe Hassam, Camille Pissaro, and John Russell.