Cumberland Falls

One thing I love about oils is their forgiving nature. I can see a lot of rework needed on the trees. I'm really having trouble with my greens. I'm having trouble on the trees period. One problem with this location is the trees are on a solid mountain. No relief with sky holes. I can see that I need to bring the intensity of the greens way down.
The rock formation looks like a walrus in my painting. I'm not sure how I will fix that. I didn't see the walrus at the scene or in the photo, but there it is in the painting. It's just laying there. Funny how once you spot something out of place, that's all you see. For now this is a painting of a walrus under bright green trees. Did anybody notice the waterfall? That was the intended center of interest. I'll put this one on the shelf for a few days. Maybe if it stares at me long enough, It will tell me how to fix it.

Little Solitude

5" x 7", Oil on canvas panel.

This is a little practice piece. My main focus was to get an airy feeling to the trees. This is the kind of quiet place I like to go to and just enjoy nature.
These little panels are great for practice but the finished piece looks so grainy. The texture of the canvas really shows. I can't wait until it is warm enough to paint outside.

The lesson I learned here is, don't put a green tractor in a green landscape. I painted this to learn how to put a landscape background around larger center of interest. I think this would have worked if it had been a fall scene. Someday I just might do that to see the comparison.
I've got a long way to go on trees. I've watched the William Powell DVD, "How to Paint Trees" a couple of times. He gives some good advice and I highly recommend any of his DVDs . You can get it at http://www.williampowell-artist.com/ His best advice, "Practice, Practice, Practice"