A radical departure .....

I gave myself four hours to do this (I didn't want to take any more time away from my regular painting).   If I was going to do more on it I think I would put in a pelican slightly left of and below center curving in for a landing to the back part of the pond/river .   This is a real departure for me and was done as a "homework" assignment.   I'm not "turning it in" as the receiving forum regularly ignores my attempts at posting.   It's 12" by 16" and while it definitely isn't me, I must admit to just a smidgeon of enjoyment in doing it.   The image colors are off a bit (the white "spots" on the shore actually have a warm cast).



Let's see; clones, dishes, not enough melodic lines ..... hmm.   Yep, it could stand more work.   I think it might have improved it a lot to have the back line of the pond/river near horizontal.   If it's a river not having reflections for the far trees probably is the way to go.   If it's a pond they probably should be there.   Looking forward to any comments.

You're ahead of me. I only did a sketch of the mesquite tree in front of my house. I haven't submitted that yet either and am also usually passed over. I see good melodic lines and abstract shape. (The triangular shape at the center may be a "No,No" if it bothers you) I agree that the reflections in the distance aren't necessary since this does look like a rapidly flowing river rather than a pond. for a quick study, I think you did really well. Maybe tomorrow, I'll get around to doing it and you can pick it apart.

I have learned a great deal from the course, but as his son, Ken, said you also have to maintain your own individuality. It is good practice to venture away from your comfort zone sometimes and discover small things that add to you talent.

Judy

Well I'm not taking the class...it's too advanced for me. All I can say is that I like your painting. I don't even know where the triangluar shape is, but it looks great to me!

After some gentle nudging from my wife and Judy's comments, I revisited the painting and applied more of the things learned in the class.  

This went through several stages (Jim's Definitions ):

(1) CORRECTING - making changes when you know what you're doing,
(2) OVER-CORRECTING - Knowing what you are doing, but doing too much of it,
(3) NOODLING - making changes without knowing what you are doing, and
(4) KNOODLING - doing so much noodling it kills parts of the painting .

I have to keep this painting turned to the wall in the studio.   Otherwise I keep seeing more little things to correct!   Showing blades of grass in the foreground is supposedly not so good.   However, I left it in the lower right of the painting.   It is very close in value to the water behind it and therefore doesn't stand out too much but does, in my opinion, help the viewer to interpret what they are seeing.   I count that as a benefit.

The camera caught some reflections in the Before image that made some of the rocks look white.   These weren't "knoodled"; I just did a better job with the camera setup for the After image.



Okay, it's time to turn this to the wall again (at least until I get some pelican photos).

Jim,

I was teasing you about the triangle, but it really does look better with that change. I agree with you that the few blades of grass add to it. Some times, rules are made to be broken when that improves a painting. I can't wait to see the pelican. I have some great pictures of a blue heron if that will do.

Judy

I think this is beautiful. I am just having a bit of confusion about the light direction. It may be overcast, or my monitor or the fact that it is late and my contacts need to come out.

Ha, another good call.   Looks like I'll have to revisit the painting even before I find some pelicans .   I was so wrapped up in avoiding clones, making melodious lines, etc that I didn't pay attention to the light.   While it is supposed to be one of those fall days where summer weather comes back bringing a slight cloud overcast, there should be some hint of where the light is coming from.   I'm used to relying on the camera to provide me with that info, but I did this without any reference photos.   In this case, trust the camera, not your mind ????