Hmm - I notice the barn's 2 sides show the same value, when one side would have more or less shadow, and the perspective on it seems a bit off as well...

The path to the barn is ”off” for me. It kinda jumps out.

I agree with hounds. Remove the path.

Thanks. Every time I try to paint a barn or cabin I just can't get it right. And I can paint other trees but evergreens always remind me of how I printed in grade school.

Are you doing these all from your imagination?

I like your trees. I think they are quite realistic and that's coming from timber country here on the coast. I'm not qualified to critique your painting or anyone else's....unlike my mother, I haven't an artistic gene in my body 😊 But enlarging and studying in it, I wonder if the color of the path or drive isn't throwing things off a bit. It almost looks like fresh soil or colored as though freshly mulched - neither of which it might be in snowy winter.

Maybe take a step back, leave it for a while, then look again with fresh eyes. You may find something your heart tells you to change or find you are satisfied with it exactly as is.

Do you ever show or exhibit?

You should paint whatever image you "see". What others see doesn't matter.

One technique observation to share - when there's a horizon in the image, beginners often put it too low. As low as dividing the scene into an upper half and a lower one, and this scene is about like that. .

Think of how things look to the eye. Unless you're on a hill or in a field in the Midwest, the horizon is usually higher, often taking up little more than 1/4 or 1/3 of the vertical space. The vantage point you show is higher than most of the trees.

Nice scene, though.

There is no depth. The trees in the distance look like the trees in the foreground. The barn looks like it should be with the trees in the front row, same with the path, it should fade as it gets closer to the barn. Every thing in the distance should be much cooler in color & foggier then the things in the foreground. I hope that this makes sense.

I agree with girlnamedgalez - everything looks two dimensional and flat, which can be deliberate, as in many folk paintings, but is that what you want?

I agree, Lars. Like a Grandma Moses painting. Or Maud Lewis.

Thank you so much for the input. I can now see what the problem is and where I went wrong. I did do an art show years ago and sold most of my paintings.

I really enjoy painting and do it often but I have never taken a lesson and have never tried to sell anything so take what I say for what it is worth....

I find it very helpful to look at my paintings, as they are in progress, from different perspectives. My paintings might look fine while laying flat but when I look at them through a mirror I notice something completely different. Likewise with viewing them through a photo or in different light. I find all these perspectives important when creating a piece.

It is similar to suggestion above about looking with a fresh eye a few hours or days later.

I am very far from being an artist, so please don’t take this as an expert opinion. I think the barn needs more prominence, and the trees are all too much alike. Some varied ’things’…trees, green or bare, around the barn might appeal more, although I love the way you paint the evergreens. And I agree with hound’s assessment of the path.

I'm going to take everyone's suggestions and tweak it more. Will show another pic when I do that

FWIW, it can be helpful to reference real life examples of the things you're painting - even photos are good resource. A big part of drawing/painting is seeing, and the practice of trying to capture what you see, using your hands and a tool like a brush, pen or pencil, is a great exercise

(art teacher with a BFA here)

So I got inspired. So far I added more shading to cabin, angled roof line more and toned down the dirt road. Next is to add darker trees in the distance and add a little darker green to the other trees

Looking forward to seeing your tweaked one. For me, it's the path to/from the barn that stands out as wrong. That's what I saw first. Almost like the barn vomited. Sorry if that's too critical or graphic. You're obviously very talented - I wish I had some of your expertise! But alas, I'm not artistic at all.

Suzieque I spent most of my life doing some form of art. I've done mostly Celtic knot paintings. I just started painting landscapes so I'm still learning as I do them. I watch a lot of Bob Ross on YouTube.

Fabulous. I am looking forward to more of your creations.

I think what you might want to think about is, where is your light source? The trees look flat as they seem to be lit from the front, and yet they are rounded so there should be some side shadows....but the sky looks brighter so there should be some cast shadows on the ground and some form shadow to emphasize the curved shape.

I can't draw or paint for beans. But I am fascinated with light and shadow and how simple changes in that can make the image change so dramatically....I think about -- for candy crushers, you know what I'm talking about -- how with some simple shading, they make the "saucer" pop off the page, dance across the screen and zap out candies. My thinking on this was reinforced when an old Peggy Sagers had on her favorite art teacher who was demonstrating the different kinds of shadows. She was demonstrating it to improve one's ability to draw draping fabric which contains all kinds of shadows and light. I found it fascinating. This goes into detail about the different types of light, highlights, cast shadows, etc. : https://www.artinstructionblog.com/drawing-lesson-a-theory-of-light-and-shade/

I've never had any formal art training, what little I know I learned from reading, watching others paint, (especially Bob Ross), and just picking up a brush and painting. So please take my comments with a grain of salt, they are my opinion only.

It appears that the light in your painting is coming from the upper left (as I am looking at it), but the shadows the trees are casting suggest the light is from straight above. And I agree with Annie, above. The trees need some 'rounding out', but make sure the light comes from the same place with all the shadows.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this painting after you've worked on it a bit more, it's going to be beautiful!

Rusty

What happened to my post?

Cindy I think you posted on my other post I did My Latest Creation

You are correct. Thank you.