OK, well this lost something in scanning, but was not great to begin with. The photo is one I took ages ago when my husband and I were first dating. The Bixby Bridge is a lovely vista, some day I hope to do it justice.
I tried hard to simplify the image so that the focus would be on the bridge and cliff in the center of the painting. Am reasonably happy with that portion, but think the rest is just wrong. I'm a rank beginner, welcome any suggestions on how I can build my skills! Thank you Olly for your tutorials - I feel like I am learning so much in every one, just need the practice to make that learning happen on paper.
I had another go at this, focusing more on the sketch that I'd made as opposed to the photo.I think overall it's an improvement though I still have a long way to go to get to where I'd like to be...
dear Linda,
You've done very well with what you've focused on, the bridge and the cliffs in the middle ground.
If I may say so, I would try to reduce the color of the background cliffs with slightly softer gradients there. Perhaps a less bright green in the foreground would also work well.