Morning Has Broken.....(and confessing my sin...)
I thought I would post this before I tried to fix my sin by trying to lift some pigment out of that dark line of trees in the background, if possible. I seem to do that too often. In the "real" scene, the evergreen trees appeared so dark back there where the forest begins, and I was taken by the contrast in the early morning light against the rosy sky, so I forgot to remember the rules of aerial perspective when committing a scene to a painting, where it will be judged on its merits without the viewer having benefit of understanding what the scene in nature looked like and how it felt in the moment.
This is posted in the spirit of the "learning by our mistakes" discussion and how we are profiting in the forum by our commitment to give sincere and honest critiques to each other whenever necessary.
This was done back in the studio so I could have lifted before posting, but I thought it might serve as a helpful example to someone.
Also what else would you try to fix if you were I? Perhaps lifting out some color in the right hand clump of trees? Other "sins"? 😊
18x24 Arches Rough
Oh my goodness, Olly!...as we say where I come from when we have received something that surprises us and gratifies us.
Your response has given us so much to think about in this dilemma of the role "correct" composition plays in our work. The rules can seem very daunting for beginners who are eager just to paint, but then don't know quite why their paintings are not working. They are having so much to learn with the tools, the paint, paper, and brushes, that the understanding of how "composition" works can seem to add a cumbersome layer to their efforts. The first part of your point #3 is especially helpful in this regard....it's an encouragement to spend some time with the 'rules' at the beginning because of the ease they will give us in achieving our goals in our work.
Thank you so much! If this is an indication of the quality and readability of the instruction in your coming book, I can't wait for my copy.