How networking can help your painting.

Yesterday I posted a small 10" x 10" oil canvas on Facebook and received great positive response but something was nagging me about the painting. Then I received a comment asking if they could make a suggestion. Of course was my immediate reply. Let's face it criticism good or maybe bad is how we can grow as artists and as human beings. I was so focused I never saw the obvious until it was pointed out to me. In the original painting the mountain had formed an arrow effect and made your eye jump up and out of the painting. As soon as I read this I knew that was what had bothered me and started to rework the painting.

To make the composition flow better and to prevent the eye from jumping off the canvas I brought the tree line up on both sides of the canvas. This allows your eye to move up the canvas in a zig zag fashion but now will settle onto the canvas. Your eye does not focus on the dominating mountain top.

I also softened the sky and mountains very slightly with a wash. The composition in this painting works very well now and all thanks to a very kind critique. It is a challenge to see a painting in its real light and sometimes a nudge can make all the difference. By the way thank you to my friend at Facebook for letting me see this painting in its real light.