From the artist: I just recieved a Christmas present of enough art supplies to learn how to paint using acrylics. This is my very first painting, ever, of any type, and I did it based on Elliot's Lesson #1 in his Basics of Acrylics lessons. I call it "Forgotten Chores." Please let me know how I can improve it!

The Learning Gallery: First Acrylic Landscape

Your Original

Strong Points: I can't believe it! This is your first painting? My first one didn't even come close to yours. What a marvelous job! There is great color harmony because you minimized your color scheme sticking basically in the ochre range. This also accounts for the warm feeling. The big tree in the middle ground is very well done, especially the trunks. The grass is superb. Most artists get carried away very easily and overdo the texture in grass. Your center of interest (the bucket and pole) is well placed. You have at least the three planes. The little flowers in the foreground add a nice touch.

My Modified Version

Areas to Work On / My Modifications: The tree in the far distance follows the same contour as the big tree in the front. Stay away from dualism. The painting was done in an overall mid-value, the dark values were missing. The path seems to float on the grass. The big tree in the middle ground is well drawn but I feel that trees that don't contain areas where the sky peeks through look "pasted on".

My modifications: The path was removed. It wasn't really necessary. The far tree is now replaced with sky, eliminating the same round contour. A cloud was added to add more body and some sky holes are now seen in the tree giving it an airy feeling. This also ties the sky and tree together. The background was darkened more to add another plane. This also allows for more light in the grass by contrast(This is where a dark value becomes a plus). The immediate foreground was put into shadow to help give the illusion of distance. The pole is casting a shadow now. I lightened the value of the pole and bucket to pop them out more. A few more flowers were added to the left. Additional comments: The pluses outweigh the negatives. I'd like to see more of your work in the future! [ Discuss in the Art Critique Message Forum! ]