More recent paintings

Here are several other pieces that I haven't posted. The top piece was one of three pieces that I did at Sagamore Hill National Monument for the plein air competition. The other two are in the previous post, but this is the one I submitted (we could paint as much as we liked, but could only submit one).  I posted a lower-res version of it the weekend of the competition, but this is a more accurate photo.  There are a lot of things I like about it, but looking at it now, it needs more variety in the branches; they're all about the same thickness and width apart.  The tree may have been similar to that, but no one knows that now, you just look at it and see the repetitive composition. Good reminder.

The second down was a piece I did while camping with some friends. It's ok, a bit lifeless, really. I worked on it some more when I got home from memory, and this was the result.   The last two pieces are actually the same fallen tree (there's a third painting of the same branch down below), but on drastically different days.  The sunlit piece has some nice elements, but looks a little too 'composed'. I felt like it looked a little too much like an old Disney background painting without the good parts:)  The last piece was really a break-through piece for me. On the whole, I have spent few years coming to the realization that my mid-tones are generally too heavy and dark.  This painting was an attempt to consciously paint the mid-tones lighter than I saw them. I was pleased with the result, and subsequent paintings have seen my mid-tones becoming ever-more even-handed.  Compositionally, the ultra-straight diagonal branch should have never been painted that way. Even if I thought I saw it like that, I should have had the maturity to give it some life and interest. As it is it's just distracting. Oh well, these are for learning.