Landscape painting, a bit too open?

#1

Hey!
I made some changes according to the previous critiques, hopefully I didn’t forget something!

I want new critique on this piece, so I can see if I’m heading in the right direction.
Is this painting appealing?
Do you want to travel on that road, or does it look dangerously steep?
Is the water and ice below the mountain something you find interesting? Does it look right…
I kinda rushed the grass in the foreground, but I really was rushing this thing at the end.

I used some reference images. Reference of snowy mountains and old locomotives throwing out lots of smoke because of the burning coal. I somehow wanted to give the same effect coming from the mountains.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/76923147@N06/9513444836/

#2

Cool painting. Couple of things to consider.

That looks like a mountain and therefore those cylindrical structures would be hundreds of metres tall… Cut them down a bit, perhaps like this:

The grass area is odd, why has it snowed everywhere apart from that little square?

The horizon just stops dead. You would see layers of mountains in the distance - get some reference images (french alps / russia for example) to see what happens. Colour picking out of photographs to see how values change in relation to distance is not a bad way to learn in the beginning. I would check out lessons on ‘atmospheric perspective’ so you can begin to put depth in your image.

Overall, your concept’s not bad but you need to consider scale and study how values and colour change into the distance. I like the idea of some massive train infrastructure cutting through the landscape.

#3

The road actually goes downhill, but now I see how the track in the mid-ground kinda ruin that illusion :frowning: Its supposed to be a huge distance, making the foreground (which is on a hill) a bit less snowy.

I wanted to draw these huge things spitting out smoke on top of the mountain…but now that you mention it, it makes the mountain looks smaller than intended, craaap :open_mouth:

Thanks a lot for your feedback, and the paint over really helped me see the difference.

#4

I see what you mean about where it goes downhill, the reason it’s hard to tell is that the track after the hill is too saturated. It should be bluer and with less contrast. As things get further away they take on the general hue of the sky.

#5

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