Winter's Night

[rvfowler]

MY IMAGE(S):
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Critiques/upload_spool/08-18-2002/12257_winter_s_night.jpg


GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Winter's Night
Year Created: 2002
Medium: Oil
Surface: Canvas
Dimension: 11 x 14
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
I'm new here and find the opportunity to get feed back form real artist that know what they are doing impossible to pass up. I am a Health & Physical Education Major so my knowledge of art is extremely limited but a few years ago my wife got me a Bill Alexnader starter set of paints for Christmas and I seem to have gotten hooked on painting. I'm a little color blind so sometimes it seems that the fewer colors I use the better off I seem to be.

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
I don't think I know enough at this point to ask intelligent questions so I would just appreciate any help, suggestions, or guidance anyone here would be willing to offer me.

[JustjoGA]

Beautiful picture... Moonlit night.... covered bridge... peace in the countryside... I think it looks great!

[Dave Carter]

A purple world, never would I have thought of such, but it seems to work. the river appears to be flowing BEHIND what I take to be a covered bridge cutting the composition in two with no device to link the parts together. The bridge could be rotated slightly clockwise to show the contact with the far bank more clearly and the lines of the structure would help lead the eye into the distance. The dark interior could be manipulated a smudge to do the same. The road seems to end at the bridge...a couple strokes on the far side to suggest where the road went...maybe some of the fence posts that are in the foreground, placed along the far road. The tree on the left is not needed there, but could serve on the right side. All in all an excellent effort.:D

[jackiesimmonds]

This pic has a wonderful atmosphere, andthe fact that you are a little colourblind probably helped - "monochromatic" pics often have much more impact than those which are full of colour.
Just one small point. It could help you to look at some books and articles on composition, and the division of the rectangle and the placing of a focal point. There are several points within a rectangle which are the best places on which to put one's focal point. Without getting heavy here, and talking about "golden sections" and suchlike, a simple rule of thumb is the rule of thirds. Split the pic up into thirds, and it often works really well, compositionally. So - though this is hard to describe in words -for example, a horizon line, one third of the way up from the bottom, or down from the top, is much better than a horizon line slap bang in the middle of the rectangle. In the case of your picture, your structure would have been a little better placed, if it had been a little further " in" from the left - about one-third of the way in from the left would have been ideal! At the moment, it looks ever so slightly as though it is trying to escape, stage left! This is because it is a bit too close to the left-hand side of the rectangle. Apart from this - lovely piece of work.