Get some books by the late, great Helen Van Wyk, study them and try to do what she says. Everything she says is correct and she says it better than anyone has ever said it.
You should paint more.
You learn more by making awful paintings than you do by making good ones.
For this one.. look again at the bowl.
Your darks need to be a lot darker and your lights need to be a lot lighter.

Hi Billmahler!

I thank you for the tip and I will be getting that book. She was great. There are also her videos on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dANl1TnT8fw

I’m going to adjust the picture and as you said by mistake it is that you persevere.

Thank you!

Difficult to answer without knowing what your intentions were. Your painting has a naive or symbolic feel to it. It that was what your were after, then it’s a nice painting! If you were striving for realism, there are some things you could improve on.

Hi Ochre!

A big hug!

I liked the first one. There is a simpleness and texture to it I found appealing.

If you are going for realism you have to go strictly by whatever your subject is. Any “thought” on your part is generally a mistake. If you “think” the bowl should be darker and don’t look at it to see the actual color it is. In the shadow as well as the actual color of the bowl, even the highlight.. It’s a mistake. That’s what realism is.. You are simply a catalyst of real life light to paint.

A few realists that have great videos on youtube are Paul Foxton and Mark Carder. You can learn a ton of stuff from them and fast forward your quest for realism. You should probably start with Carder, he has more beginner videos.

Hi Ellis,
I understood the explanation. I made a beginner mistake. This bowl I created from my imagination, so I did not have a concrete reference.

Thank you very much for the help. Everyone in the forum is attentive and with good opinions and advice.

Interesting you called it flower pot. Is the subject the pot or the flowers? The first image theres more pot. The second more flowers. Something made you alter course. Stick with the original thought. Its often the right one.

Hi Raffless,

I’m super happy with your usual help!

I liked the first one too. The second version is OK.
What is nice about the painting IS the intensity of the colour. I don’t know why you want to subdue the colours.
Look around online and elsewhere and note pictures you like. Try to do something like them. I think this is how most people start painting.

My friend is very grateful to be helping me again.

I’m finishing painting a Camille Pissarro Representation. Let’s see if I will not make the brilliant author roll in the grave.

I still prefer the second one, but that is what it is all about, all personal preference. It’s really up to what you as the artist prefers.

I agree with the comment about the simplicity of the first version. However, the flower pot itself in the first one feels flat because of how light the shadows are.

I also agree with the above posters that the intensity of the colors is great. I can’t really give you a ‘why’, but the intensity of color really reminds me of van Gogh (though he would have used more abstract colors for the background).

Carry on though, this is looking great to me.

Hi CynicalSaint,

Stay with God!