It is far from perfect.
But it’s only my first one ever, so plenty of room for learning.
I hope you like it anyway.
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No painting is ever “perfect.” I think you did an amazing job! The lighting is well portrayed and the reflections in the water are spot on. I love it
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This is amazing. I wouldn’t have thought it was your first landscape! I love the spooky tree!
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Those reflections are amazing! This is great!!
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Gorgeous. You got the reflections so well, and the sway of the trees.
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I swear I thought this was a photograph. I love this so much. I can almost feel the crisp air that must be in the landscape.
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Thank you very much, @MamaRhi, @Manders, @Bunny1kenobi, @gozer and @stitchandstones !
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That’s lovely! Wonderful job and great work on the reflections.
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Thank you, @Tapestry !
I do like it very much! And I love using watercolors. Your painting is very good and put me in a mood right away. I could feel myself there, wherever it is. It looks like poetry to me and reminds me of a crisp, fall day. Your water reflection is exquisite.
All I can say is keep painting. I like your folk art, naive, primitive style. Don’t try to make your paintings perfect. If you labor over that, you’ll lose the spontaneous, natural feel that this painting portrays.
I asked myself what was one of the most striking things about your painting. It is the complimentary colors. You’ve used primarily golden brown and blue, opposites on the color wheel. Don’t know if you meant to, but those colors used together enhance each other in clear, brilliant colors playing off each other.
Have you been studying? Your touches of green are just right. Your trees, in their simple starkness, look so real, without being fine art realism. Your branches are well-formed and just the right number. I’ve seen many trees like the one in the middle.
I want to walk in this painting and sit awhile at the water’s edge…
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Thank you very much, @ArtsyLadyCrafter !
I don’t take courses (my health issues won’t let me), but I watch free watercolor tutorials on YouTube.
This painting is loosely after a picture my Marc took on one of his walks (I placed the trees closer together, for a more interesting composition).
Concerning colors: I never studied color theory, but I was born with the ability to mix and match colors in my head.
I used to think everybody could mix colors in their mind, so it was quite a surprise growing up and finding that it doesn’t work like that for most people. I have given paint color mixing advice, even by phone, to friends and family a lot in my life.
Of course the layering of see through layers in watercolor made things more complicated, but it also in a fun way reduced my perfectionism. I love how watercolor has a mind of its own.
(So I should stop introducing my paintings with ‘is not perfect’, lol.)
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IKR?! Even knowing what it is, when I go back and look at it, it looks like a photo. Just unusual and extraordinary…
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That is absolutely stunning! It looks and feels so real.
Your color mixing ability sounds amazing! How cool is that? And incredibly handy for an artist. I’ve never heard of anything like that. I only use primary colors when painting with acrylics and mix everything as I go. So a gift like that would be so useful.
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Thank you, @Silky_Bee !
And thank you again, @ArtsyLadyCrafter !
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PS: that ‘spooky tree’ is a pollard willow.
You can find a lot of them around here, usually at the borders of meadows.
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Oh that’s neat, thanks for sharing. 
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Congratulations! Your project is out of this world and Featured this week!
Thank you very much, @TheMistressT !
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Wow! This is crazy impressive for a first time. I can’t imagine your skills after a few more paintings:)
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It looks beautiful! It looks really realistic in my opinion and I think you did a wonderful job!! Especially the stream and the trees.
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