Secluded Bridge

Hi Bob! Try adding another tree or some foliage right there in the front. It will help push the rest of the painting back in the distance.

Hello Bob, I try to consider two things to get distance into my paintings. How to push the background back, and how to pull the foreground forward. To an extent it happens automatically because you start at the back and work your way forward. But you do need to show your layers by changing colours and leaving spaces here and there. When you do that, you are creating distance. It's just a subtle change but it would make a difference if the foliage on your background trees is a little lighter in colour so that it shows less detail. See how Bob's foliage colour is not much darker than the sky background, the lighter colours at the back of a painting helps push your background further back. See how Bob uses yellow in his painting to pick out some individual bushes towards the front, changing colours helps to define your layers and that helps to bring the front forward. I can see the layers in your bushes, but changing the colours to add variation and leaving spaces will help them become more defined and create distance when you layer them in front of each other. See how Bob separates his bushes using different colours and leaving spaces, something to think about on your next painting perhaps. The thing to remember when creating distance in your painting is you need little or no detail at the back of the painting, and more detail towards the front. For example if you do add some more bushes in the front as doggiemommee said, on your nearest bushes you might see some twigs because they are closer, and if you decide to add a tree towards the front, it would be nicely detailed. Simply adding some twigs in the foreground would make a difference, or a few yellow highlights to the grass in the foreground could look like little flowers and would bring the front forward. I'm not an expert, I haven't stopped making mistakes since day one, but I hope that helps. It might be worth looking to see if anyone here has written an article on the subject, lot of people here are happy to share their experience. Good luck.

TLP is much more eloquent than I am! Please listen to this advice. It’s what I meant but couldn’t say.

Thank you for the feedback! This is really good stuff. I’m excited to try more now. That was only my third ever painting and I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. I still love this painting and I love painting in general

Don’t ever be hard on yourself! You created something and that is super amazing! Most people can’t boast that feat.

Only your third painting, you are embarking on a magnificent journey! Go for it Bob, hope to see more from you.