Grandeur of Summer

We all have to go through it, don't worry, you're doing just fine, and you'll do better next time. I like these paintings where the viewer is looking down into the scene. Your foreground bushes are little smudged in places but mostly they are defined and have variation of shape and colour so that's a good start, you've covered up most of the dark area underneath them, leave a bit more of it showing and your bushes will improve, the darker the base the more your highlights will show. Your sky is well blended and your mountains look great, and they can be really difficult. You've got everything in there, reflections, mist etc. Your evergreens look a bit windswept but they don't have to be neat. Dracula has put up a great article on how to paint amazing evergreens step by step if you want them to be really neat. There are other articles here too that you might find helpful. You have actually got a nice painting here, don't be discouraged, it takes time and practice, sometimes it just falls out of your brush and sometimes it doesn't. One thing for sure, you will never stop learning. Keep practicing, if you leave it a long time between paintings, there is a tendency to slip back a bit, quite a lot in my case. Hope to see more from you. Happy new year.

I really like your mountains, they look super cold and very realistic!
The large trees have some lovely details, and you have great reflections in the water.
TheLandscapePainter is right - we have all been there, i have just struggled with one for the last 3 days, don't forget you can always go back to your paintings if you like.

I took your advice Mrs C, and revisited the painting this morning. I made a few minor adjustments. I uploaded the 2nd version. Any thoughts?

I had it in my mind that you had to complete the painting in one session, since it is wet on wet. Knowing I can return to it at a later time relieves a lot of pressure! :)

Wonderful. Oils take ages to dry, so even a day or 2 later you will probably find you can still blend, depends on how much liquid white you put on to be honest.
I have created paintings I wasn't happy with, sometimes once they were dry I have gone back and painted over them entirely to reuse the canvas, other times, simply going back in and defining parts, or redoing parts is enough to make the painting whole for you.

Your trees around the back of the lake are certainly less whispy and more defined. The tree on the left is lovely now, really nice highlights and now I see some of the trunk too just peeping through the branches. Painting should be fun, not stressful, I know it can be frustrating when trying to achieve something specific, but try to allow the mistakes or imperfections, its how we learn. How do you feel about your painting now? Happier, want to do more to it, or paint a new one?

I am happy with it! I think I will leave this one as is.

Today, I am going to try "Secluded Bridge." :)