Sunset cove

Love the soft blending in the sky.

Mmm, can i be honest?...I often struggle offering criticism as i am far less qualified than a lot of people around here but frankly i'm struggling here with a few things and i hope you will take it in the spirit intended. Firstly there is NO horizon line and it's difficult to see where the sky ends and the sea starts ,also the hills could use some highlights in contrast to the small piece of land bottom right which looks great! Maybe a bright sun or a few seagulls?...a couple walking on the beach?...I know you were working from a photograph but don't let that stop you adding or even taking away elements to improve the overall composition .I have happily received such criticisms and found them helpful ,i hope you will too J..

Thank you for the feedback. Yes I tried run a water line for the horizon. Doesn't show very well. Need to work on it. Supposed to be small islands in the distance, turned into happy accidents. Wasn't sure about the texture for the green on the beach. Picture has trees but I couldn't get the distance right.

Painting from photograph is harder than from a painting. Photos is often flat, without depth, no enough details, too much contrast. it is hard to chnage the perspective when you paint from a photo. I tried sometimes and I felt like that I was just a wrong printer. Photos can be use just for getting ideas what to paint. But yopu have to convert its subject into a painting.

So here is the picture I was trying to recreate. https://www.reddit.com/r/Outdoors/comments/mju7yl/jervis_bay_australia_tomnoske/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

That picture almost like a painting. As I see the main parts in that picture are the waves of the see, the sandy shore, the clouds and the horizon which gives the depth. I think those should be detailed enough. It is important to give the correct perspective of the main parts.

Great blending in the sky- nice softness. Photos are difficult to work from as many times colors are distorted and we need to add our own decisions. But photo is a great source of learning what nature does. Good tool to use. Could be frustrating because when we see photo in front we try to zoom in to add all details and get swamped in them and those details are not needed unless they form point of interest in the painting. Congrats with first painting from photo! I am sure there were many lessons and discoveries during painting! Keep learning!