# Down by the riverside



## Grampy (Jun 7, 2016)

This is acrylic on 20 x 16 canvas panel. I've been trying to get more depth into my paintings.
Your comments would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Steve


----------



## Desdichado (May 26, 2016)

Hi Grampy, that's a nice work and the answer is a simple one: "Value" is a word that the art community use to defeine density of light and shade in painting. Don't be afraid to highlight some small areas in white or very light paint for brightness, on the water, tops of the rocks, edges of trees etc, and add a touch of darker colour to contrast it. 
As I said, it's a nice work and needs only a few small touches to finish it. Hope this helps.

Jim.


----------



## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

i think you did a good job with it. contrary to above suggestion i think there is an ok amount - maybe too much highlights as in pure white .. the reflected parts
have no texture that way and appear flat which kind of breaks the nice flow of the water with no reflection. but its really ok as it is. you are improving really
really fast from good to super good 

also not sure what would be an issue with the value? the painting has really good values and it reads super quick even as thumb very small...


anyway - good work!


----------



## Desdichado (May 26, 2016)

Well, we'll just have to disagree won't we? :wink:

Grampy was asking for ways to get more depth in his paintings. Pure white is sometimes hard to hold it's colour (so much so that I use accrylic white rather than the watercolour variety in my paintings) and there isn't much pure white in his painting. I also advocated a few small touches, not a fence paint in the work. The tops of the stones, for instance, are one colour and I also suggested a lighter tone in places (not necessarily white, just lighter offset by a little more depth in the shaded areas. Seemed like common sense to me, however.........


----------



## just (Mar 3, 2015)

I agree with des. There needs to be more highlights especially in the nearest trees. The problem is that the direction of the light source isn't clear. There are shadows that contradict each other.


----------



## Susan Mulno (Apr 13, 2015)

Since you asked...

The rocks and water in the foreground on the right and center seem to me to be spot on. In the over-all the closer areas could use more highlights the distant trees could use darker shadow. I am with Just on the confusing light source. 

Still an amazing painting for such a new artist!


----------



## Grampy (Jun 7, 2016)

Thank you all for both your kind comments and valued advice. I appreciate them both very much. I will take another look at it with your comments in mind.
Cheers,
Steve.


----------



## Liz (Jan 10, 2015)

Beautiful! As far as highlights go, I would add some light to the tree by the bridge to make it stand out more against the background foliage that's behind the bridge. Excellent job on the bridge by the way, perspective is right on and just the right amount of detail in the brick work.


----------

