Reworking: The Moose River in Winter, 5x7-Sold

The Moose River in Winter, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   In this post I'm sharing something I have learned from other artists: if you have work you believe it's good but has not sold in a while, you should look at it again and figure out what it needs.

    The original below, which I had posted before, was painted two years ago. I loved the painting and I thought it was going to sell, but it came back home show after show.

Before

   It was time to analyze what it needed. The composition was fine, the palette was appropriate; how could I improve it?  I thought or the WOW factor I have read in art magazines and while I don't agree every painting should have it, I thought that something to call attention was needed on this piece. Adding brighter colors to the distant trees to give the impression of glaring sunshine did the trick. I added yellow highlights to the focal area trees and to their reflections in the water, and with very little a cold winter scene became more appealing.

Winter Sunset, 9x12, Sold

Winter Sunset, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

  It seems that I begin to warm to winter's charm only when the season reaches its mid point. And then, I get the need to hurry and paint winter scenes before the snow and cold are gone.

  This scene is from a reference photo taken years ago on Rt 370. I did a drawing in graphite that came out nice so I decided to do it in oils, for the class I'm taking. Given that pastels are great and faster for experimenting, I did this version at home, but with less detail in the middle ground.  Now I'm trying to reproduce these same colors in  my oil painting.

 The feeling of hurry continues to creep up on me just thinking of the many early deadlines for competitions I would like to submit to, and the many half-finished paintings in the studio... Four of them show promise though so at this point it's just a matter of overcoming the fear of ruining a painting.