Colin Steed Project

Can I play devils advocate? I've been looking at the Colin Steed Project in LP. When I read it, I was somewhat confused. Having seen most (not all) the results that have been posted I'm baffled. Colin started his article saying something along the lines of, finding somewhere you find so attractive you wanted to paint it, but found it too difficult. So make it more simple. So far so good. Makes sense to me. What happens then, is that Colin sketches somewhere that has bears no resemblance to the photo. Eh?? He moves a tree. Fair enough, move a few things to make a better composition. But then he decides to take the path off into the distance, and lose all the undergrowth and most of the other trees. In fact, I would suggest, lose everything that makes the scene attractive. What has that got to do with capturing what's in front of you? Isn't that what artists do? Would an artist remember where they were painting by painting "anywhere". You might just as well stay at home, use your imagination and sketch/paint what you like. I like the photo in the article. It has great potential. I may even give it a shot. But I think Colin has lost what makes it attractive. I've seen some of the postings from people trying the project. Some are really attractive, a few, excellent. But only one or two bear any resemblance to the location. Most slavishly follow Colins ideas, and paint "anywhere", certainly not the woodland scene in the photo. I'm all in favour of simplifying, but I think Colin went too far. Then again, I'm fairly sure I missed the point somewhere along the line. anyhow - still looking at the photo, am I wrong in thinking that to the right of the left hand trees, at the top of the path, there is a small child - a girl in a blue frock, brown hair? And slightly to the right of her, the hint of a low wall? I don't think I'm wrong, but hey the 60's did a lot of damage. And if they arn't really there, then they should be......... adds a real sense of mystery............. If I do paint this, I'll make them more of a feature, but without losing what actually makes the scene attractive.