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Hang on Studio Wall
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David Powell

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I’m trying to switch from clay media over to painting in oils.  This is my first. It’s a scene of the rio grande canyon just north of Taos, NM.  I think the top 2/3 is ok, but I’m really not happy with the foreground.  Thinking about wiping out the foreground and starting over with it, but with what?  Any input very much appreciated!  

Edited
by David Powell

Alan Bickley

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A relatively simple fix I’d say. Far too much going on with that row of trees/ bushes at the base of the painting. Your focal point is the distant range of mountains just off centre. A busy foreground can often detract the eye away from that focal point. If you do get rid of them, an uncluttered band of darkish earth colour will help to anchor the painting. Nice work for your first oil, it’s a great medium!

David Powell

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Thanks for the quick input. I guess I was trying to give something upfront that shared the long harsh shadows represented in the canyon. Somehow, I need to come up with a non-distracting foreground that also has long shadows…. 

Alan Bickley

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No problem, you can of course have long shadows running horizontally, without any actual object in view, I do that quite often (as in an imaginary tree out of view), because I generally want a darker foreground for reasons mentioned earlier!
GLOWING OLD STONEWORK

Steph Salt

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I love your strong style David but it does look as if you can't decide on your point of interest, to me the deep canyon is the strongest but it is too central. Try making a frame out of white card and move it around until you see what you really want from your painting. I have 2 other sugestions that might help you, the first is to turn around and look at it in a mirror for a fresh look and the other is to turn it upside down and only look at it once a day or less perhaps once a week. Doing this might help you to see it with fresh eyes and se what you really want from it and to make that the strongest area and off centre. I hope that helps gl
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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I wonder what he did, in the end - if you're still out there, David: let's have a look. 
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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David - you did a great job: come back?  You are missed, you know ...
Entwined, abstract

Sandra Kennedy

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I too would love to see what you did with this painting David. 

Hie Hdaak

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I’m trying to switch from clay media over to painting in oils.  This is my first. It’s a scene of the rio grande canyon just north of Taos, NM.  I think the top 2/3 is ok, but I’m really not happy with the foreground.  Thinking about wiping out the foreground and starting over with it, but with what?  Any input very much appreciated!  
David  Powell on 29/06/2025 21:29:08
Really impressive for a first oil painting, the sky and canyon rim have great texture and depth. For the foreground maybe try bringing in some warmer ochre tones with more defined shadows under the trees to ground them better. The scale of those trees feels slightly off compared to the canyon so pushing them smaller or adding mid-ground detail between them and the cliff edge could help tie it all together.

Martin Norford

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Posted
Hi. I normally find some simple cloud shadow works to infill and add interest to the foreground 🤔