Commission II by Carole Russell

This is looking good to me. The only thing that I can see is the shadow in front of the van is a little paler than the rest and as the sun is obviously coming from the north north east ( I think thats right ??!!) as you look at the painting, then maybe the front of the van should be a little darker instead of lighter than the side, as it appears to me, but maybe this is just the photo. I know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west etc, but I hope you know what I mean !! I hope this helps but I'm not very good at spotting what is needed, especially with my own paintings!! Like the way you have done the inside of the van, not an easy subject but you've made a really good job of it.

The van and figures are very good. I'm no expert but I think Val is right about the front of the van being a bit too light.

Agree that the van should be darker at the fron but not t the window which woudl have light shining through it. Re the shadows; you have the girls' shadows in front of them; the tree shadow in front of it (much better) but the van has shadow both in front and to the side. Try using a ruler from the point of your sun to each object and see where it lies. You woudl have some shadow down the side but not all the way, possibly getting thinner towards the back.

Carole, I think it would help if you did a quick pencil sketch of the scene, decide where you would like the sun to be located and plot where the light is falling on the objects, so you can sketch the highlights and shadows . It looks as if the sun is behind the figures which means the van will be in shadow as well, which is a shame as you have painted it so well. You can change the direction of the shadows to suit your composition and use them to link objects together; if the light is coming from behind the viewer, for instance, there could be palm tree shadows cast from behind the viewpoint. It is worth getting it right on a sketch first before messing up your picture (been there, done that!)

Thank you all for your advice - I was starting to hate this painting but I have decided after a good nights sleep to go with the shadow cast by the van in the original photo, So there will be some adjusting to do as I will adjust the rest to follow - and I don't think I will accept a commission of this type again - the worry it has caused is really not worth it! Robert - you are so right - I just plunged right in without even considering the details - well it is my 1st commission and will be my first sale too - so I'm allowed a little giddyness? A whole lot of lessons learnt - which makes the project very worth while! Once again thank you all for your guidance