Battle Abbey (sort of!!) by Carol Hitchman

Carol, I was thinking exactly the same! If we put my trees and your building into one, we'll have a gundun I think. It's good your trying different subjects to paint, I like to stretch myself....a lttle bit.

Been thinking about your tree's, would adding a few darker tones improve the depth a little.....perhaps.

Carol - what you really could do with here are strong tones: I bet you took the photo on a grey day when there were no strong shadows, but there's nothing like tonal contrast for bringing a painting to life: you can invent them if they weren't there on the day, although you need to avoid making the shadows too regular if you do. If I take a photo of a fairly bland scene, just to get the detail, I make a point of going out for a walk on one of those days when the sun is bright but there are clouds scudding across the sky - and take a good look at the effects. The only problem with your painting is that it's all the same tone: if you were to photocopy it in black and white, it would be obvious: you'd see just a uniform tone of grey and the picture would be dull. Get a few lights and darks in there.

i see lots of movement in this painting, and i like how you captured the trees and building, i am bad at realistic buildings but you are great at them :-)

Thank you all for your comments. Fiona and Robert -you have both picked up the same thing which seems to apply to all my paintings -lack of contrast resulting in a bland look. Yes Robert I did take this on a grey day and in the photo the sky is just flat grey/white. Your comment about the trees Fiona says the same thing too. I really must try harder to get these contrasts that bring a picture alive. I really appreciate this sort of constructive criticism and will try to put your advice into practice. Might try another building next time.

Carol, you are not alone in the struggle to get a happy balance between tones, I do too. Lightest tones against your darkest tones etc. Robert gave me some good advise regarding tones and applying watercolour " be bold, and then be bolder still". Hold your breath and slap it on Carol.....have a little kitchen roll handy and if you think it's scary dab some off.....but go for it. Go on scare yourself!!

Fiona -thank you for the advice passed to you from Robert. I think you may have summed up my problem -I am a rather gentle person, and not very bold about anything. In painting I'm probably suffering from the fear of failure so am a bit tentative about anything too scary. So -time to scare myself!! watch this space.