You need to ensure the horizon is horizontal. I am always tempted to add some figures on the beach or the jetty, but it's not boring Caroline.

Hi Derek, thank you very much for taking the time to comment. Yes, I think it needs something, but I find that in my own paintings, figures have a tendency to look a bit stiff and/or chocolate-boxy. Yes, I'm afraid the wonky horizon line is down to a regretfully slapdash attitude towards framing and photography.

P.S. On closer examination I see what you mean about the horizon line, Derek: I think it's where the sparkly area on the right appears to go upwards - thanks, I will attend to it!

Don't be too hard on yourself Caroline, it certainly isn't boring. It has plenty of interest in the fabric of the painting; dry brush strokes, wet into wet washes, soft and hard edges, it's these things also that make a painting interesting not just the content. But I do think that the addition of a figure/figures would give it that extra something, as Derek suggested. I hate adding figures, because I'm hopless at them and end up spoiling the whole picture! Lol. It looks as though you have used a very limited palette too......I like it Caroline.

Ah that's very encouraging, Fiona, thank you. I'm the same with figures and spoiling work, but I can see that a figure would work well, and might also help with giving the painting some scale, perhaps. I should have added that this was done with a hake and a rigger - anything to deter the dreaded detail.

Caroline a lot of things I like about this painting. SHAPES. Big simple shapes and no fiddling. EDGES. Variety in hard, soft and broken. HUE. Nice harmonious palette but still some warm against cool passages (see foreground tree). Good variation in height, width and slope of the staging posts. But I wonder if I would have made more use of the other element of design i.e.TONE to give some vitality. I find the painting a bit flat and I suspect you have painted this from a photograph. Would the foreground tree and landing stage come forward a bit if stronger? Tone has worked well in the curved beach as it is warmer and stronger as it comes towards the viewer. Figures, well it's personal thing and certainly give an idea of scale although the birds in the sky do that already. Glad to see your are joining the loose watercolour club.

Hello Alan, I like seeing your name here as i know I'm going to get interesting helpful thoughts. No, it wasn't from a photograph: it started off as playing around, an exercise in handling the hake brush, which I haven't used in a long time, and developed into a painting from my imagination. It is flat tonally, and in the flesh it looks quite foggy, so perhaps I should go with that and call it 'Foggy day at the jetty'! Even in foggyness though I agree with you, strengthening the tonal contrast would liven it up. Many thanks everyone for your thoughts. I almost couldn't bring myself to put this on the gallery but wanted the opinions.

Caroline don't hesitate to post pics for opinions. To me that was the point of the gallery. I think there are too may "lovely painting" posts which help no-one and only reflect a personal opinion.

Thanks Alan for the encouragement to post. It's nice to get the odd 'lovely painting' but yes, I've learned so much here from criticisms. Some things seem so obvious and leap out at me once they've been pointed out by someone with a fresh eye. And as the saying goes, if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting (or something along those lines).