Sailing Past Plockton

beautiful shades of green and blue, looks almost tropical Val. I like the sun and shade on your sails.

It's certainly an effective antidote to this freeze! You ask for tips to improve it, and I suppose the obvious one is that your boat is sailing out of the picture, whereas the usual advice is to paint them sailing into it - all sorts of deep psychological reasons for that; not sure how valid they are, but on the whole I tend to agree with it... The only snag in saying that is that if you wanted to change it you'd have a bit of a job on your hands: and actually, it only occurs to me as a criticism, to the extent it is one, because you specifically asked. There are lovely touches in this, eg the light on the sails, the calm sea, and my admiration is always unbounded for pastellists, since it's a medium that I find very difficult.

Thank you Carole and Robert. Robert, I totally agree with you, I don't know why I painted the boat that way, probably feeling rebellious. As its on colourfix which is quite sturdy I might try washing the boat off and redoing it (says she bravely) as it obviously doesn't work that way. Fingers crossed, just might save it from the bin, then again......

I like it , but yes you broke the rule a bit : ) , have you thought about another boat sailing into the picture? maybe inshore a little, just a suggestion.