Ladies in Waiting by Ruth Dolan

Another beautiful sky Ruth and the tree is not a disaster so don't paint over it again! The "ladies" look very content on a sunny afternoon. The green is a little bright for my taste but as I am currently struggling with a grassy landscape, I am in no position to offer any help. I think you are doing a wonderful job with your acrylics so keep up the good work!

Greens the bane of the artist! You can go over as many times as you like - well I do until I get it right! Perhaps a little more sky between the leaves - some blues and yellows mixed in the tree. some light Naples Yellow. It is trial and error Ruth. Look at the shadows on the bark of your tree so nicely done. The path leading my eye from your sheep the tree, background recession and wonderful sky, this really is a lovely composition.

Your sheep are lovely and so clean, not like the bedraggled ones I see on the hills. Sky great, the tree's fine, perhaps like Jeanette says a bit more sky showing between the leaves. The little house sits nicely balancing the whole painting.

Thank you, Jeanette and Carole, your advice is very welcome...I really got lost on this one....thought I was going OK till I got to the tree. Being acrylic I should be able to overpaint...it is sliding about a bit however...and lifting the undercoats, which it is reported not to do... This may be due to the fact that I used very old Daler oil canvas, and it is slippery. Not sure I can rescue it, but I shall try. If not, it should give me a nice warm blaze on a log fire! And a glass or two of the red for consolation!

Hi Ruth, thanks for your comment on my tree .... this painting is full of lovely strong sunlight so i think you could be bold with the shadows in the tree..... the way i paint i rarely get things right first time so i overpaint and overpaint until i am happy or i gesso over the whole thing and start again. Acrylics dry pretty fast but i have noticed they can take a few days to fully cure, give it a few days and try again. if thin coats are still lifting the binder might be too watered down, if so you can give the painting an isolation coat of gloss or matt medium, this protects the delicate layers and you just paint on top of this clear layer without worrying about the layers underneath..

Gorgeous sky! Excellent life like sheep. Green is a bugbear of mine - I have found that I have to creep up on it, trying shades on a spare bit of paper. I always feel you can hedge your bets by varying the greens quite a bit so that there is never too much of one shade. Although I think the acid green in this painting makes the painting very fresh and spring-like, it is possible that putting a different shade somewhere might balance your greens. However, I am not the best one to advise as I have a nightmare with trees and grass! Love the little house in the background.

I agree with Steve Morris that it's likely to be a good idea to give this a day or two to cure, and actually I agree with you that the tree is a problem - not a disaster, I've seen a lot worse, but it's not quite right yet and you're obviously realistic enough to know this. Sky is very good, sheep are fine, title is witty. Now then, about the tree.... In acrylic, I use more colours, and glazing, than I would ever normally use in watercolour or oil. It's never easy to mix green, and it's my view that it's especially problematic with acrylics, however good they are. You can of course paint over as often as you like, but the snag here is that you've used a watercolour technique, ie, transparent paint with a minimum of white. You will lose the transparency if you add much white, but all the same, I should introduce some sky-holes, especially in the right hand side of the tree, and try a stippling technique, of darker greens mixed with a little burnt sienna (eg viridian, phthalo green or Hookers green, plus the sienna) which will give the tree a little more form and reduce the old acid . This should go on the underside and right side of the tree, where I would also be inclined to strengthen some of the branches (in tone) and weave them in and out of the foliage. Generally, in any medium, tree greens are warmer, darker and even redder than grass greens, and in acrylics I'd try those darker greens I mentioned, plus the burnt sienna, and mix French ultra with cadmium yellow or even raw sienna for the lighter parts: establishing the darks will help with the lights, of course. I don't think I've ever given a comment as long as this, which reflects my convicition that this is well worth struggling with in a day or two. Though I also agree with the others that you could just leave it: it does work - yes you could improve it, but why not do that in a fresh painting? Phew .... motor-mouth strikes again...

Wow! that is amazingly helpful, you wonderful people. And to think I hesitated a long time before posting this painting, and even then almost didn't do. It has really ,really helped. I am so glad that you mentioned gesso, Steve, it's probably the only satisfactory thing to do now, for the tree. Then try the mixes which you have suggested, Robert. Then to the next sheep painting, in which I will act on your excellent advice. Thank you all, I really appreciate your encouragement.

I was going to suggest toning down your green with a red or burnt sienna but Robert beat me to it. All his suggestions are great. Your composition is excellent and so are your pregnant ewes. Maybe also tone down that acid yellow field a bit because it pulls the eye right over to it. Are you using Atelier? If so the slipping and sliding and pulling off under layers is just what I found it did and why I stopped using them. If you're using ordinary acrylics just let it cure for a few days.

Thank you Diana. I am particularly fond of sheep ('All on an April evening....etc.) and living in a sheep rearing area am surrounded by them. I have a lovely memory, a long time ago in Lancs., of one of the bin men who saw our pet ewe, Peggy, eating roses in the garden, and asked me...'Eh. Ma'am...Is yon a standard poodle?') I am letting the painting 'cure' (sounds like bacon!) for a few days. Then i will have a go at improvements.

Ruth, this is fantastic for a first attempt - wish I could do as well. I have tried acrylic but didn't do too well but will try again. I seem to suit pastels much better and have a passion for animals.

Great painting Ruth. So much work I have not seen. It's great to see your progression with beautiful paintings. Keep creating and inspiring others :)