Self Evaluation

Sorry for the interlude between my last post and this one.  Between severe storms and fighting an invasion of raccoons, I have been Sleepless in St. Louis.

After completing any painting, I go through a mental checklist of the elements and principles. 
In this painting I am satisfied with several things and disappointed with others.

Things I am satisfied with:   1. Contrast.  The darkest values are placed next to the lightest values in the focal area creating interest.   2.  Color:  Mostly neutrals, creating unity.  3.  Shapes.  The buildings interlock with the background trees.

Things that need improvement:  1.  Shapes  The sky shape, the beach shape, and the village are are all approximately the same size.  In the sketch I lessened the shape of the sky, so the buildings and the beach were more dominant.  2. Color. I would like more vivid colors to conform to the direction my work has been taking lately.  3.  Line/Direction :  Horizontals were a bit too dominant.  I need some vertical, perhaps overlapping to give relief to the horizontals.

Once you finish a painting, you need a way of evaluating it that isn't as vague as "I like it"  or "I'm not sure I like it."  The checklist of elements and principles will give you that evaluation tool.