Bluebonnets revisited

Today I am doing a before and after for one of the paintings I did in Fredricksburg in April. I was never happy with this painting and I wasn’t sure why as the structure was good. I took it to have Kevin critique it last Saturday. He suggested I lighten up the bluebonnets, that the dark blue was too dark and should be no darker than the sky color. I knew that was not quite right as I remember there being depth to the flowers even though it was a “carpet” of color. By depth I mean the flowers had shadows underneath of them as Lupines have some height to them. It is interesting to note that having a painting held up in front of your peers makes things jump out that you intuited but couldn’t verbalize. I saw all the things I needed to do to make this painting look like I had originally envisioned it. First, I needed to solidify the dark, as the shadows in the background trees/bushes were quite deep; then I needed to remove the white I had used for the tops of the trees to lighten them. Instead, I used cadmium lemon yellow with my green color to give the sun its due. I defined the dried vines on the fence so they read like dried vines. And I refined the field, giving it more depth but still the feeling of a carpet of flowers. I am now happy with this painting and consider it well done.