@Lisa Short You did a really nice job on this, especially for being so young! Great sky! Trees are well done, too.

@Lisa Short You're welcome

Don’t give up, @Danielle Poisal . As Sam says, all the time, the colors in the foreground will have your darkest darks and your lightest lights. As you go into the distance, the darks get lighter and the lights get darker (than those in the foreground). He also teaches, as Carlson did in his landscape painting book, that the trees are some of the darkest things in (any) landscape. Next are the slanted (mountain) planes. Then lighter still is the ground. And lastly, the sky typically is the lightest part of the landscape. Not always, but usually. Also, the higher chroma (saturated colors) are in the foreground. So, with these in mind, your nearest trees should get some deep shadows in them, and higher chroma colors and lighter highlights. The water should be a little darker than your sky because of the dirt that is under the water, and due to reflecting the grass, shadows, trees, mountains, etc. around them. Punch up the volume of the colors, and deepen the shadows a lot, in the foreground and then the lovely muted shades you have in the background will recede, the stuff in the foreground will pop foreward, and you’ll love this painting.

@John Topping Really nice job on this painting. You do have a unique style. Very pretty. Nice colors.

@Sarah Lankry thanks! It has been fun so far, but I'm eager to get into subjects I like more.

@Jacqueline Rose The tonal piece was actually done with markers with a touch of colored pencils added to the blue part of the sky (upper right). But thank you! I do have much better control with pencils, and the like.

@Kris Kiona Thanks, though … it is a lake. 😁

@Shane Larkin Awesome! Good to hear. Thanks so much!