Lately while trying to tidy and declutter my flat I came across a pile of old paintings I,d completely forgotten about. It was interesting to see the difference the passage of time makes in our perception of our own work. Some paintings I would not want to show anyone else and some were ok ish lol. But the main thing was that most could be instantly improved with simple fixes. I see those fixes now but was unaware of them at the time of painting. To me this shows the value of just sticking with it and gaining knowledge over time, without forcing yourself. The main fix for my paintings was adjustment of tonal values, as in maybe adding a glaze or two of the current color across the foreground of the land or seascape, or increasing the strength of shadows in urban scenes. I,ll try to show some before and after photos here in a day or two. Here is one example. At first i just strengthened the treeline and its reflection but then decided to continue with the mountain as well, just going over some areas with bold vertical strokes with a blue/ grey mix and emphasising some cracks and crevices with a very dark mix of the same colors. I think this improved the picture alot. I,ll try to show it in a better lighting or in a mockup.

Here is a small landscape i did this morning. I wet the whole sheet and flooded in a thin warm wash all over, partly to tone down the white of the paper and partly to warm the lower sky area, to suggest ressesion. Before it dried completely I brushed in a few sweeps of blue at the top allowing it to merge with the first wash, and also at the bottom with some brown added, to strengthen the foreground, again to create depth. As it started to dry I darkened the background hills and base of the trees, and finally scratched out some grasses and added some birds. It looks a bit incomplete so I might add some figures or animals for interest.

Iv,e mentioned the two techniques - wet in wet and drybrush several times here. Thats because they work so well together. Here is an example where I placed the focal point - the boats - drybrushed, against the soft misty sky and mountains. You can often notice this idea in traditional Chinese ink painting.