Heidi's acrylic painting of a courtyard garden in Mexico

 Here is Heidi's latest painting. It's from a photo of an experience in Mexico.

I like the color and overall feel. the photo is below. It is in a vertical format. Heidi has chosen to paint the scene in a horizontal format. It features her son Grant. He's a big guy which gives us a sense of the scale of the place. Heidi has chosen to show the courtyard after Grant went to the pool.






Here is Heidi's initial sketch in pen. She has captured the essence of this sketch in her painting.

 The banners give the scene a lot of color beyond the green plants, the sienna floor tiles and the flowers around the fountain. Notice that in the photo, the width of the fountain occupies more than half of the bottom of the space. Heidi worried that the color in the banners in her painting might dominate the painting if they were too bright. I don't think they are too bright, especially if there are spots of related color below as in the flowers around the fountain and in the flowers on the table.








Here are some Photoshopped notes to consider

 1. Notice the perspective of the floor line and the line of the balcony. I've indicated it flatter than in the photo but it is greater than in the painting.
2. I'd look at the scale of the patio furniture.
3.I think that the flowers in the poto provide an opportunity to ad color that helps tie in the top and bottom of the painting.
4. I've cut back the plants around the fountain to make it feel a bit more prominent. In the photo the fountain is substantially larger, both taller and wider. I'd consider increasing the size of the fountain.
5. Notice that the flags that are closer and larger than tose further behind and that they overlap.
6. I'd consider having some of the plants near the edge go out of frame so as not to create an alley.
7. Consider overlapping some of the plants, imposing on the structure behind it. I would also consider imposing on the structure more than I've indicated with a few of the flags.
8. Notice the nice reflection in the water of the fountain in the photo.

Overall this is a really good pass on a complex subject. I think it's well painted and Heidi has handled the acrylic well. I feel it can be a little more dynamic by increasing the angles of the perspective and pushing the scale of some of the objects. The color is nice as is but could also be a bit bolder as well. Remember it's easier to subdue bright colors a little than to bring the color up.