Lonna's painting of a lake in bright light.

Here is Lonna's painting of a very difficult subject. I think that she's done a good job and with a few changes can get her piece to a place that can stay loose while adding depth and selling the lighting condition. She is working from a photo that is difficult to read. These kind of scenes can evoke emotional responses when viewed live but they are difficult to capture in a photograph let alone paint.

I like how Lonna has accentuated the shape of the hill seen faintly in the center of the photo. This light reflected on the water like this typically occurs with high clouds on a a bright day. This already blows things out a little and when the sun blasts through an opening in the clouds it creates an intense bright spot on the scene. I think that the edges of the transition from intense light to the surrounding areas where we can still se color and form are important to capture. In the photo we can see kind of ripple shapes. Also remember that the surface of the water is a flat plane and we can see the perspective on the surface with a vanishing point/ horizon line about halfway up the photo.

Here is a painting by Rockwell Kent who painted quite a lot in extreme northern latitudes. In this piece he captures a very similar lighting condition to Lonna's photo but gives us more information by not relying exclusively on a photo that has blown out most of the color and nuance. This is how I might approach her scene. Search for as much detail in the mountains and trees as possible and extrapolate. Notice the nice sense of depth Kent achieves by overlapping the mountains and utilizing atmospheric perspective. He has also given the water more color. Though it's not a high cloud day, that hot light would make seeing the color difficult. In plein air, in situations like that, I've found it's a good idea to look away from the lightest area and even to kind of shield your eyes to let them readjust and see color. Without the option of looking live one would have to use their memory and/or other shots of the scene. Notice in Kent's painting the very compressed transition from the colorful areas of the water to the bright light area and how there is still a little color in the bright area at the edges before the lightest bit at the center. Also to sell the effect, there are no other places in the painting where the light is that light.

1. I might overlap the mountains. Give them a rhythm and reduce the contrast as they recede. As is the shapes of the mountain and clouds both slant down to the right. I think that a few shapes countering this can help keep us in the center of the painting.

2. I like that Lonna has given the clouds a little more body. In this lighting condition with high clouds the clouds tend to be long and not puffy but for the sake of the painting it's nice to have more interesting shapes. As I've quickly drawn here the cloud shape can be used to create an arrow down to the center of the lake.

3. Even if the tree area is a nearly uniform dark color I would consider taking the time to finish the tops as in the photo which indicate that they are fir trees. This provides a sense of scale as well as completeness. As is, the foliage could be bushes which changes the feel of the scale. I like how you've created a pocket for the light area with the foliage shape.

4. Just a note to focus on the areas of transition in the water as mentioned above. Also as the water is reflecting the sky, unless its reflecting the mountains near the shore. I might consider making the sky not so pink. The color in the photo is a tough one to capture. I might just make one up that's in the ball park that I like as long as it harmonizes with the rest of the picture.

In the photo notes below, First notice that I cropped the sky which results in a changed ratio. Dont forget that we always have the power to crop our photos to make the most interesting compositions. I find that just using a couple sheets of bond paper to move the borders is helpful.

1. If you look carefully at the raw photo you can see several layers of hills. I'd play those up.

2. I like that Lonna has given the clouds more shape than seen here. I'd consider making them relatively lighter to create more depth.

3. I might add more of a transition area. Don't forget the broken up edge to show a little chop on the water.

4.I mentioned the color above.