Critique Please

In the thumbnail it looks nice enough, but then I click on it to see the larger version and my eyes almost instantly tire of looking at it. Maybe desaturate it a bit?

I like the image and the treatment is ok (looks very textured, even though I know it's not) but I don't like the color palette - to me the pink/red and the browns fight one another.

Val, I think the composition is fine but the technique used to create a painterly effect makes it very textured and overly busy. I think it would be better with strokes that are not that small.

Thank you David, Cynthia and Maggie...for your honest opinions...I am thinking I was right when I thought it was awful :)

Val I would consider to take the top 1/3 off. More tree trunk and less foliage. I like the bright color but in full it's a little too much. Or not

I don't see cold and rainy in it. I see fall and its coming across wit the HDR effect. Its not an image I wanna look at for along time

Jack thank you...I am thinking the whole thing is too much!

L...that is it exactly looks like HDR. Hurts your eyes...sort of does mine too except I was in the mood to look at some bright pink!

The pink/red browns are too muddy to be inspiring.

The simulated brush strokes are not fulfilling.

Maybe a hue shift could improve the color impact, but the brush strokes seem hopelessly unredeemable.

Don't feel bad - I just trashed one of my own attempts, ... for the THIRD time.

Robert...thank you...no I don't feel bad at all...it is horrible....one of those things where my initial reaction to it was right! It actually make me feel better to know that my first impression was right. The brush strokes are to much here maybe more so because the pink is over the top?

I have one with similar strokes that I do like... I would love to know what you think...

My first thought was the same as Jack's...crop off the top. Too much of that color/texture. I also agree with Cynthia...it's not a color palette that appeals to me.

Thank you Valerie...I did crop it and tried to alter the color...but still am not a fan. Looks like this now...is better but...

I like the pink. The crop made a difference. For me its the HDR effect. I think I wanna see a softer pink....but thats my take on it

The strokes in Paint Pot have more hope than those in the tree pic.

Maybe try a bump map to make that texture really go 3-D. It might work,... it might not.

It looks like the foreground tree is in more direct sunlight judging by the cast shadow, however the color and value is very monochromatic where I would expect a bright pop of color and contrast at least on that tree.

I would change the colours. The combination of those two doesn't work for me.

Paint pots is very soothing for me to look at

Thank you all...I am thinking I won't do this again...No I probably will and then delete like I usually do :)

Val,
I really like it, just the way it is.

Careful what you ask for, ... right?

... I now feel inspired to stat a thread called, ... Trash My Pics

I forgot to mention that I could envision Paint Pots hanging in the house of a very well-to-do lady I used to know. She loved blue. Everything in her dining room was blue.

Cheryl Thank you...you are among the few :)

Robert LOL trash my pics! Love it. If I had truly believed this was a great piece I would never have asked...I was pretty sure it would get trashed. Funny I was going to delete it but it got 76 views and 2 likes so I put it in a experimental gallery.

I love the honesty of everyone when asked for a critique it is so helpful or can be if people don't become offended. It is probably when we love everything that we do and think it is all so great that we stop growing as artists

I like Paint Pots. I'm not good at doing critiques but I do find it really very pleasing.

With the first image it was neither colour I disliked but the combination of those two colours. I feel it needs more contrast. You could change either for another darker shade and see what you come up with. It is good to experiment!

I don't have the 'courage' to ask for a critique of my own work!

Val,

I like how you are saying you dont feel bad, but it is horrible. You have arrived.

Striking balance with PS or GIMP tools is a very hard thing to do especially if you
are not out to strike a balance. Every shifting of any tools throws the art way off course.

I actually like the idea, I do not like the outcome at all. So the idea did not pan out.

My opinion you can not salvage this image. The underlying if you still have a copy can
be worked on all over again. The underlying is a very well framed shot.

Dave

I think it all depends on how you look at it. When I look at the thumbnail and image, I think it's overly sharpened. When I look at it through the green box, You can see how detailed the digital painting is and it looks beautiful. I wonder if softening it a bit would help the overall not look so sharp. It's beautifully composed though.

It lacks highlights in the trees. I suppose the short studded strokes are blending in to each other way to much to detect these subtle differences.
I do like the image though. Its different and beautiful. Not your normal dime a dozen beautiful. Its got its own beauty. I really like it.

No matter how great something is if you ask people to critique it they will find something wrong

Val, I like "Paint Pots." Nice work!

If you like...that is all that matters

i like.