Correcting a Painting - acrylic painting of fall trees

This is another repainted painting. A dramatic difference in this one. I think! When I painted this painting, I really didn't mean for it to be a super realistic painting. I actually like this painting, but it didn't seem to get a lot of attention. So, what the heck!

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What could be done differently?
Think about it before you see what I think!
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Before

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Too Many Warm Colors

Again there are mostly warm colors. The Lavender is cool, but it is a warm cool, because Lavender has some red in it

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Let's add a Greater Sense of Depth
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On the left side behind the red trees you see some light from the distant field.

On the right side you are not really getting the feeling that the field is receding all that much.

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Change the shapes
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Notice the overall shape of the red trees and the yellow in the sky. They both form a circular shape. The painting will be more interesting if we can break these shapes up into a more uneven, interesting line.

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AFTER

Original acrylic Painting of fall trees
12x24 on canvas
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What did I do?
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I added Depth
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I layered the painting in Values to give a sense of depth. Light, then dark,light then dark! I lightened the distant Lavender trees, then I put a dark row of trees in the distance. Then I defined a distant field and made it a very light value. From back to front,Light,Dark, Light!
I added some darks to the red trees, to give them more dimension.

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I changed the shapes.
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I made the distant Lavender trees much smaller. I made the yellow tree a little taller and skinner. This also helps to give a sense of depth. I changed the shape of the red trees and actually defined a single small red tree.

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I Added a Cool Blue
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That is really all it took to balance the warm and cool colors
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Having done all of this, I have to say there are no perfect paintings. There is always something that could have been done differently. You could paint for years on a painting and never actually finish it.

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Try painting a painting with your only focus being on warm and cool colors or maybe layering your painting with light and dark values. If you focus on one specific thing for a while it will then become part of you. You will then begin doing it as a gut reaction, without thought.

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This painting is in my Etsy Acrylic store