Welsh stream and stained curtains

DAVID: Here’s an A2 oil I did in a Mark Warner Zoom class. Welsh stream. I got some paint on the curtain so having to get them to the cleaners before Jill notices!!!

JOHN: As usual with these zoom sessions I suspect the picture composition is not down to you, but it may be worth drawing attention to it. Composition is so critical with landscape because you are taking an extract from a great random vista and creating a designed, contained world of your own. It is important to invite in the eye of the viewer and give it an enjoyable tour of the scene. The zigzagging stream is an ideal conduit, leading us up to the summit – which acts as a satisfying focal point partly because of the sharp contrast between white sky and dark hilltop..

MARIA: Nice painting David. I’ve got paint on my curtains. I learnt to stop looking at it. If Jill isn’t going to notice the curtains have been taken down, then maybe you can get away with it!

JOHN: Jill won’t worry about painty curtains; as I’m sure she knows, Mrs Van Gogh was constantly wiping down the sunflowers with a turps rag.