Betty Edwards was a huge proponent of it. And although it personally hurts my brain, it does make things more fun and the results can be quite interesting. As if your evil-twin took control of your paper =P!

I don't know if I would tone down the red but I don't really paint too much anymore so I can't give you a solid answer. This might sound cheesy but you could look at how others use alcoves in their art (that's from the movie Old) but also maybe how other painters utilize light/dark to transform their ocean scenes. But I don't have actual answers someone else might?

Or you could find them along the way =)! Gl!

Hey, hey! Oh so Tomie is a manga by Junji Ito. I believe it's his first manga, but it also might be his first graphic novel because he has released a series of one-shot horror comics too (Since the 80s). It's for sure not for everyone, and I just thought about it because in one of the chapters (and this is all from memory so I might be a little off) - the boy in the manga finds Tomie in a similar opening by the sea. But it's super morbid, and if you're not into that stuff don't even bother.

There was one other fashion artist from the 20s (I wanna say, but I might be off) that your art reminded me of but I couldn't find them. I used to be obsessed. But it's been years, and it's just flown the coop. There were only so many famous fashion painters at the time so I figured I could find them, but no dice. But I think it came from how you painted the figure, because you can really undestand the body type of the individual by how you decided to form it.

I actually liked your person's size and your setup it kinda reminded me of Gina's arc in her rose garden in Porcco Rosso although I guess you're right in that you probably wouldn't find that in nature. You could actually go back in - and open it up with sky and a little clouds even and see if it pulls the trees to the back? I'm not sure, but maybe it will? You could tear some paper up and put it on top before you commit to it. Stand back and it'll give you a good idea of how the composition would change. You could do the same for clouds later if you want to add them.

I actually like most of the trees (I figured they were bushes? Like an overgrown boxwood (even though idk how tall anything grows because I am never that near to anything particularly old) Just that one chunky boy on the left in the front really funks up my eye flow. It kinda pins the image in the upper corner. I wonder what would happen if you close it off (made it black) like the other side? Just that one up there in the top left. I am not sure though, cause I think it also pokes out on the upper right now that I am looking? Eh! The only other thing being that the right side is really smoothly blended while the left is a lot of "poke-poke-poking" at the canvas from what I can tell? That's all I was saying before on that guy. I love the sand like craziness. It's really great, and crunchy. You can almost taste it. Feels like a Dune cover or something. Super great job. great job on that little volca-tain too. Cause that's what it reminds me off. The water is clear and smooth and nice. The woman is comfy and there's a little bit of a breeze and she's a bit fussy about looking dainty so she uses an umbrella. All super good. And overall this painting brought me maximum joy - so that's super good too =)!

I only said what I said, because I think you said you were practicing and it was new. And I don't paint in oils myself, but I figured passing on what I saw might help you if you were trying to learn something new? I didn't mean to offend or anything seriously hahaha! I know you said it's appreciated - I just I mean you know the internet is a pot of criticisms and little praise but I think when learning something it can be super good! And lord knows I'm far from perfect! Okay!

Big hugs! You got this. You're already doing super great and you're evoking some good stuff. So keep going, just follow your heart and you're gunna just blow up! In a good way. Hahaha! Cheers!