Improving a Painting

Sometimes when I finish a painting it seems OK, but….something is not quite right. That’s when I let it sit on the easel for a while. Such is the case with the one that I posted here a few weeks ago, Blessinger’s Farm. After examining it for several days, I realized that several improvements could be made.

First of all, the tree was right in the middle of the painting. This is very poor composition as it divides the canvas in half. It was also a weird looking tree but that may have more to do with the fact that a tornado blew through the farm a few years ago wiping out 80 year old maples. Nevertheless, I decided to move it closer to the barn (easy to do in paint, right?) and to juice up the colors. I also decided to push the background way back. Too much green. And to clarify some of the focal points. What do you think?