over worked but improved

this is about learning so I forgot about loose and tried to fix some of the things I did not like about this the first time I "finished the path" (see previous post for first version) -- I added more- and lightened the sky --- darkened tree foliage -- warmed up the path-- added a few foreground darks -- -

I think experience and understanding of what works imparts freshness and looseness and that means lots of trial & error -I need way more experience to get fresh and loose without overworking - I might try this again and see if I can get a better cleaner version - this particular piece is way over done but I did learn a lot

still working on loose - A Path

I'm just practicing - I tried sketching for all most one full year and I guess I'm not really a sketcher - I like making bigger pieces - so I'm going to just bite the bullet make bigger more finished pieces and work at making better art - this is OK but I am not happy with the upper foliage I like the path and the foreground contrast - But in looking at this ( it's a photograph as the piece was too big for the scanner 11x13") I'm surprised at how blurry the leaves on the tree look - I think I worked on it for four or five hours today -

still working on loose

I bought lots of pears in december they were all photographed then eaten - these were the yellow ones but they look red in this sketch- pastel on colorfix paper about 10 x 7 - Just practicing -

working on loose

I like this a lot 11 1/2" x 7" on bristol - crayon & colored pencil - I took reference photos of these pears last December but never did anything with them - I want to get looser and working with crayons is helping me do that - it is also hard to overwork it because you can't get anything to stick to the paper after a layer or two with the crayons -