Looking Outward

"At some point, I will need to take tutorials on how to make this look more photo-realistic, so this may get updated at some point. For now, I'll see what I can do about making the grass look smoother and more natural."

If you feel that this needs to look more photo-realistic and the grass needs to be more natural...you will never be satisfied with your work.

Flat out, I don't believe I have seen a single work of yours that looked as realistic as this does. The glow of the sun, the way it reflects on the water, the irregular stance of the trees, the gentle clouds very typical of a cooling evening sky of early autumn. This makes me think a lot of "The Farm" and evenings along the lake there.

My only negatives - typically whenever I've seen cattails/pussy-willows, the clumps have been more clustered rather than spread apart as your groups are. I also wondered if the leaf arrangement of your tree was intentional, as it looks a bit like pine or fern leaves when the tree is obviously not a pine, but Jenn assured me there are such trees, even here in town.

I really don't know what else I can say about it. I'm still at "wow". It took me all of 7 seconds to collect myself and save it to my Wallpapers folder. As I said, I brought up the image to show Jenn. When I told her you'd created it, the look on her face was priceless.

Vision (3.5): You've done similar material before, and not just landscapes but sunsets, water, etc. However, here you've brought just the right elements together in just the right way. Scratch that, I'm bumping that to a 4.

Originality (4): Same thing. You've done landscapes. This isn't "original", but this singular piece is the first one just like this that you've done, and you knocked it out of the park. I won't be so generous in the future, of course.

Technique (4.5): When improved technique and skill come through, you get gold stars. That's the rule. Whatever you've done here, you did it right. Don't sell yourself short.

Impact (4.5): I'm still at "wow". 'nuff said. That, and this particular type of image really appeals to me on so many levels.

Can you do better? Sure, everyone can, but this is phenomenal. If all of your landscapes were at this level, I'd hold you down and force you to start selling them online because not doing so would have become irrational. Once again you have impressed me. I look forward to the next time.