Layout Study

I have chosen a photograph to use for a watercolour painting. This photo was taken while we were hiking at Bob Hunter Memorial Park. We captured some beautiful fall colours on the trail. However, the red leaves on the left were too close to the edge. So, I moved them towards the centre a bit.

After completing a study sketch for the photo, I painted it in watercolour. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the result, so I used gouache to cover the original painting. I continued to make changes, but there were only slight adjustments made to the colors. Once I converted the paintings into black and white, I could see more clearly how the dark and light areas interacted. Finally, I added some computer effects to the painting study (fig. 4). What do you think?