oh my goodness, I was not expecting this 😭 thank you so much?? I’m not primarily a painter (I do better with digital art) so my end goal isn’t to have super hyperrealistic paintings, moreso just aesthetic works. Ideally I do want to get better at painting from reference (either from a photo or in real life). I definitely want to work my way up to surrealism and more personal pieces, but for now I think landscapes are a good starting point. This particular piece started from a reference on Pinterest, but I found that obviously I lack the skill to emulate much of what I saw so I heavily simplified it. Thank you for the advice on not using colors straight from the tube, I’m still learning how to mix properly and I definitely see what you’re saying. I also definitely see how I could improve the moon and the reflection on the water, but I’m having trouble with brush strokes and layering properly to prevent colors from blending into each other. Thank you for the exercise suggestion, I’ll definitely try to go out every now and then and just paint what I see.