Big clouds over Bray Head

Well, I did finish that painting eventually, but I feel so rusty - I really need to carve out more time for watercolours and get out there and paint (or work from photos - watercolours take forever to dry in the winter in Ireland - it's not so much that it's cold, but the damp is a real killer!)

Still, it's good to be thinking about watercolours again.

Two things I need to watch out for: 1: values - when I increased the contrast in Picasa, it was much more powerful; and 2: composition: the hill on the right was too dark and attracting the eye (I guess that's actually values), so it looks better when I cut most of it off the page - which you can do in Picasa, and also in watercolours!!

The original:

How it would look if I had used juicier paint:

And if I cropped the hill almost out of the painting - it's a little bit odd, although I feel my eye rests on the cloud more. Maybe I should just lighten the paint on the hill so it doesn't attract the eye out of the painting?: