u/breezebloke49

I’m struggling with some of the details of this painting. I have attached the reference photo (last photo) - I believe the doe is surrounded by hydrangeas, so I tried to recreate that (i know my colours are off but I was trying to make things appear a little more harmonious). I attached the photo from when I had hydrangeas on the left side as well (second photo - deer is less defined in this photo)- I have since painted over them and am unsure how to proceed. I tried painting some in white/green and some in pink/white, neither of those choices seemed to help. To me, the hydrangeas aren’t terrible but they don’t seem to fit with the picture - they look cartoonish or misplaced or something.

Is this a colour issue? Is it a placement issue? A skill issues (flowers aren’t my strong suit). I am considering getting rid of all of the hydrangeas and trying rose bushes instead. I really wanted this panting to look soft, like the reference photo, but the flowers seem to really distract from that. However, only having foliage seems boring.

Any advice is welcome!!

Update: Just to clarify - fine details of this piece are not done - it’s still in early mid stages, so I know some parts appear more rough. Regardless, I appreciate any feedback!

This is one of the first paintings I’ve done where I have layered more than 1 reference photo. Prior to adding the mushrooms the painting looked boring and unfinished. Before I added the mushrooms I tried adding some purple flowers thinking that this would suit the yellow tones in the grass but that looked stupid. So, I painted mushrooms instead hoping that the red would work well & compliment all the green. Since adding the mushrooms I unfortunately varnished it, but I can’t help but feel like the composition is still very off. Is it the placement of the mushrooms? Are there too many or too few? Wondering what others would have done differently to fill the space but not detract from the focal point which is supposed to be the fox cubs.