I had been working on various iterations of this landscape for months

[lunatica]

5. Trees with scary bare branches are kind of scary!

I like your crime scene quality in this painting. But putting that aside I think you rendered a chilly morning landscape quite well. The sky is warm with the rising Sun. But you still keep the feeling of the coldness of a Winter morning.

The red spot on the near ground catches the attention right away and doesn’t seem odd for a Winter landscape but it does appear to be the center of attention. That you added crime scene tape shows your playfulness and elicits a reaction because if it. It’s effective because it tells a story and makes the viewer fill in the possible particulars of the story. It also elicits an emotional response because some creature was killed and seemingly consumed in that spot. The yellow tape invites the viewer to play detective as well as pass judgement on the crime and criminal. I like that quality of your painting. It’s different that way, engaging the viewer whether he/she wants it or not. There’s more there than what meets the eye.