The power of feedback

Hi guys,

I did a photostudy lately from a photo I took at the Botanical Garden in Berlin. After being done, I was quite proud of me. The result is below.

I then asked some people for feedback and got a pretty short but insightful answer: "too much black and white. Look how this artist does it ..." At first as usual, I feel a bit stressed out by feedback like that. After so many paintings, how can it be, that I don't simply get praises? But after a while I relax and can work on it again. I then filled the whites with bright colors and the blacks ... I didn't do much to the blacks to be honest, but the result was a lot more pleasing to me. Scroll down to see it.

Also I am not much of a dreamer, so I know that not many people are reading this (I see the metrics). But still, I am grateful for the ones that make it back from time to time. Thank you :*

Below is the photo I based the study from. Looking at it now, I really overdid some of the darks. Even though the photo is a bit overexposed.