I need your help

Earlier today the Royal Academy of Arts opened it’s entries for this years Summer Exhibition and like a moth to the flame I have parted with £25 and entered for my second year.

My only quandary now is which of my paintings I will submit…

Can you help me decide?

Wells-next-the-Sea: This has had the most reaction online of any of my works and is one that causes me lots of consternation. I love it, I am really happy with it but I tend to spend a lot of time tweaking and amending my paintings, to the point that I fear I ruin them cause I don’t know when to stop. I have been at this stage with this painting for a while and have told myself that enough is enough.

It’s a nice composition and I hope it captures the breadth of the sands around Wells coupled with the large open skies and vast expanses of space.

It’s one of our personal favourite spots so the subject matter does hold a special place for both of us.

I am just not sure if it’s a little too “Mass Gallery” – you know the kind of thing you find in high street galleries that sell the same “original” works all over the country!

Maybe I am being to self critical – what do you think?

Sunrise over the M5: This originated as a snap I had taken on a drive down to Devon and it inspired me so much I decided to try to paint the beauty of the sun against the mist rising over the fields and valleys. I like this painting and am proud of it as I have not tried to paint something like this before.

I am concerned that the photograph of the painting is a little too white and I am sure it is obscuring my judgement of the painting. I really like the movement in the cloud in this painting but I am not sure that is seen against the Sun and the mist – What do you think? Have I captured the mood?

Orford Ness: A wild card entry this. It’s a small painting that I completed several years ago and it’s a particular favourite of Richards (which means I wouldn’t put it up for sale).

Orford is now an area of outstanding natural beauty but it used to be a secret test facility for Nuclear weaponry. It is both beautiful and poignant – I hope this is evident in my painting?

It’s a dark, small work but maybe this might give me the edge. I did a lot of silhouette work when I was younger and this harks back to those days.

Does it make an impact?

My Baby: This is a portrait I painted of Richard several years ago. It’s based on a particular photograph of him I took and really liked.

I think Richard thought this was incomplete and that I was to “continue” but this was exactly the effect I was after and it’s happily sat in our dining room staring at us for the past couple of years.

Do you like it?

I really have no preference to which work I submit but I know I shouldn’t do anything to amend any of them… I really do need your help.

My heart tells me to enter “Wells-next-the-Sea” but I am afraid the judges have seen lots of work like this before. “M5” feels like a gamble to me but it may pay off. As for “Orford” well I love it, Richard loves it but I am not sure it’s Summer Exhibition material. “Baby” is another wild card but it might just get the attention of the judges…

Maybe I am over analysing, maybe I just need to pick one, maybe I could paint another by the time I have to deliver my work… I really am in a quandary here.

Please feel free to leave comments, criticism, your preference in the comments section and I promise to take on board everything you say.

(Note these are all acrylic on canvas and I hope you appreciate I am unable to truly reflect the colours etc by snapping them with my digital camera).

You can view my work on the Saatchi Gallery Online or on Flickr