Attempts at capturing form and light and shadow

For the next few paintings, I painted from a photo and tried to focus on form, colour values and shadows.

After I had painted them, I was quite proud. Especially of the painting of the hibiscus. I thought my hibiscus was very well done - even though I hadn't finished the background or added the stamens etc. I can see that I was improving in some areas, but it is still quite poor.

Hibiscus No. 1 - Although unfinished (background and centre of the flower not done), I can see that I have attempted to separate one petal from the other by making colours darker etc. The highlight in one of the top-left petals is also quite nice, but something is definitely not right. The perspective is ok......

Mountains and dusty road - This was from a painting tutorial that I followed. I think it was really helpful and was the first time that I was able to lean more toward a realistic scene in terms of shadow and perspective. I like the way I have painted the mountains and the shadows on the road, which, although very stark, make the painting look more 3 dimensional.

Rocky cliff - I painted this from a reference photo, taken somewhere in Japan. I like how I have painted the rough sea near the rocks, and the soft, mountaineous landscape on the horizon. I attempted to paint some trees, but they didn't turn out so well. The large rock was not so well done - however, I do like the colours on the left-hand side of the rock, which seem to capture an afternoon light.