Landscapes.. or Bust

I am not a great landscape painter, but I know I can learn to do this.  Dang it.  By the time I'm finished with this fight, I'll be more than ready to get back to the cacti I suspect.  I'm spending this week practicing the elements that make up a landscape.

Winter's Demise
Watercolor
8" x 5"

The thing I find the most difficult in watercolor landscape painting is keeping the foreground, middle ground and background areas believable.  I can handle each section fine in pastel or oils because they have opacity.  The transparent nature of watercolors makes this a whole different ballgame.  It's a thought process that is still confusing to me; painting the background while planning clear and distinct foreground areas has eluded me so far.

Using photos, reference books and sketchbooks I am going to start to wrestle this thing to the ground.  The sketchbooks take the fear of failure out of it and the photos are because I am a sissy and sitting outside in cold weather is just too much to deal with right now.  I know, I know, I am a proponent of painting from imagination or life.  Oh well, I'll get over the shame!  Here goes nothing.  Or everything...