Hey guys, I've been focusing on small scale paintings for these weekly challenges and I am currently having a little bit of trouble. The values on the tree trunk feel a little off and I'm not sure how to go about dealing with the light on the trunk itself. You'll notice my vain attempt at playing with the lights in the rough.

Any pointers would be sincerely appreciated!

Don't mind my little show of frustration on the side there just something I do when I'm having trouble haha.

Hi @Yokai-Wolf!

Here's a quick paintover I did focusing only on values. The light in the original looks quite bright and ambient, so the trunk itself would be generally lighter. i can see you've defined spot areas of brightness already, but these don't all obey the light source and look more like a rim light effect, so I painted in areas where the main light would hit naturally. There will be deep darks in the leaves as well as the trunk and stones, and the same applies to brightness of light. I don't know if I'm explaining myself well! Please let me know if you would like me to expand further,