Another mistake

                                                      9"x12" Oil on linen
                                                        Discarded
Many years back I visited Europe, painted a little, took lots of pictures.   This small painting was from one of them.   I was much taken with this view of the old bridge over the Neckar river at Heidleberg, Germany ( hope the spell checker is working!).   In fact, I was much taken, as I guess most are, with Heidleberg.  What a beautiful city!   Back to the painting.  I painted essentially what I thought I saw of the scene, but was bothered by the conflict between the central subject matter and the ruins of the castle up on the hill.  My eye kept jumping back and forth.  I played with, softened, and actually considered omitting the ruins.  But then, it wouldn't have been Heidleberg.   Finally,I gave up, cropped it to make a small vertical, which I now hate, and wonder why I wasn't smart enough to realize in advance my design was bad.  One more avoidable mistake!                                            Mike