Winter sun and reeds 2

From a photograph, taken in late autumn on a fine afternoon, watching the setting sun shine across the river Mersey. I am standing on the Oglet coastal path, threatened by expansion of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The hills are the Clwyd range in nearby North Wales.

This is my second effort to paint this scene. The sighting through the tall grasses along one section of the path was striking, looking into the sun.

I prefer it to the first effort, but it's not quite what I'd like. I'd like to darken lower areas of the sky and do something like the reverse on the flowing river. For Valentine's Day, my partner presented me with some new metallic, acrylic paints, which I have tried out here. I would like to bring the sun out more, as it was stunning in nature. I did start by wetting the paper. Not sure if this made any difference at all. I'll return to this scene again.