Playing and learning in the studio

I have a great photo of my husband standing in front of a waterfall in North Carolina that I really want to paint BUT since I have never painted a waterfall or forest foliage, I decided that I needed to practice a bit - this is my very first attempt  - I learned so much of what NOT to do - back to the drawing board or should I say, back to the easel!

I keep a copy of Robert Henri's book The Art Spirit on the bookshelf in my studio and frequently leaf through it randomly - I always find something that seems to fit my mood or situation that day - here's what I found this afternoon:
"Keep as far as possible all your studies, all your failures, if somewhere in them appear any desirable quantities.
Such canvases are good for reference.
Later study of the work recalls the good of it.
...
You can learn much from others but more from yourself. In looking at an incomplete canvas some time after its doing, the whole thing becomes clear, the tangle dissolves, and you see the way to complete it and how certain faults may be avoided."

Since following The Sketchbook Challenge, I am trying to do a bit of sketching every day - this morning we had bands of rain (from TS Debby) so I just sat at our dining table drinking tea and sketching the flowers on the table.  This afternoon it is partly sunny but the wind is howling! 

Hope you are having a good week and thanks for stopping by,
Chris