Realistic Landscapes in IB Art

Hello, I'm James, a student in Mrs. Cauble's IB Art class. Currently I am trying to work toward the more realistic side of art. I really like drawing and painting landscapes. Most of my previous studios were landscapes, but they were not nearly as successful as this one. I made this all out of pencil - I used an ebony, 4b, 2b and an h pencil. Starting out, I did not really like it. I was having trouble with the roof of the barn. Once I started shading everything, that problem was solved - but I discovered that the white in the background (the area around and between the trees) was taking away from the snow-covered roof and the snow in the front of the barn. Also, I had to draw a line around the roof so you could see it. After I decided to shade the background a little, the snow really brightened up and I could remove the line. I really like working in pencil and hope to do many more studios with them.