[oil/canvas] Trouble depicting forest-y mountains

[meat]

Hey, thanks man! Lots of good pointers there. Those books are hard to get unless buying from amazon, but I'll get to 'em. Agreed there's ambiguous focus in this piece - that seems to be a common theme with me lately. Originally I meant for this to have a "foliage frame" for focal point, and that's what that bright orange blob was. Best explained by showing you the reference photos I've been using. But now I think it'll look cheesy and "slapped on", and not part of the landscape at all, so I've lost the painting's focus. It's also meant to be a colorful autumn landscape with mix of green, yellow, and red.

Here's my references for this painting: