From the Painting Guide: If it's a hot bright day at the beach, why is the figure surrounded in cool colours – blues, greens, purples – which dampen in? I'd expect the background to reflect the sunshine on the figure, to be rendered in warm colours – yellows, oranges, reds. The effect of the cool colours has isolated the figure from its environment. If the figure had been playing in a puddle on a rainy day, the background and it would tie together well. Also take another look at the proportions of the right forearm (holding the bucket) and the hand, which seems rather small.