I've recently had a moment of clarity on why I like some of my paintings more than others, even if my technical ability never seems to be the problem; they severely lack 'atmosphere'. These are the worst offenders I think. 

While I'm happy with these paintings on a technical level, they fall flat emotionally and I don't have much interest in looking at them. I have a few ideas on why they turn out like this:

* I paint alla prima, so they might be lacking depth that comes from layers
* They lack variety in brush strokes (I tend to paint smoothly with small brushes)
* I use different values of the same mixed colour for large sections (e.g. backgrounds), leading to lack of variation
* They might lack movement, are they painted 'stiffly'? 
* Maybe the values aren't dynamic enough?

I have other paintings that I view as more successful, but I don't consciously approach them any differently, so I'm a little stumped. Do any of those reasons ring true to anybody? Can you point out what else might be missing from my pieces? Do you have any thoughts on 'atmosphere' in paintings, and how to pinpoint it in more quantifiable terms? 

Thanks a lot, looking forward to hearing from you knowledgeable people. I'm really hoping to improve in this aspect, now I am more or less happy with my technical ability. 

My paintings lack atmosphere