lake vs Ocean beach

[slannpriest]

Im modeling my cav as riding up out of the lake onto the beach. The thing Im trying to figure out is how to get others to easily recognize that its a lake not an ocean beach their riding up on.

ocean beach would be more white sandy. Shells, tall grass and the water would come in waves

but lake Im at a loss. Usually the ground is more like clay, compacted, dark colored. Water would be less wavy coming up on it. But from a sculpting converting point of view the only thing I would know how to do is add lillypads and cattail plants which is more to do with the water rather then the beach part of it.

 

[marineboy]

How about leaves and other plant debris, roots and tree trunks or sharp rocky formations (that haven\'t been battered by the eternal waves) ?

Grass or bushes coming almost to the waterfront might hammer the point homealso.

:flip:

 

[supervike]

how about...

a sign that says...Welcome to Slannpriests Lake...LOL


Lakes have shells and sand as well. But I think having the water more serene, and lots of thick vegetation near it, like Marineboy said, may help.

Maybe a frog?

 

[slannpriest]

Bushes and frogs is a good idea.

I can do some driftwood/logs

Any other ideas, things that if you saw them would indicate to you lake not ocean beach.

how would you make the actual land. sand and paint it dark earth tones?

 

[marineboy]

I\'d use a fine textured paint, more discreet in structure than sand... clay or dirt don\'t have as much definition as sand.

I\'d also paint the water in greens along with blues showing algae growth, with differences in shading where the dand banks are.

And definitely the frog. lol

 

[Broke n English]

@Slannpriest--Celthulu has just put up a piece in the Discuss Submissions section

http://www.coolminiornot.com/84376

This is a cool river piece.Some great ideas there,might be a help.

 

[EricJ]

I\'ve been thinking over the exact same question for a piece I\'m about to start on, here is what I\'ve come up with:

When I think ocean beach I think sand, shells, seaweed, a more gradual incline into the water, and a rough wave water surface.

For a lake I think larger stones on the shore (haven\'t been pounded to sand by the waves) and/or a muddy look (which would get washed away if there were waves), roots/plants into the water or closer to the water, plant debre all the way down to the edge of the water (indicating no wave action to clear it), can have a more severe or jagged incline into the water even of loose materials, and a flat, smooth surface to the water itself.

Basically I think the difference is showing the effect of wave action vs. the lack of wave action. Also fresh water plants/foliage/animals near/in the water is a give away as well.

Good luck, great question!

-Eric

 

[Dragonsreach]

Cumbria, in the UK, is The Lake District and most (note not all) of the lakes have very smooth pebble shores.
Also the water seems to have more peat/vegetable content due to the run off from the hillsides so you could colour the deeper water areas with a deep brown and then bring the shore line up to paler colour.

However Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada is very bright blue due to all the Glacial Flower. Makes it look as if someone actually put tiles on the lake bottom.

 

[freakinacage]

i would say keep the beach part muddier and have the vegetation closer to the water (maybe with some reeds poking out)

 

[marineboy]

..yeah!... and ducks or other water fowl!

 

[Equus]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
However Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada is very bright blue due to all the Glacial Flower. Makes it look as if someone actually put tiles on the lake bottom.

The blue of those glacial lakes up there is absolutely amazing. I would never have believed it if I hadn\'t seen it in person. Even seeing a picture doesn\'t really do it justice. At least for me.

My two cents on lakes vs. ocean would mostly come from having moved from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest. I laughed for like 10 minutes when someone tried to convince me that going to the lake was \"going to the beach\", until I realized they were serious. Anyway, I would agree that there would probably be more vegetation closer to the water on a lake shore, and perhaps in the water (i.e. lilies, reeds, etc). Also without as much tidal and wave motion, there could be larger debris half buried on a lake shore, whereas they usually don\'t last long like that if they\'re pounded by waves. Half-submerged trees or something like that may also give the impression of a flooded lake or something, since you don\'t see stuff like that as often on the ocean side unless there was some kind of slide or something.