With fronds like these, who needs anemonies?

[Amazon warrior]

I mean, seriously. If you ever decide that plastic aquarium weed might be a good addition to a mini, I beg you to think twice. Or don\'t try and paint it if you do use it! This was a cool idea in my head, and I\'m not sure how much made it out alive. Judge for yourselves!

I made the mosaic, crab, fish and anemone myself out of putty, with varying levels of success. Unfortunately, photographing something this size was a sod, so the pix are awful. Still, it was an interesting exercise and I\'m glad it\'s over! lol

D\'oh! Voting link!

 

[mattrock]

Hat-tip to the thread title amazon...very nicely done.

I actually think it turned out pretty slick. The only thing I would do differently is that I might have mixed varying shades of blue into most all the colors used to give the impression of being underwater. Derek Schubert did a beautiful underwater piece where he used that kind of idea. I\'ll link it if you haven\'t seen it.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Cheers! I reckon my best chance is to make people laugh.

I don\'t think I have seen that piece, actually. I do like new ideas and inspiration.

 

[mattrock]

Here it is on Marike\'s website. It\'s one of the best collages of this particular piece that I\'ve seen.

Enjoy. Click

 

[Amazon warrior]

Wow! That is stunning work! I\'ve got a long way to go yet...

 

[Friar]

Very nice scene AW the sea-horse looks wonderful I really like how the scales look they really have a slimey wet look to em, but I have to admit I think my favorite part is the lil crab it\'s too cute.

Matt that is a crazy diorama ya linked

 

[freakinacage]

With fronds like these, who needs anemonies?

oh dear!!

a lovely little scene, nice and bright but in a good way. the crab is way cool

 

[jahminis]

i second freak\'s comment...
that crab is way cool!!!

if we were tryin\' to imitate marike\'s style, we\'d all have a long way to go...
just find your own voice(style), and practice, practice, practice...

cheers
jah

 

[mattrock]

Originally posted by jahminis
i second freak\'s comment...
that crab is way cool!!!

if we were tryin\' to imitate marike\'s style, we\'d all have a long way to go...
just find your own voice(style), and practice, practice, practice...

cheers
jah

that\'s not Marike\'s piece, but you\'re right, she\'s quite good. That one was painted by Derek Schubert and it\'s on her site because it\'s one she considers to have been an inspiration to her (and it has been to me too.)

I\'d never suggest you imitate the style of the piece, it just illustrated what I was talking about with the blues and such.

As I mentioned before though, I think yours is very pretty too. I\'m particularly struck by how the fins on the seahorse are such a focal point for me. It\'s really high quality work in my opinion.

 

[Amazon warrior]

*blush* Thanks! And thanks for all the positive comments on the lil crab. The critters are the first stand-alone things I\'ve ever tried to sculpt, so figuring out how to approach them was interesting.

Schubert\'s diorama is truly stunning stuff, and I\'d love to have that kind of skill. I\'m still finding my mini \"voice\", but I like to tailor my approach to different minis, and I also like challenging people\'s perceptions of a mini, if I can.

 

[Theomar Pius]

Excelent! It reminds me of a magic card who\'s name I cannot recall.

 

[airhead]

I\'d love to see larger pix. I think the greenery came out nicely.

Instead of all the blue, you might want to try airbrushing random white lines in the base and across the horse\'s top to give it that shallow water rippled light look.
something like this:

 

[mattrock]

Yeah...if you take a look at Schubert\'s piece...he\'s done that too.

And actually, you may be able to forego the blue altogether if you are clever enough with highlighting randomly like that. You could fool the eye into thinking \"underwater\" without changing your color scheme.

 

[Amazon warrior]

It\'s certainly something to think about... Schubert seems to have used both methods (blueness and ripple highlights) to stunning effect in his. I\'ve kind of had enough of my flaky seaweed for the moment, but I did go through a phase of buying sea-creature minis, so I have ample opportunity to perfect my technique! Now that I seem to have an approximate grasp of where stuff should go, it\'s time to try and put it where I want it.

 

[spazzy]

Amazon, I almost bought that hippocampus the other day, now I wish I had. How was it for prep work and such? I really do like the way yours turned out, but I don\'t love the little hanging fish. I can see the threads that they are hanging on and it looks to me almost like a baby\'s crib mobile. That\'s my only criticism, though. I love the colors you used! Hey, you never would have known about the aquarium stuff if you hadn\'t tried.

As far as Schubert\'s diorama goes, it is indead lovely, but I wonder about the rather nonchalant body posture of the mermaid up top that is stabbing the other creature. It looks a bit incongruous. Am I not looking at it right?

 

[Amazon warrior]

I don\'t remember it being too bad, actually. I bought it back in June last year, so memories are vague! I recall being concerned that the join between the body and the tail would never hold (he\'s quite a hefty beast), but in practice it\'s fine. I can\'t remember if I pinned it or not, tho.

Baby\'s first sea-monster! lol Yep, all a learning trip, this. You never know until you try, and I rather enjoy trying to work out practical solutions to wacky ideas! I\'m pleased that the colour choices are going down well, after my blue-and-purple lion disturbed people!

I was thinking a similar thing about Schubert\'s diorama. I have that mermaid figure, and she is very nonchalant. I think in the diorama she\'s actually got that monster thing on a leash, but it took some minutes of study for me to be sure about that. It\'s probably clearer in real life.

 

[vincenti]

DIFFERENT !!!

Not the usual CMON stuff but beautiful none the less !!!!:beer:
GOD bless .................VINCENTI :bouncy:

 

[mattrock]

In Schubert\'s piece, the mermaid isn\'t stabbing the creature, she has it on a lead. I think the way it\'s set up is that she is to be evil and is tracking the sea-elves which are sneaking away on the bottom right of the diorama. The little beastie is her minion.