WDE 13/11 Beaver dam WIP...??MI

[*Deirdre*]

The 2 hours soon go...this is pastel on Somerset velvet 15x11
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2004/33616-.pond.jpg

[CAULFIELD]

Shoooo weeee! You've gotta show us this closer... please!

Nicole :)

[zyffyr]

WOWOWOWOW! :clap: :clap: :clap: Deirdre!!! :clap: Fabulous. :clap: Stunning! :clap: Me too, I wanna see it closer. :music: :wave: :music:

[JB Platter]

Marvelous sense of distance here, you've done a great job!

[ExpressiveAngie]

AWESOME :clap: can hardly wait to see the end result!

[*Deirdre*]

Nicole, Terralyn, Jason & Angie...thank you all! I'll just do a bit more...then I'll do a closer one! :wink2:

[Valri Ary]

I echo all that has been said! It deserves big WOWIES!!! If that is a word at all! Please keep us all posted on the progress. :clap: :clap:

Valri

[*Deirdre*]

[*Deirdre*]

Thak you Valri....here's a closer update.... I still need to fix a few things!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2004/33616-.pondy.jpg

[Chiers]

This is looking great so far! These ole eyes don't work as well as they used to so would love to see it even larger!

[mbeckett]

This is one awesome piece of work, Dierdre. The water just sparkles! :clap:

[Crystalline174]

This is wonderful, Deirdre! You never cease to amaze me, not only on how much art you're able to produce, but also the quality of it! They always look fantastic! :clap: :clap: :clap:
I especially love how you're able make the water look so realistic in pastels.

Michelle

[*Deirdre*]

This is looking great so far! These ole eyes don't work as well as they used to so would love to see it even larger!
Sherry...if I knew how to...I would! :confused:
Try this...only there m,ight be a bit out of the middle!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2004/33616-.pondleft.jpghttp://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2004/33616-.pondright.jpg

[JamieWG]

Deirdre, this is stunning! Don't 'fix it' too much! Really super job on the reflections and background. :clap: :clap: :clap:

Jamie

[silgurt]

Beautiful blues and greens. How do you keep the colors so brilliant? Nice composition too.

Reese

[theIsland]

Ooh, pretty! Thanks for the enlarged version - it's very interesting to see the strokes. Really nice looseness and confidence there!

Noma

[Deano]

Looks goooood! I especially appreciate the great variation of color in the greens. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Celia]

Oh, Deirdre....... you even did the sparkles as the water spills over the dam.......... I love it........ and your reflections are awesome........... this is absolutely magnificent.........

celia

[stonewhiteclown]

I like how much of a distance is there! Amazing job with the reflections Deirdre! :clap:

[*Deirdre*]

Jamie, Reese, Noma, Deano, Celia & Alex....Thank you all, very much!
This should be the final update! :wink2:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2004/33616-.pondf.jpg

[cmwynn]

I especially like the reflections, but the whole painting sparkles.

[*Deirdre*]

I especially like the reflections, but the whole painting sparkles.
Connie, Thank you....that is totally due to a pastellist called Sweetbabyjesus...who has taught me NOT to blend! :wink2:

[Goobiemom]

Really, really pretty! You did a wonderful job! :clap:
judy

[VeldaJ]

Only one word for this, Deirdre. *FANTASTIC*. Every element is simply beautiful...I'd hang it on my wall any day.

[HRH Goldie]

Whoa for a lady who doesn't like doing trees supposedly? this is terrific! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Either you have overcome your fear or it was totally unfounded - either way it is a very nice piece and I see you did it bigger, must be for that wall you wanted one for lol!

Christine

[*Deirdre*]

Judy Joy & Christine, Thank you all very much! I don't mind doing fuzzy trees...those where a scribble will indicate their presence....but trees with leaves on look better when done by my 3 year old grandson! :evil:
As for hanging on the wall...maybe! :wink2:

[*Deirdre*]

Second painting starts here.
This is pastel on Pastel card. 8x11
Perhaps a tad small - given the difficulties of getting facial features detailed enough!
2 hours in - Here comes de burd!

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2004/33616-.bird.jpg

[*Deirdre*]

Another update
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2004/33616-.birdy.jpg

[Lanita]

Wonderfully balanced composition, and your reflective water is fantastic!
Lanita

[stonewhiteclown]

Oh well, I see you hit your comfort zone here Deirdre! I say nothing about that lady, you know she looks great! Glad you worked more on the spectacles cuz it was kinda wierd in first step :evil: I like how you did landscape part, great economy but very effective! The composition is working perfectly I think! :clap:

[Celia]

Your final version of the pond brought tears to my eyes....... it is just perfect............ you show the distance to the far mountain, the calm, mirror-like surface of the water, the awesome reflections, and my beloved sparkles as the water spills over the dam......... I love, love, love it........ and the cropped version of the bird landing on Pearlene's hand is terrific too..... you show her delight and surprise very well....... and the detail is very nicely done......... great job.........

celia

[Even If It Rains]

Really like how the damn turned out. Nice colours. I was thinking of doing that one too. Thought I would leave out the water flowing over in the foreground since it would be impossible to make it look convincing so ... :wave: I struggled to find a nitpick but found something..lol. It's the sqaure shaped black object front left. Looked at the ref image to see what it was, but in yours it looks like a floating square. Seems to spoil it's beauty.


Matt

[*Deirdre*]

Lanita, Celia, Alex & Matt....thank you all, very much!
Matt....I confess...I went too quick...missed joining up the twigs! It's supposed to be a twig and a reflection! :(

[lorna12]

I LOVE the pond...you did a suberb job capturing the tranquilty of the place and the colors in the falls.

Also a very nice rendering of the birdlady (as she has become affectionately known as :D ) I like the crop, too.

Deirdre, your images are among the few that are taking a really long time to load, at least for me on dialup...I noticed it's over 100kb (the first image took longer than the other ones) If you reduced the dpi it would help a lot. Thanks.

[*Deirdre*]

Lorna, Thank you very much for your kind comments.
I have already reduced to 75dpi for my scanned images following my experiment in the other thread, I don't know how to reduce the photo's dpi other than only loading at 400x283 or whatever it is. I'm sorry if I'm causing problems. I don't mean to! :(
Could someone tell me how to reduce the photo's dpi? Please? :angel:
---------------------------
Found a setting on camera...reduced to lowest res...see if this is better...it's the start of my bear....
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2004/33616-.bear.jpg

[Elainepsq]

Just wonderful!!!!! :clap: :clap:

[Even If It Rains]

Lorna, Thank you very much for your kind comments.
I have already reduced to 75dpi for my scanned images following my experiment in the other thread, I don't know how to reduce the photo's dpi other than only loading at 400x283 or whatever it is. I'm sorry if I'm causing problems. I don't mean to! :(
Could someone tell me how to reduce the photo's dpi? Please? :angel:

Do you have photoshop or paintshop? In both of those when you save your image there is an option for the file size. All you would do is open your image then save it again with a different name at a smaller size.

Matt

[*Deirdre*]

Matt, I use Photosuite v 4 mainly - although I also have version 5...( And ADOBE Photoshop Elemets) and I always resize my images, max 400...always have done. What I found out just now was my camera (Olympus C350) was set to HQ...so I just set it to the lowest....and photographed my bear!

[Even If It Rains]

Yes Adobe photoshop elements thats what I have. I take a high res HQ image and save that for myself then resize it for upload for here. Only takes a few seconds.

[*Deirdre*]

Yes Adobe photoshop elements thats what I have. I take a high res HQ image and save that for myself then resize it for upload for here. Only takes a few seconds.
But I do that already...and yet there seems to be a problem! :confused: :confused: :confused: :(

[*Deirdre*]

Update
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2004/33616-.bearr.jpg

[*Deirdre*]

Another update

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2004/33616-.bearrr.jpg

[DGrau]

Yout landscape is wonderfull Dierdre..excelent feeling fron this one :clap: :clap:
Very good expression on the ladys face..nicely captured, like that vibrant red.makes everything else seem all the more cold
Good strart on the bear,,was a bit surprized seeing the blue overlay in the last post..intersting to see where you go with this
Great work
regards
david

[Yokovich]

great work on that dam!!! woooooo!!!
enjoy the birdlady alot and this bear is shaping up nicely too!! this thread is a wee art gallery!! great stuff! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[*Deirdre*]

Final update!
Thank you Celestia & David...you are both very kind!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2004/33616-.bearrrr.jpg

[HRH Goldie]

Hi D, Glad I checked back in as suspected another two paintings have appeared. Love the expression caught on the lady - gee that must have been hard to do as it was from quite a distance the shot and her face in the composition of the photo was small.
Love the different way you have done your bear the blue tone makes it electrifying.
If it helps any I kept getting bogged down with the more complicated programmes so now I use "Photoimpression" all of the time. It is only small in comparison to other manipulation software but boy is it quick and easy. All the things needed for here. Only thing is you have to remember to change save image to jpeg but other than that it truly is a piece of cake to crop and resize two clicks and both jobs are done. Also you can frame your works with this programme and it has a choice of different ones. There is a photo journal facility as well as clip art and text options to make funny posters out of photos.
Hope this helps.

Christine.
PS I never mess with dpi - I'm not sure if that's what you reduce. I go for the pixel rule everytime. 400 x 600 and then there never is a problem - doesn't matter what res you take photo at it will adjust with this setting.

Christine

[Chiers]

Deirdre I posted this a few days ago but no one seemed to be interested. There is an example of how to resize in photoshop elements. I never lower the resolution of my scanner or camera. I want good quality pictures most of the time to print, but for what I post here I do take to psp and resize.

500 wide max....600 long max...72dpi

Here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229366)

[*Deirdre*]

Deirdre I posted this a few days ago but no one seemed to be interested. There is an example of how to resize in photoshop elements. I never lower the resolution of my scanner or camera. I want good quality pictures most of the time to print, but for what I post here I do take to psp and resize.

500 wide max....600 long max...72dpi

Here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229366)
THe program I use resizes but I get the feeling it doesn't reduce the res...I've done this in photoshop as an experiment...the second one is the original that I uploaded before....this tells me that the problem is with my program...so I shall use Photoshop in future and get it right! Sorry for any inconvenience!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2004/33616-.birdi.jpghttp://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2004/33616-.birdy.jpg

[*Deirdre*]

This is looking great so far! These ole eyes don't work as well as they used to so would love to see it even larger!
Now I know how.... :evil:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2004/33616-.pondb.jpg

[dragonlady]

Hi Diedre, here I am just getting a chance to comment and you've already painted 3 !

Love the pond, I nearly did that one but I wasn't brave enough - you've really pulled it off.

The bird lady - you have really captured her delight in getting the bird to come to her hand.

The bear - he's lovely and I like the colours you've used, but I'm not sure if the blue wouldn't be better toned down a little, it seems a little overpowering (although it may be just be the photo) :)

[*Deirdre*]

Joy thank you! You're very kind!
It may have been the photo....I've been doing it wrong...here's the corrected version...
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2004/33616-.beaar.jpg

[dragonlady]

Deirdre, I must apologise for spelling your name wrong for ages. Just read Angie's comments about the spelling and realised I've been getting it wrong.
So sorry, I'll try to get it right in the future. :o

[Charlie's Mum]

These are all lovely Dee - that lake reflection is truly magnificent!
Birdlady is good too - how you manage figure and detail in pastel i don't know - but you did it!

Lovely the shaggy bear - definitely not thread-bear!!!!!!!!!!

Nice set of work, and now you've mastered the re-sizing, how about that sig. line? :evil: :D

[*Deirdre*]

Nice set of work, and now you've mastered the re-sizing, how about that sig. line? :evil: :D
Thanks Maureen....Hmmm, I struggled to understand that one, the next level may be a bridge too far! :wink2: :D

[dragonlady]

That's better Deirdre, it was the photo emphasing the blue too much.

[ams]

They were all nice.

The Beaver Dam is breath taking. The reflections in the water are beautiful.

I also like the Bear. The rough fur and the swirling water come through.

Anne

[Queen Bee]

Dee, I love it. The reflections are great. To me those are always so hard to do.

[zyffyr]

Oh WOW!!! :eek: What a difference the new photos make. :eek: The first ones just didn't do justice to your talent!!!! :D Really beautiful, ALL of them! :clap: :clap: Glad you included the dam part of the photo. The bear is smashing!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: Bravo!

[*Deirdre*]

Joy, Anne, DEborah & Terralyn...thank you all so much for those kind words! :D :D :D :D
Yes, I'm pleased, at long last, to have got the photo problem sorted out...and I'm sure there are a lot of WCers who feel the same! :evil: