• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Ed's thread (1 Viewer)

I think softly softly Ed as you suspect. Once you put in the beautiful ornamentals, the yellow and white on the wings, there's going to be more to draw the eye, in a way, punctuation in itself I guess.

It is a stunner!

Yes go softly Ed. It's nearly there and those little touches in the dark area will set it off perfectly I think.

Just out of curiosity do you know the name of the shrub that has berries, assuming it's real. It's really reminiscent of some winterberries in the states. We were at a local arboretum yesterday where the winterberries generally glow from 100s of yards away. Not yesterday though. Every single berry gone.
 
Yes go softly Ed. It's nearly there and those little touches in the dark area will set it off perfectly I think.

Just out of curiosity do you know the name of the shrub that has berries, assuming it's real. It's really reminiscent of some winterberries in the states.

nice little story actually- its a guelder [gelder?] rose by a little pond, planted about 15 years ago by a nice chap who had been hoping for waxwings for years and happened to come by whilst I was watching
 
nice little story actually- its a guelder [gelder?] rose by a little pond, planted about 15 years ago by a nice chap who had been hoping for waxwings for years and happened to come by whilst I was watching


Thanks Ed. I see that it's actually in the Viburnum family. Viburnums are great favorite of birds here. Unfortunately the aphids always kill off our deep blue Viburnum berries before the birds get to enjoy them.
 
hello all- not much time for painting this week, but I've just had chance to pin the gold braid and medals on the waxwings, plus second attachment is a look at whether some extra berries in the empty quarter bottom right might do the trick

rubbish light for photos- I haven't seen this in daylight for a week, so I'm not entirely what it looks like in true life: slightly warmer brown I think, but I might get a surprise on Saturday
 

Attachments

  • q9 550 DSC_2278.jpg
    q9 550 DSC_2278.jpg
    161.3 KB · Views: 59
  • q9 550 xtra berries DSC_2278 copy.jpg
    q9 550 xtra berries DSC_2278 copy.jpg
    161.7 KB · Views: 66
Ed,

It's coming along really well I think, a lot of Ooomph and I get a real sense of thrill from it. I still feel a little unsure with that corner area, but it is a personal thing.
Have you looked at it, with your back to it through a mirror? Don't reverse it on screen, its not the same, but try if you haven't, its an interesting perspective, and something I often do with mine.

Anyway, its beautiful work!

Mark
 
Ed - the best you've done. And I mean 'done!'. I see Mark's point, but for me that 'empty' dark area (bottom right) just serves to set the flow of the painting; which is very distinctly top right sweeping through to lower left and then steep bank up to top left. A very Bohemian aspect, in my humble opinion.
It's framable - er, as it was even before you put the birds in. . . . . glad you did. though.
 
The extra berries would be superfluous I think. The painting has plenty going on without the need for anything extra. I agree with Tim, this is certainly one of your very best and a competition winner for sure!

Mike
 
Agree, a definite contender for that one Ed!

And I'd listen to Tim and Mike, makes a lot of sense with the flow, seven waxers in a '7', a thought-provoking piece.
 
Last edited:
I can't help but keep looking at your wondrous waxers Ed....this has to be one of my favorite pieces of your work that i've seen....'STUNNING'!!!!

ps...[that hobby you did a while ago took my breath away]....and i give up on superlatives now as i've run out....:t:
 
The extra berries would be superfluous I think. The painting has plenty going on without the need for anything extra. I agree with Tim, this is certainly one of your very best and a competition winner for sure!

Mike

Have to agree with everyone that it is one of your best Ed! I'm always reluctant to add advice for specific changes. But once there was talk of the the right side being empty I started looking more closely, especially comparing the last two versions, including the one that's had the berries added via the computer.

Here's what I concluded though only you know if this makes any sense to you. I found I liked the one with the added berries better. But I also found that in the first one I wanted a bit more definition esp. on the left side of the bird at upper left. He just seemed to disappear a bit too much. My guess is that he had a more defining edge I wouldn't care what happened in right corner. But with him less distinct then my eye wants something over in the right hand corner. And the new berries do a great job I think because they also add a sense of depth.

As before I'd say go slow if you do anything. It really is one of your strongest and just waiting to win a competition.
 
well thank-you team - the combined commenting effort is much appreciated

I will have a long look in daylight before doing anything impetuous
 
project waxwing draws to a close

I had a moment or two of reflection this morning and decided to apply some therapy to the two rather samey heads lined up like privates on parade top right

so I've turned one frontwards, which is how it was alway meant to be as per the original sketch, and allowed it to be in patch of bright light

so with that and the xtra berries I think we are balanced enough to be done, albeit centre of gravity slightly higher and further right than first planned

need a new project- all I can find at the moment are Teal dabbling in orange and blue light..
 

Attachments

  • 550 q9 two ,heads DSC_2278 copy.jpg
    550 q9 two ,heads DSC_2278 copy.jpg
    160.2 KB · Views: 47
  • 550 q9 two birds DSC_2285.jpg
    550 q9 two birds DSC_2285.jpg
    171.4 KB · Views: 52
  • q9 550 master DSC_2284 copy.jpg
    q9 550 master DSC_2284 copy.jpg
    174.8 KB · Views: 58
The extra berries would be superfluous I think. The painting has plenty going on without the need for anything extra. I agree with Tim, this is certainly one of your very best and a competition winner for sure!

Mike

I agree with this and others....here's my take, this is one of the busiest and most complex compositions ever and is a radial arrangement that thrusts outward with great energy, you have it contained and weighted down with that corner, and it needs it so it doesn't fly apart. I think it stands as is, turn it to the wall for a week and look at it again...it's very hard to judge in a small photo like this. Bravo ED
 
Hi Ed,

Have held off commenting on this until finished, just to say this is quite inspired. Really does deserve a wider audience as Tim prompts. One of your very best to date in my eyes, a wonderful painting bristling with energy and a birder's eye. This one makes me want to prime a canvas....
 
Looks good Ed. Thinking about all the various suggestions you got, as well as ones that others get regarding other work it reminds me of the old Perl programming language adage: TMTOWTDI.

There's More Than One Way To Do It. Always something good to remember with art.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top