Before and after

Model Montages

Before and after - not very convincing!

Dickie

Model Making

Have spent the day remaking my model and adding the sculptures to it.

Sadly, the lens of my camera rests at about 5 metres above the ground line, which makes it difficult to get pitures within the model at eyeline view!

Dickie

What was I thinking?

Further to yesterdays post.

The task is to produce a promotional flyer in a way that "sells the skills you have and the magic you can weave. This will form the body of your unique selling point that puts you above or apart from your competitors".

I don't think that a picture of a railway carriage looking out onto a drab garden filled with conifers is going to get me much work, although it may well set me apart from my competitors!

Having now looked into the science of the producing, folding and reading of a double sided tri-fold brochure, all of which I was blissfully unaware of, it's back to the drawing board, and the hope that inspiration will strike.

Dickie

Promotional Flyer

As part of our professional studies course we have to produce a promotional flyer advertising our services.

Have spent all day trying to come up with an original approach, but the result is distinctly downmarket and off track (forgive the pun!)

Will try again tomorrow

Dickie

Undulating Sculpture

It's amazing what you can do with a sunset from Crete, hedges and paths from Great Dixter, figures and phone boxes from gettyimages.com (worth a look to get human figures
to add to photomontages!) and rendered trees...

Thanks Martin!

More photomontages

Photomontages

Been playing around with the trees I'd rendered in the sections, adding them to photos to give an impression of an area within the gardens.

Texture

Have been experimenting with textures and colours to indicate drifts of planting within
the scheme.

Dickie

Euphorbia rigida (again)

As you can tell it's one of my favourites.

Caught this bee having a drink yesterday!

Dickie

'Barn' sculpture lit

Lighting Effects

Edge of visitor centre at night.

Dickie

4D Model Shop

Called into the 4D Model Shop on my way home this evening.

Stuffed full of modelling accessories, and you can order online!

Dickie

Process Blues

Chicken, egg, plan, model...

Fed up me:

I feel I've reached the point where I need to do the model now, before doing anything more regarding the detailing.

I just can't understand the need to do lighting, drainage and planting plan overlays now, simply to do more overlays once the model is done and the changes required become obvious.

I know it's all "process" but its a long drawn out one!

Normal Me:

Just shut up and get on with it. June is just around the corner!

Dickie

Wetlands Centre Barnes

Visited the Wetlands Centre at Barnes yesterday, to have a break from college stuff and to spend time with friends.

Lovely sunny late winter day, with the potential to spot a Bittern (a rare, heron-like bird) near the centre of London. Sadly, I didn't get to see it - maybe next time!

Dickie

Silos to the left

As the birches thin out on the left of the path, a view towards the five old silos opens up. The area in front of these is shaded so an under storey of ferns and other shade lovers is appropriate

Straight ahead along path

As you continue ahead along the path, the landscape opens up to the right. Ranks of clipped, undulating hedges slice across this area, echoing the pattern of a furrowed field. Blocks of planting spill out from between the rows, and the sculpture appears again. Lines of Libertia peregrinans next to the sculpture reinforce the sense of movement and purpose.

At corner of visitor centre

The main axis of the site is ahead, with the entrance to the site to the left. Beyond is a pathway leading to the other areas of the garden.

In front of visitor centre

This exercise is making me realise there are still lots of areas that need to be resolved. The pathway in front of the visitor centre was going to be just that, a path, but I think it would be better if the deck wraps around the visitor centre on three sides. Need to go back to the plan!

View through hedge "doorways"

View through doorways onto grid mass planting of Calamagrostis x a. "Karl Foerster" swaying in the wind. Controlled views of sustainable living community from here.
Site suitable for ground nesting species such as skylark and grey partridge.

Is this better with pleached trees?

To right of pools

Walking back towards the visitor centre, the clipped hedges to the left have openings cut into them at regular intervals (Not sure if I should add a line of pleached trees to the right to shade this area, and to add to the contrast between dark and light when looking through the "doorways").

Seated, looking across pools

The recessed seating areas allow the opportunity to look back over the reflective pools
towards the visitor centre.

Turning right

Turning right, the clipped Taxus baccata loom large, their form tying in with the regular geometry of this area of the site. Recesses cut into the hedge provide sheltered areas for seating and the opportunity to relax and to look back over the pools towards the visitor centre. Larger leafed, undulating hedges back the taxus, echoing the gently rolling countryside beyond.

Which way now?

In front of the barn sculpture. Looking down, the paving has imprints of domestic animal tracks to the left and imprints of seeds to the right.

Straight ahead

As you walk ahead along the main axis, a view of the surrounding countryside is framed by the barn sculpture which alludes to the former use of the site. (I was going to stain the barn white, but I think it it may frame the view better in a dark stain).

Reflective pools to right

As you walk past the visitor centre, the reflective pools with undulating sculptures reveal themselves to the right. The aim is for impact, with emergence from the dappled shade of the woodland grove into bright sunlight, and an expanse of "openness", the pools bringing in the "big skies" of Hadlow, their regular rectangular form echoing the geometry of the visitor centre. Imagine squinting to adjust to the light levels, reflected light bouncing off the water and sculptures, the buzzing of dragonflies hunting across the pool surfaces.