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Critique my hardscape Mock play pit - your thoughts please
- Thread starter Paul Kettless
- Start date
zozo
Member
You're a quick study... 
That's already much less chaotic and easier to look at... From here on it is nitpicking details to refine it... What also helps is giving your eyes a rest, leave for a day (or 2) and then look again... Then you see new things you didn't notice before. And this can go on for a week or even longer, changing every day a bit, moving, replacing taking away or adding. Or start all over again.
In the end, the result should be something you could watch for a day without getting tired of it... Which is never the case with looking at something chaotic. This will make your eyes tired rather soon because you don't know where to look. I believe the more experienced scapers (artists) call this too much Tension... I'm still too far away from this to fully understand it, let stand see it and explain it.
Somehow it kinda works unconsciously, getting tired watching something without really knowing why. It should be Wabi Sabi... Which is more than an art actually but more a philosophy of life, to find and or create serenity with simplicity and imperfection. But this is the cradle of aqua scaping.
en.wikipedia.org
That's already much less chaotic and easier to look at... From here on it is nitpicking details to refine it... What also helps is giving your eyes a rest, leave for a day (or 2) and then look again... Then you see new things you didn't notice before. And this can go on for a week or even longer, changing every day a bit, moving, replacing taking away or adding. Or start all over again.In the end, the result should be something you could watch for a day without getting tired of it... Which is never the case with looking at something chaotic. This will make your eyes tired rather soon because you don't know where to look. I believe the more experienced scapers (artists) call this too much Tension... I'm still too far away from this to fully understand it, let stand see it and explain it.
Somehow it kinda works unconsciously, getting tired watching something without really knowing why. It should be Wabi Sabi... Which is more than an art actually but more a philosophy of life, to find and or create serenity with simplicity and imperfection. But this is the cradle of aqua scaping.
Wabi-sabi - Wikipedia
Paul Kettless
Member
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Im familiar with the rule of thirds, as I am quite keen on my photography aswell, but again only just recently purchased camera, so learning slowly but surely. You will see that I have actually marked it out on the pit, and then when it came to scaping and placing the wood completely ignored it😂. I find it considerably easier to get the composition of a photograph in place than trying a pile of rocks and woods thats for sure. When you pointed it out, it was so much more obvious. Im not a scaper, and I wont ever pretend to be, but I do want something that is going to look quite natural to the eye for all my family to enjoy. Once this is up and running I have no intentions of taking it down an doing something else anytime soon. At the moment, the good lady is away working, hence how it was set up on our dining tableYou're a quick study...
In the end, the result should be something you could watch for a day without getting tired of it... Which is never the case with looking at something chaotic. This will make your eyes tired rather soon because you don't know where to look. I believe the more experienced scapers (artists) call this too much Tension... I'm still too far away from this to fully understand it, let stand see it and explain it.
Somehow it kinda works unconsciously, getting tired watching something without really knowing why. It should be Wabi Sabi... Which is more than an art actually but more a philosophy of life, to find and or create serenity with simplicity and imperfection. But this is the cradle of aqua scaping.
Wabi-sabi - Wikipedia
She is back tommorow evening so it has now been dismantled.I think you made a good point about walking away and coming back to it. I think I am going to make room and set it up again in the man shed/bar so that I can comeback to it as and when. I have taken plenty of pics and numbered the rocks so I have a reasonable idea of how to put it back together 😳 Really appreciate the literature, and again your time, this evening I will have a good read up.
Kind regards
Paul
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not called Bob
Member
thats much easier on my eye and most important you like it,
the wood looks like a stump and not the flooded remains of a formal garden
well done on being brave and taking a bit of anger out on the rocks, those fresh faces are no more,
Paul Kettless
Member
Thanks bob, appreciated the honesty and suggestions. Its a progression for sure.
Paul Kettless
Member
OK guys, so I have a no work day and I've got the pit out again. I've been trying to take in all the constructive criticism, and have been trying to do as much reading as I can, but it still doesn't make this any easier for me.
I have tried to make all three pieces of wood look like one tree root. It's positioned on the third marker to give focal point, and also a hole in the middle as another point to try and attempt to get some depth. hopefully the stones no longer look like they are uniformed. I am also going to make sure that the left hand side mound is more sloping, and the right will do the same to a lesser degree.
We will be lookin at the aquarium from the right hand corner, and I have moved away slightly from just a triangular composition as it just didn't seem to compliment my mopani wood. Although I am hoping that by planting in the back right area, and then also in the front left, this will draw your eye to the sand area in the right
Im most probably talking an absolute load of nonsense, and it isn't doing that at all lol. Maybe, I'm just trying to convince myself that the efforts have paid of a little.
As always I would really appreciate your thoughts, and not just the Pro's on here, everyone gives completely different perspectives.
Edit: Typos
I have tried to make all three pieces of wood look like one tree root. It's positioned on the third marker to give focal point, and also a hole in the middle as another point to try and attempt to get some depth. hopefully the stones no longer look like they are uniformed. I am also going to make sure that the left hand side mound is more sloping, and the right will do the same to a lesser degree.
We will be lookin at the aquarium from the right hand corner, and I have moved away slightly from just a triangular composition as it just didn't seem to compliment my mopani wood. Although I am hoping that by planting in the back right area, and then also in the front left, this will draw your eye to the sand area in the right
Im most probably talking an absolute load of nonsense, and it isn't doing that at all lol. Maybe, I'm just trying to convince myself that the efforts have paid of a little.
As always I would really appreciate your thoughts, and not just the Pro's on here, everyone gives completely different perspectives.
Edit: Typos
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Paul Kettless
Member
sorry about the poor picture quality, no idea why it picked up some much blue.
The grumpy one
Member
Looks great to me. Does it need a bit of height, back right hand corner as viewed. Another rock to give it depth there. Or are you going to have a feature plant there. Sorry, trained as a theatrical designer years ago. Keep thinking in terms of the stage.
Paul Kettless
Member
I was going to keep the plants lower in that corner as I think the back right hand (top) corner is where I will put my AI Nero 3. Likewise with the back left I was thinking that it would help keep flow better. Furthermore, the co2 will be delivered inline, and im hoping that the Nero 3 will help distribute that better around the tank as it has a much wider stream than my steel lily pipe.
John q
Member
Hi Paul, probably won't make it any easier for you but he's my thoughts.
The stones in the latest layout look more natural to me and I like the arch idea, but it draws your eye to the centre of the scape to much and not sure if plants to the right would be enough to deflect this. Personally I like how you placed the wood in your last pic on the 25th.
Obviously only you can envisage how all this is going to look once planted and ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Cheers.
The stones in the latest layout look more natural to me and I like the arch idea, but it draws your eye to the centre of the scape to much and not sure if plants to the right would be enough to deflect this. Personally I like how you placed the wood in your last pic on the 25th.
Obviously only you can envisage how all this is going to look once planted and ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Cheers.
Paul Kettless
Member
I understand where you are coming from, I thought that I could maybe plant one of the red stems at the back of the hole so that it would soften the focal point. I think a well placed rock under the piece of wood to the right would allow me to raise that piece higher in the aquarium. I detracted away from the layout on the 25th as I thought it might give too much mass at the top of the structure, thus reducing light to the plants underneath and also be harder to obtain better flow. Appreciate your thoughts, and will again ponder.
Paul Kettless
Member
Really was not feeling the mopani wood. I'm not sure why as they are lovely pieces of wood. So after what I thought would be a fairly difficult conversation with my good lady who bought me the pieces as a gift, she was surprisingly understanding. So much so, that she grabbed me another surprise of all these redmoor roots. She has def come up trumps this time as some lovely pieces there, and much more in keeping with the nature style I wanted to achieve. And yes, I'm a lucky guy.
Therefore, it now looks like I am starting all over again, and the Mopani is now going up for grabs on the sales sites. Its a good job there was the delay on the aquarium delivery 🤣
Therefore, it now looks like I am starting all over again, and the Mopani is now going up for grabs on the sales sites. Its a good job there was the delay on the aquarium delivery 🤣
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Dorey
Member
Hello mate, just read through your thread, you done the right thing with the going for the redmoor root it will give you so much more to play with, the mopani Is nice but from the shape of it you was limited, have fun playing around looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
