Project One: final FINAL conclusion

Lame!!  That's what I thought when I looked over last night's effort.  I had worked late and I was in a hurry - never a good frame of mind when drawing - and I slapped together something that looked pretty lame.

Here is the final final project:

The Photoshop water might seem like a cop out but it sits well.  Some wavering reflections and bits of color bring it to life... a bit.  The thing I really liked from the Hawley Pratt example was the bubbles in the water which I emulated and put around Wally's little island.

The foliage in front of the fence and meeting the water looks a bit better.  I used some SketchBook Pro brushes... I love 'em much better than Photoshop brushes but probably because I'm better at using them.  I also gave some texture to the galvanized steel fence posts; now they look slightly crusty which is how a chain link fence should look.  Especially one that's close to water.  Now it's a fence you could bang yer head on!

This one looks a little livelier and something I had forgotten: water should reflect the sky.  If they sky is hazy, your water is hazy.  If the sky is dark, dark water, etc.  But you can't have hazy sky and colorful water... it looks ridiculous and immediately your antenna goes up: something's wrong here.

For me, this one works and here is where I'll park it.  A year from I'll cringe when I see it but ... that'll be a year from now.  Right now I'll settle on this one as my final final project number one.