Where's Mark??

I truly liked your comments, even a mild bashing would be O.K.

Still waiting for you to post.

James

Which Mark is that?

Not Rocky!

I've never heard him express a strong opinion on anything.

;-)

James,

Here is a pseudo expert critique.

I find the pic a bit hard to resolve (a bit dark and my eyes are very bad now I'm so old)

The old saying "less is more" springs to mind and while there is no doubt the individual trees, ground cover and the rock (rocks?) all have their own merits my first impression is that it is a bit "busy" with too many elements to convey a concise scene perhaps. The image needs simplifying I believe.

I feel the protruding rock on the right attracts the eye too much , works against the overall feel and needs to be removed or disguised.

The protruding rock in the centre dominates the middle ground, is also an eye catcher and as a result the eye is flicking all over the composition from trees to rock to ground cover.

A more unified image is apparent from the back where you could well be looking at the over grown rocky bank of a lake or stream anywhere in the Pacific NW, Ontario, UK uplands etc.

A darn side better than anything IÂve ever attempted along the saikei? penjing? line and more power to your elbow.

I hope you understand my point about it being a bit busy - a bit too much happening to let the mind relax and complete the picture.

You talkin' to me? ;-)

I kind of agree with The Moose (by the way, my nickname in high school was "Rocky" but not the fighter. I was named more for the squirrel ;-)). Agreeing with a Moose is easy for me to do. I you don't understand what I'm talking about, watch a Bullwinkle cartoon ;-).

Err, sorry, back to the planting. I think the left hand rock and the right hand rock or --is that peak part of the pot?--compete with each other and the trees.

Variation in tree height would go a long way in defining this a little better, as would thinning the ground cover. The pot suggests barren windblown, the ground cover says lush, easy growth...

Less is more...

Yea I'm talkin to you.

Thanks to you and the moose. Yes, I well remember squirrel and moose. Yhey would have had nothing to do if it had not been for Boris and Natacha.

Well, at least your critiqes have not changed since last year. Would this pass for penging? I like the sean, the spilling ivy is quite diffrent and appeals to me. I'll kick it around some keeping in mind what S&M said.

Thanks fellas, James