Herons

[chunkolini]

I was asked to make a pair of herons on a smallish budget.
I like doing this, having to strip an idea back to it's essence and keep it worthwhile for me. Luckily the customer knew what she wanted and was happy to tell me.
First version did not suit her, she wanted shoulders, dropped tails and 'neckiness'. I liked the idea and made a few of them to look at. The two on the left have shoulder, dropped tails etc.
View attachment 36530
Fitted them with legs, the idea is they sit in a pond about 550mm deep and the legs are over long to allow them some height over the water.

looking good.
Plan A is she wants these two rusted, I am going to make myself a few and get some galvanized and some rusted and see what people like. I think this could be a new line for me to develop. Storks, cranes, flamingoes etc.

Now I need some feedback
Then I had the idea of a virtual pond with no water, rings showing the water lapping around the legs.

Not sure if this works. Two people who i trust to be honest dont like it, I am not sure. What do you think?
Honestly.

Cheers all, Chunko'.

 

[ChrisJ]

When my eye first caught he ripples around the legs for me I it gives movement but I'm no expert, for me yu have captured the essence of the heron, once nd yeh a great product range ahead, oo maybe add an underwater fish coming off the underside of the ripple :-)

 

[chunkolini]

The fish thing was part of my original idea, a kind of virtual patio pond.

 

[ChrisJ]

If the herons head was bent to look at the fish too, you can always restore it back if it all looks pants!

 

[Diggers]

Hi Chunko'. If you can set the ripples as if they are sitting just on top of the water in the pond that would look fantastic. Then the problem is keeping the water level the same.

 

[chunkolini]

Another plan was to draw the ripples in 2d and weld them onto the legs them mount it on a wall. Did my head in trying to make the ripples.
Heron and fish eyeballing each other, reeds in pots etc etc.
Frogs and newts swimming around the reeds.
Vampyroteuthis Infernalli* swimming around?
maybe I spend too long on my own?
Chunko'.
*do a google search.

 

[ChrisJ]

How about trying it without the ripples and just a fish to add drama?

 

[strube1369]

The birds are simple and graceful. I like 'em a lot. Not sure on the virtual pond. But, hey, what the heck do I know?

 

[chunkolini]

I will have another look today, but I think the ripples are a needless detail.

 

[gordon stephenson]

I tend to agree, ripples not needed, Like the stylised shape, just right.

 

[blacksmithstris]

HI Chunko,

Nice, sometimes that is the hardest part is stripping it right back to only what is necessary to portray. Reminds me of a well used design mantra "“Perfection is achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I'm not sure about the rings/ripples, maybe in another context they might work though.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Look Good mate

 

[chunkolini]

Thanks for the honest advice here.
The rings have to go.
Blackmithstris, de Saint Exupery?, fantastic writer.
Wrote books about not much in particular but beautifully written.
Give Man on a Wire a go by Phillipe Petite, similar wonderful French writings about his heroic crossing of the Twin Towers on a tight rope.

 

[chunkolini]

Chopped them off today and made a couple more.
My customer has had hers despatched today I now have four, I am going to get two of them galvanized and leave two rust.

 

[normspanners]

Vampyroteuthis Infernalli

How big is this 'pond' the Vampyroteuthis Infernalli are in the pond between UK n US!!

 

[J_K]

I like the ripples.
But they need more things around to give the imaginary pond some more "body" for want of a better explanation.

On their own, it's not totally clear what they are unless explained.
If you made some fish swimming around and had a couple of them top feeding at the same level with the rings off them then that would build the illusion and allow the brain to make the leap on its own.

 

[outofthefire]

The trouble with the ripples was the base, if the base was buried under turf it might work better. You could kick the **** out of it and have a ripply heron reflection under the ripples I think that could look good. You wouldn't have to do the whole bird just enough to create the effect.

 

[chunkolini]

Then we are going back into adding details.
I think the reflections thing might crop up somewhere else in the future.

 

[strada]

I can understand what j_k means about the ripples needing something more.
But i can also understand about adding more detail to show the ripple effect off.
Anyway they look great ,Dare i say elegant