Help to judge...

anybias · Post by **anybias** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:28 am

One of my students ask me to judge his work and honestly I don't know what to say to him,so I want to ask your help. Give me your opinion,what do you think was done wrong or ...
I am new to the forum so if it's against any rules-just delete this topic.
Thank you
Maks

Post by **krisw** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:32 am

Hey Maks, no problems judging, but you might want to upload the picture here because we can't access that forum without logging in...

Post by **krisw** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:05 pm

Oh, very nice! I think he did a great job. The plants look healthy, and well trimmed. If he is looking for very nitpicky things, I'd say that the red plants in the background on the left side (about 1/3 from the left) could be removed, as could what looks like a Nymphea lotus plant on the far right background. Those are both a little distracting. Again, nitpicky, but the foreground could be leveled a little bit better to smooth out some of the dips that are present.

Otherwise, I really like this aquascape. It's different than a lot of the Amano-like aquascapes you see, which is a good thing. It's well done. You ought to recommend that he enters it in the ADA or AGA Contest later in the year, so that he can get even more feedback.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:12 pm

That's awesome.

anybias · Post by **anybias** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:29 pm

He did send it to IAPLC-2008
"Sunset on the mysterious island"
They give him-535 (THAT WAS MUCH LOWER THAN I EXPEKT) AND IS NO COMENTS.
plants:Rotala rotundifolia,Hemianthus micranthemoides,Heteranthera zosterifolia,Cryptocoryne wendtii,Cryptocoryne beckettii,Cryptocoryne lutea,Vesicularia dubyana,Anubias barteri var. nana,Blyxa japonica,Echinodorus tenellus,Lindernia rotundifolia,Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba",Glossostigma elatinoides
fish:Tanichthys albonubes
size L120 H45 D50.(CM)
I'm not complaining ,just trying to understand, for the future:)

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:53 pm

If I had to guess I'd say it's because there's no real flow or direction in the aquascape. There's no doubt your friend can grow some really healthy plants and trim them into nice groupings.

DelawareJim · Post by **DelawareJim** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:55 pm

I like it. It has a little of that Dutch style that I personally like.

It doesn't look the cookie cutter Amano style which may be some of the reason it didn't do as well as you thought it should (we all have our biases). The competition is pretty tough too.

Personally, I'd be proud to have that scape in my living room.

Cheers.
Jim

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:58 pm

There is some flow to the left, I think the problem is that it should have been given one more trim and grow out cycle. The stems are very uneven and could be much fuller in their 'bushes'. Personally I think it's a great scape and I'd only tell him good things about it, but if he wants to compete then he needs to do just a little more work on it.

Taking a second look, yeah one more trim and grow out, that scape is ready to bust out and impress a lot of people.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:59 pm

It needs a stronger focal point maybe, but I'd be proud of that any day.

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:04 pm

Its a nice looking scape and very healthy plants! From the competition perspective, there are a few flaws that they'd really kill you on - a majority of those have to do with proportions. A few tweaks and this be a high ranking scape.

A few quick items...
1) The HM bushes in the front with the valley between - several negative points there. Too centered, too big for their location and the valley draws the eye ..and then leads up to nothing. They also don't 'jive' with the visual lines in the rest of the scape.

2) The mossy 'knob' of wood right above the H. zosterfolia - breaks the flow too much and its at a major focal point in the scape.

3) Rotalas should be pruned atleast once more to create a bushier look.
They also lack some depth - again cured by trimming the stems in front shorter.
Additionally there is seemingly empty space between them and the driftwood. Again that'll get cured by the above mentioned tip.
Trimming stems behind hardscape should always follow the hardscape angle - so the stems should be pruned to be shorter on the left.

All that said - I agree with everyone else - its a nice scape and something defintily to be proud of!

Help to judge...

Help to judge...

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