Ok,

I have gotten my bark back from the carpenter and it is now professionally varnished under pressure., I must say that it almost felt like silk :-) This is now preserved for eternity

I went over it with some steel wool to roughen the surface a bit and put a nice layer of gray car primer on it.
Tomorrow I am planning to put my black acrylic basecoat on it and start painting it (I still must do the figure, but I have lost my nerve at trying to sculpt so I hope that Jan's (GenFaillure) arms, that he has send me (tnx Jan) will fit the bill

Sorry to say that I don't have the DC at home so I can not take pictures

I am faced with a few dilemma’s:

First: Some of you fine people had suggested to me that I should put some vegetation on the rock to give it some color.
I am al for that idea, except when I looked at the rock again, I can't decide where to put the vegetation (grass, small plants ...), I have looked at dozens of rock climbing pictures these last few day's and really you can't find any vegetation on those rocks.
One of the reason, I think, is that vegetation creates a risk (bad grip, slippery ...) so I think that most climbers (if not all) would avoid rocks with vegetation, dos it make sense?
I also can not decide where the vegetation should go, the only place that seems logical is in the climbing path of the climber and for the above reason I find it difficult to place there.



Any suggestions?

Secondly: I just can't decide in which base color the rocks should be, Grey or more brownish (dessert yellow??)

While tehre could be vegetation in any crevice that could hould a bit of water, I agree with you about not having seen any in hte movies featuring rockclimbing. I'd forego that, if I were you.

NOw, the color of the rock will depend on where you are setting this scene. The American southwest would be well served with warmer colors, while the rockies would be more gray. Decide the setting and do w search for pictures and paint accordingly. Your climbers clothing looks more European in styling, so you'll probably be going with more or a gray base.

What I've done for gray rock is a base of medium gray, a black or Paynes Gray wash and light gray drybrushing, ending in white. To vary the tonality, I'll also add very light areas of a warmer tan color. People have asked if resin casting rocks were real, so this seems to work. :-)

Ronny - don't dispare...
I agree with the idea that plants and climbers don't mix. Plants need dirt or viney kinda things to hold on to thier base. Dirt is loose, loose is bad...... Viney things on small plants probably wouldn't hold anything as substantial as a climber - personally anything over 20 feet above the ground and I wouldn't grap anything viney or plant like to suport my weight. I don't know just a personal safety thing.

Personally, I like the stark rock surface. If you want plants I would say put them in the top left corner area along the ridge.

Color choise is ultimately yours - my personal preference is the gray route. Didn't you mention this was going to be a tribute to someone? If so find out where they do most of thier climbing and model that.

This is a cool project to follow! Thanks

Fellas,
being a rock climber, Ive seen trees growing out of the sides of rock faces with minimul soil.. Now, the trees have been stunted but are still very healthy.. As for being loose.. Ive tugged on these things and they are pretty secure...

roadkill, if you want to put some green into your dio, but not sure if you want to put it on the face, put it at the bottom of your "wall" Like the climber has cleared the tree tops and is heading for the "crux" of his climb...

Dave

I have to agree, most rock routes are very clean. Even to the point of no lichen. Just off route to the sides or above, well that's a different story. But Mojo's right. There are sometimes small and even BIG trees growing out of the rock in odd places.

Mike

Hi
I don't know how you can do your dio, but it's a very intresting idea...
put the photos when you have finished
good luck
regards

After reading the previous posts - I sit (not climb) corrected. Is there any lack of knowledge on this site??????

Thanks for the corrects.