hey all ive just completed some of my fern plants. for the green ferns you see is from a bunch of moss i found along a streambed while visiting wyoming, the yellow ones are clipping from sheet moss jammed into a plastic tube and glue to keep them together. i havent painted them yet so dont worry...do you have any suggestions or comments? also how can i simulate the pine needles in the picture at the very bottom?
cheers
ian


the moss i found



the sheet moss



heres the pic i wanna know how to do the needles

check out other pics of ferns in my gallery

Ian your ferns look fine. As for pine needles, I used WS field grass then cut it off very very short and sprinkled this over white glue around base of the tree. then I did a regular wash of burnt sienna oil paints. When this was dry it was followed with a heavily thinned wash of raw umber. It is a very effective technique, you can see pics of it in the Brave Souls dio in the features section. Cheers Kevin

That moss looks just like the Hudson & Allen Pine Boughs.
I wonder what species it is.
interesting...

no i dont think its the same....in the whole group of moss there are only a few fronds that branch out like that . Most are straight with a few little cross sections going out. but they do look good in a clump. thanks for the comment
ian

Ian those ferns do look good. Sorry I don't have any suggestions on pine needles.

maybe you could juse static grass in a brown color and some other colors. And just "lay" them on the ground. So it would look like pine needles.

You can actually get a bag of the stuff at craft stores like Michaels. I think they call it "Spanish Moss" or something like that. Silk plant 'people' use it to fill in around plant stems.
You get a 5" x 10" bag of the stuff on sale for around $3.

Nice use of it!!

You can get a coconut fiber mat at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. These are used to line flower pots and when cut up into short pieces, look just like brown pine needles. They are really inexpensive and will last for years. Good luck.

Patrick

hey guys thanks for the tips....i tihnk the best is the coconut fibre cuz i can use it for other stuff too like grass. thanks all
ian

What about if you cut paint brush britsles really short. They will lay on the ground really well.