Kinross: Evolution, layering and texture...

I've been working on my small slice of Prince Edward Island on and off again this weekend, a real tonic to my current health, and pace of life, the focus was again on the scenic aspect, especially focused on the right hand, Uigg side of the layout...

Kinross pictured earlier in the week, with the coniferous trees planted. I have stared at, absorbed and enjoyed this scene and used that to inform what happened this weekend.

In the past I rushed my way through this scenic stage, to an extent going through the motions, applying my usual techniques, tried and tested, producing a consistent and quality finish, yet one that lacked depth, finesse, texture... Kinross is so compact, I decided at the outset that the scenic aspect was the one I was going to push hard on - as I've mentioned in previous posts, talking about learning the art of tree construction. However, the texture of the ground cover could also be enhanced beyond just ground foam and static grass and using Gordon Gravett's methods, dosed up with inspiration from a good thumb through Bill Linley and Bram Bailey's Morning Sun books on the region with lots of PEI inspiration, I set to work...

I noted that although the fence line along the right of way wasn't always visible, the growth between this boundary and the track was often greener and more verdant than the surrounding fields, and I also noted that the mixture of brush, trees and undergrowth produced a real layered effect to the greenery which was going to need consideration to recreate in miniature - and certainly not something that could be reproduced with just one or two mediums.

Kinross this evening, seen in the context of it's place as a true shelf layout, with Pont-y-dulais underneath.

This weekend I feel I've gone far enough, at least for now... the static grass has been enhanced with foliage matt, and then more long straw grass over the top... the coniferous trees at Uigg end have been surrounded by a mix of Woodland Scenics foliage and clumps, this time with some Green-scenes flock around the transition from grass to shrub... and I've added more overgrowth on top of the banking either side of the right of way, stopping short of adding fencing (as I feel this will visually shorten the scene) I think there is now a stronger lineation between railway property and surrounding fields. 

A close up of this weekends effort, compare to the top photo, the greenery has been deepened and enhanced with different textures and materials, yet a consistent palette of colour threads through the whole scene, slightly restrained, nothing too bright, and nothing too dark.

That moves the Visser warehouse and surroundings firmly into sight now - and I have been planning how to tackle the distinctive warehouse structure, incorporating a little more variation in ground shape and cover as the building develops. This will be modelled almost in it's entire front section - as I think the visual impact of this will balance the trees better at the right hand side, and work well within the overall scene - a cut down, compressed or half modelled frontage, with it's peak off centre, may just have been a visual crop to far - however we're still very much in mock up phase, so as I progress this I will keep checking in place to confirm it's size, position and then even it's colour so it does not dominate the scene too much.

A scene you don't usually view from to show how effective the trees are at hiding the scenic exit, as well as showing a little more of the track side greenery, which is a deeper brighter green, with some lovely thin bushes alongside the slight embankment.

I hope this brief post goes to show that good scenery is not something that is created quickly - but that requires a vision (preferably influenced by emotion), patience and a variety of skills, techniques and materials, whilst maintaining some consistency in colour. This is another topic I'd like to consider in more detail, it feels like a more formal written form may be on the cards, in some way or another. In the meantime, more soon...