Back to Goldfish

Since JE class with Mary Alice is coming up in a couple of weeks, I have to get back to it.
Today's progress:

Master Craftsman Step on Illusion

The theme of this step is illusions: luminosity, iridescence, luster, and transparency. I am attempting luminosity and luster. After 8 attempts, I think I got it. I'm going to call this Moon River.

This is based on an attempt from several years ago:
       Moon on black background

One of the earlier tries this time:

The second to last that almost made it:

I decided not to put the trees in, just want to keep it simple and serene. The luster may be a touch too subdued, but I'm going to leave it alone. This piece is to be viewed with calm contemplation (hope the judges agree with that!)

Now I can concentrate on finishing the essay for this step.

EGA Challenge Done

I consider all three pieces done; I'll sit on them for a few days to see if I come up with anything else:
The relative sizes of the three pieces:

First piece:

Second piece:

Third piece:

Now to get onto the MC Step 5...

EGA Challenge First Piece Really Done (maybe)

I looked at the piece again and since I moved and redid the top 2 birds, including the far background looks fine. So I may consider this the finished one instead.

For the third piece I'm debating between 2 different layouts. The driftwood is done; I haven't decided on the position of the bird(s). And again there may not be room enough for much of the bird reflection, which was my initial motivation for this whole project!

EGA Challenge Second Piece Done

This is the second piece. Initially I was going to put a sheer on top to give the impression that the anemones are under water, but it didn't work - dulls the anemones too much. So I added some bubbles and call it done.

EGA Challenge First Piece Done

Having run out of ideas on improving the first piece, I pinged my teacher. As soon as she saw it, she knew right away what was wrong. Her suggestion was to move the center bird over to the right.
The before:

The during: (there is of course no way to "move" the bird - it entails stitching another one and then removing the first):

The after:

It looks so much better - thanks Laura!! Now I know why I signed up for Challenge with a Twist - the twist - which is teacher advice - definitely helps! The bird is now more visibly the focal point, against the darker sand, and the positions of the three birds are balanced. Yay!! I am happy now.

EGA Challenge Second Piece

I'm not totally happy with the first piece; the top bird and its reflection look fine, but the surf needs something. So I'm putting it aside and tackle the second piece instead.

The two large anemones are padded, and look very nice. I used the photo (at bottom) to stitch the tentacles.