"Deer Country" by Tyra Smith September 2000

Finished Size: 4.25 x 5.50 inches

Images: Stampscapes®: 203G Oak Branch Large, 221G Blooms & Bridge, 087F Tree Trunk, 088F Tree Trunk Trio, 196F Pine, 150E Pine Row, 180E Cracked Earth, 208D Grass Texture, 009B Buck Large, 067B Reeds

Materials: King James Cast Cote 10 Point (White), Stipple brushes

Colour: HALOS dye ink pads, Marvy Matchables dye ink pads, Printworks Dye Ink pads.

Digital Enhancement

Artist Note:

You can use Blooms and Bridge in three ways, or more accurately there are three ways of looking at the stamp itself.

1. You can simply use the stamp as the main image on a standard size card (4.25 x 5.50 inches). I uploaded a sample of this to our files section, Blooms & Bridge 1. This stamp is so detailed that you can actually use it as a main image. There's lots of room for coloring and shading. This stamp is so beautiful that using it as the main, and only, image is quite easy and visually effective.

2. You can use it in combination with other images within a small scene (4.25 x 5.50 inches). The one thing you have to keep in mind is that the bridge is so large that it will have to be placed in the immediate foreground of your scene. Pay particular attention to aspect and ratio when picking other images to use with it. In a small format, its easy to screw up your depth if you choose too large or too small images to compliment the Blooms & Bridge. I uploaded a sample of this to our files section, Blooms & Bridge 2. I like to create a creek that runs underneath the Blooms & Bridge and I often combine two other stamps for the "creek" look - cracked earth small (for the creek bed beneath the water) and the smaller water pattern (to create the illusion of movement on top of the water in the creek).

3. Because the Blooms & Bridge stamp is so large, I find it works great in larger scenes. I uploaded a sample of this to our files section, Blooms & Bridge 3 - its an 8.5 x 11 inch piece. When you are working a larger scene with the Blooms & Bridge, you'll have to further define what surrounds the bridge itself. You can use several different stamps to further carve the flowing creek across the scene.

In the larger scenes, the Blooms & Bridge does not dominate the scene, it becomes one part of the whole. In smaller scenes, it will dominate your foreground.

Of course, the Blooms & Bridge stamp also lends itself well to scenic collage projects across a wide range of formats. It also creates an interesting look when used on dominoes.

I've often thought of putting something ON the bridge itself.....I kinda think of that fairy tale about the billy goats gruff when I see that Blooms & Bridge stamp. You know....The Three Billy Goats Gruff? And the troll.....Yeah, you could use Blooms & Bridge to create a really cool "fantasy" piece along those lines! I haven't tried it, but I know it would work. -TS