Tony, the links need to have the "jpg" capitalized....sorry.
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I can't get it to work. Do you want to send the pics in an email? That might work better.
Tony
I am going to be brutally honest like the judges will be when you get scored. This is just my opinion and I have entered quite a few waterfowl pieces in conventions.........I presume you are going to enter in the amatuer class since you stated it was your first time...First off I would like to say that you did good for your first time and you are doing the right thing by going to the show, but make sure you go wanting to learn and leave your ego at the door! That is why we all compete right? To learn. The greenwing in my opinion is lacking the following and you will get deductions:
The first and most obvious of thing is the side pockets. Your wings on the bird are pinching the side pockets in and not allowing the wings to be covered by the side pockets. probably due to lack of grooming or too small of a form. I am sure the later of the two applies more.
2. The back of the bird appears flat.
3. The body of the bird appears long.
4. The leg in too far forward but you did do a good job on the paint and injection of the foot. Very hard to do!
4.The neck and head don't flow together and it looks like the head is cocked slightly. Birds always have level heads (minus some extreme circumstances.)
5. Your balance and symetry are slightly off.
6.Eyes look "scared". Shrink them down some and give them the right shape.
7. Grooming........needs more grooming. It may appear "messy" because of the placement of wings. This throws everything off when not tucked properly due to not being anchored in the right area or having a form that is too big.
Overall is it a nice piece for your first time. I will say it again....go with a positive attitude and listen to what the judge tells you. Thank him for his time and take a small notepad to jot down areas to improve on. I know this post sounds harse but that is why the call them competitions! When is your show? Good luck, let us know how you do.
<IMG SRC="http://www.QROwireless.net/~newlifetax/pics/gwteal4.JPG">
<A HREF="http://www.QROwireless.net/~newlifetax/pics/gwteal5.JPG">pic 5</A>
they make this forum SO user friendly...