another carving done pt 2

Yesterday I got some time in carving a quick face just to get back into the swing of things. I should explain I have had a old shoulder injury resurrect itself, and move across to my other shoulder just to keep it fresh. This shut down my carving for a good month to almost two so I am getting back to carving slowly as I don't want to start up the issue allover again. I am on the mend but am still taking it slow.

So the last two carvings have been simple carvings just for the fun of carving. After all I don't make a living at this and even though I sell some carvings I do this for the love of carving.

The carving yesterday was a face of a guy, probably middle age, has a few wrinkles and a bit of a thick neck so a hint that he may have a little extra weight but not obese. He still has a full head of hair but will wait till the paint comes out to decide if he has some gray or if he has a full head of hair. I like this one just kind of fun with a quirky expression as if he is looking at something that has caught his attention but maybe not in a good way. This one I won't hollow out the back to make sure he keeps a good balance to sit up on his own.

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 carving  

finally carving

I have been out of commission for lack of a better way to explain it for over a month now and minus the other day when I played with the new carver that I have I haven't carved since before Christmas probably. I won't go into why I just haven't, so yesterday I decided I would test the waters and see how I was doing and for the most part it went well. I carved a Santa face since this wouldn't be complicated and would be a quick test to see how I was progressing.

Just to make things interesting I carved a few sections different from how I normally do it just to see how it would come out and that to went well I thought. So here is the little guy, may be the last Santa I carve in a while but who knows.

 

I like that he can stand up on his own but will still put an eyelet in so he can be hung on a tree. You may notice I have already placed the pencil markings for his eyes and that is how they will stay, the direction seems to match the carving.

 

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 carving

power carving 101

I was given a flex shaft grinder/ carver for Christmas so two weeks ago we had a warm day so I grabbed a piece of pine knot and gave the new toy a try. I was a bit rusty carving with the power tools since this is an outdoor activity. I also needed to adjust to the difference in the handle from the Dremel and the carver shaft but I started to get comfortable with it after a bit of trial and error. So compounding this with the new bits I was given and the ones I previously used with the newest feature a foot pedal to control the speed of the bit I was happy that I walked away with something that resembled a carving.

I was happy with the facial features in the sense that I carved deeper than in previous pine knot carvings. I felt that this one had more realistic proportion and in power carving this was my best nose carved to date. I think in the next session (probably early spring) I will make more effort to layout the basics of the facial features before I try to add in detailing. I am finding that even though the process seems to be at a faster pace due to the power tool you still have to come into this with a certain level of patience. Like carving with knives and gouges first you have to set up the main layout of the carving then come back and begin the detailing process. So different tools yes but still the same concepts and process in carving.

On a side note, it wasn't my intent to carve the depth in the eyes but while getting used to the speed control and experimenting with different bits one of the bits simply carved better than I anticipate and with one fatal sweep of the bit an extreme amount of wood was gone. In time I will have a better feel for the bits and how aggressively they carve.

 

 as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem

As has been previously mentioned I and other carvers and wood turners donated hand made ornaments for the Governors Mansion to honor the 100th anniversary of the Virginia Department of Forestry. Today I received an email with a photograph of the Governor who took time out of his day to be there the day the day the ornaments where being hung on the tree. As you can see he posed with some ornaments before they were placed on the tree and here is Governor McAuliffe holding a beautiful turned ornament in one hand and the ornament I donated in the other. It is a beautiful tree and full of wonderful ornaments so if you are up Richmond way and you are near the Governors Mansion check out the schedule and take the tour to see some wonderful craftsmanship. On the 19th of November I posted the mansions tour hours;

http://cartoons2carvings.blogspot.com/2014/11/well-other-day-i-forgot-i-had-carved.html

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 the Christmas celebration

Well I have been busy trying to get a few carvings done for the end of the season which is quickly approaching. Most of my efforts for my shop have been Santa and elf ornaments. I have one shelf tree elf carved out of butternut that I am really happy with. Many people advised me not to paint this would due to the grain, many grainy woods tend to let the color bleed along the grain. As an experiment I put one coating of protective finish, I made sure it was a thin even layer and then began to paint. From this the paint took to the wood but only where I put it and I have to say I am extremely happy with the way this one turned out. When the painting was complete I applied another protective coat this time letting it be a bit thicker coating which really highlighted the wood grain where paint was not applied. Overall I am happy with this set of carving and will be sad to see a few of them go.

 

 as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 carving