Lizard Cane completed

Finally got it finished! Thanks for looking!

More photos in my gallery at the left.

Lizard Cane

I got the burning completed this morning. Lots of little scales! They are easy to do, but it is important that they be going the right direction and I change sizes in different areas to indicate more flexibility or bends. I sprayed it with water to judge how it will look with a finish.. pear really is an attractive wood! I won’t be able to work on it for several days, so I should have plenty of time to decide whether to paint it or not. My original plan was to paint, primarily because I know that I can do a good paint job on it, making it look real. But part of that is also to cover the areas that I patched, filling in a couple of insect holes. I am not sure I can make those look like the natural wood…I know I can cover them with gesso and paint! Thanks for looking!

Mountain Man

Here is the second one finished. I like the way the hat and fringe turned out.

Another Santa finished

I finally got my shed remodeled and found time to paint this old fellow. This from a roughout by Roger Stegall who gave me some tips on improving my carvings, that I am trying to incorporate. When I get advice, I try and take it! He suggested making deeper undercuts to improve the shadow lines, and I have tried to use those techniques in my last few carvings. I am also trying to get better at the dry-brushing technique of painting. I'm trying to use at least three colors to add more depth, like on the beard. I hope to get the other painted in a few days. Thanks for looking!

Roger Stegall Carving seminar

I’ve been replacing the roof on a shed and doing other carpentry work, so I haven’t carved much in a few weeks. But I spent the weekend attending a two day seminar by Roger Stegall, a member of the Central Arkansas carving club, who has won several awards in different Caricature Carvers of America competitions. I had a lot of fun, picked up s few tips, sharpened some tools for other members, and got to visit a bit. I liked a couple of his smaller carvings, a Santa and a mountain man, and both were carved from the same roughout. The cost for the seminar was only $45 and these roughouts were $12 each. What a deal! The club had a good turnout and everyone had a great time. Roger is a good instructor and gave me some really good advice for improving my work. (Roger's website). I managed to get the Santa mostly completed. I still need to burn it, clean up some details, and paint it, but I am pleased with how it turned out. It is the same roughout as the other carving, but you start by carving the brim of the hat off and changing one of the ears into the ball on the cap. The eyes, nose, mouth, and mustache are also carved differently, and it was fun to add other little details to make it look nice. I am anxious to get to work on the other one now! Thanks for looking!