"Chicken and Dumpling"

I finally got this little cowgirl completed! What could draw more attention than a chicken with a cowboy hat?

"Slim Chickens"

This is the second carving in the scene I am doing with the little cowgirl. She will be walking her chicken on a leash. I have some friends who keep a few chickens and I am always accusing them of dressing their chickens up and treating them like pets. I suspect getting them to wear a hat might require some extra feed though! I still have to burn and paint this, after I complete the legs and feet. I used 20gauge copper wire and solder to get the basic armature for the legs and feet. I'll cover them with epoxy putty and shape them and glue them to the body. This fellow is about 2" tall and 2" long, to be in scale with the cowgirl, and it is a little challenging to work that small. Especially making things like feet and tiny cowboy hats! Thanks for looking!

Cowgirl painted

I got her all painted up and I'm now trying to complete the base and some additional carved items for this piece. I like the way the painting turned out.

Almost ready to paint

I've finished carving all the details and have almost finished burning them. The wood burner helps add shadows to the carved areas and also helps to keep different colors of paint in different sections from bleeding into each other. I don't set it high enough to blacken the wood; I want it to cut the wood and slightly brown it. I can use a knife to scrape or cut areas that are too dark and I may hit it with a bristle sander also, to reduce the contrast. You can see in this picture the slight difference it makes, how the cuts and details stand out more, but it doesn't look like it is outlined or drawn on.

Here are some of the details on the boots. They will be pretty snazzy when painted!

Little details, like wrinkles in the clothing where it tucks in, or the arms or knees bend add a certain realistic touch, even on caricatures. The seams on the jeans and shirt do that also, and completely disguises the joints on the shoulders where the arms are glued on.

The head is still separate and I'll have to get it and the shirt painted before gluing it on. I take a lot of pictures, because it helps me notice details that I need to take care of, like the fizzie piece in her hair!

Thanks for looking!

More progress

I have the arms glued on, but need to thin them down a bit, especially the left. I have sketched in the design patterns on the shirt and boots and carved the details on the pants. Worked on the hair a bit also, now that I have some of the other bits carved. I won't glue the head in place until some of the burning and painting are completed. Easier to do if it's not attached!

Cowgirl in progress

Here is a carving that I have started. I have wanted to do this one for some time and finally got enough stuff completed to start on it a couple of weeks ago. I am a big fan of Lynn Doughty and have been influenced by his methods and style of carving in many ways. He mentioned that he had been influenced by Harold Enlow, who has taught and influenced many other carvers. Since I may never have an opportunity to study with Harold (even though he lives in Arkansas!), I purchased several of his earlier books, and this carving is influenced some by his style of carving. This is a young lady, probably not even a teen, who will have braces and will be in some fancy cowboy duds. I have been doing a lot of cowboy boots lately, probably because of Harold and Lynn! And she will be leading a surprise animal caricature, perhaps into the show ring at the state fair. I always like it when they start looking like I imagined them! Thanks for looking!