Had one of those Sunday's today. Alison my partner's been glued to the TV watching the celebrations of Her Royal Highness and bemoaning the fact that I'm missing out on this historic occasion. Now I'm proud of the Queen and all, but having the gogglebox in the corner tell me how I should spend my day with has-been celebs crawling out of the woodwork presenting it, just ain't my idea of fun. So I took myself off to the workshop and got busy with something I'd been planning on doing for a while now. A Woodspirit... of sorts.
Now I REALLY like Woodspirit's woodspirit carvings but I wanted to have a go at doing a slightly different version of it, based on something I'd already done over 20 years ago on the back of my leather jacket.
Here it is.
All set up ready for the chisels.
Basic sketch down and under starter's orders.
If you were hoping for a tutorials, sorry. I got so wrapped up in carving I just didn't bother with the camera. So here's Berserker under harsh light.
And outside in the sunshine. You can see how stringy the wood is. Easy to carve but a pain in the butt to get a decent finish.
As I said this was inspired by Woodspirit's work but made in my own style and based on a painting I did 20+ years ago on a leather jacket. I got the original idea from a series of BRILLIANT books I read way back in the early 80's.
Click on the link for the original picture http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xsmnOkPIZ1Q/TIY1YbA16aI/AAAAAAAAAnk/RWDwZCH-5Ak/s1600/img105.jpg
If I ever had a tattoo that would be it. I've not got tired of looking at that painting in 30+ years, which is a sure-fired way of saying that would be a good tat for me.
These are the tools I used. The Dremel wannabe is pretty good and I invested in a series of carving points and cutters for it.
The wood is still too green and is feathering up and rather stringy. So I've set it on the window cill in direct sunlight and hope it drys out enough so I can get back to this another day and do some more detail work on. The eyes need to come alive and a network of skin wrinkles and creases for the hair, but otherwise I'm really pleased with the basic carving I've got done this afternoon. I hope Her Highness will be pleased with how one of her subjects commemorated her special day today.
Thanks for looking Folks.
Edit July 7th
Well, I dragged back some of carving tools from the place I should be moving into soon, I'm having problems with the electrics, so it's delayed again So with the weather being rather damp and me needing something to do with my hands I thought I'd finish my Berserker.
This is how he looked once all the finer details had been done, it seemed no matter what I did I couldn't get the fluffy grain to settle.
So I applied a coat of linseed oil and voila, the grain went flat. So pleased about that too.
And with the harsh light coming in the window to my former workshop it really shows off the shadows.
I drilled two 3mm holes for his pupils then rounded them out using an awl, worked better than I expected, and it's that sort of final detail that can make or break an expression. It'd too easy to make him cross-eyed if one pupil was slightly off line.
So this is him all done and dusted. Really REALLY pleased with the end result. Thanks for reading.
Now I REALLY like Woodspirit's woodspirit carvings but I wanted to have a go at doing a slightly different version of it, based on something I'd already done over 20 years ago on the back of my leather jacket.
Here it is.
All set up ready for the chisels.
Basic sketch down and under starter's orders.
If you were hoping for a tutorials, sorry. I got so wrapped up in carving I just didn't bother with the camera. So here's Berserker under harsh light.
And outside in the sunshine. You can see how stringy the wood is. Easy to carve but a pain in the butt to get a decent finish.
As I said this was inspired by Woodspirit's work but made in my own style and based on a painting I did 20+ years ago on a leather jacket. I got the original idea from a series of BRILLIANT books I read way back in the early 80's.
Click on the link for the original picture http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xsmnOkPIZ1Q/TIY1YbA16aI/AAAAAAAAAnk/RWDwZCH-5Ak/s1600/img105.jpg
If I ever had a tattoo that would be it. I've not got tired of looking at that painting in 30+ years, which is a sure-fired way of saying that would be a good tat for me.
These are the tools I used. The Dremel wannabe is pretty good and I invested in a series of carving points and cutters for it.
The wood is still too green and is feathering up and rather stringy. So I've set it on the window cill in direct sunlight and hope it drys out enough so I can get back to this another day and do some more detail work on. The eyes need to come alive and a network of skin wrinkles and creases for the hair, but otherwise I'm really pleased with the basic carving I've got done this afternoon. I hope Her Highness will be pleased with how one of her subjects commemorated her special day today.
Thanks for looking Folks.
Edit July 7th
Well, I dragged back some of carving tools from the place I should be moving into soon, I'm having problems with the electrics, so it's delayed again So with the weather being rather damp and me needing something to do with my hands I thought I'd finish my Berserker.
This is how he looked once all the finer details had been done, it seemed no matter what I did I couldn't get the fluffy grain to settle.
So I applied a coat of linseed oil and voila, the grain went flat. So pleased about that too.
And with the harsh light coming in the window to my former workshop it really shows off the shadows.
I drilled two 3mm holes for his pupils then rounded them out using an awl, worked better than I expected, and it's that sort of final detail that can make or break an expression. It'd too easy to make him cross-eyed if one pupil was slightly off line.
So this is him all done and dusted. Really REALLY pleased with the end result. Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
:theyareon
