Help me decide....

[bobnewboy]

Hi All, I need help to make a decision!

I have carved a pair of pheasant heads, one cock and one hen. I intend them to go on as walking stick handles. They are just about done, but I can’t make up my mind about what I should do about the eyes. As I see it I have three choices:

1. leave the heads as they are, so that the heads are kinda stylised,
2. Carve eyes into the wood, or
3. Add black/yellow plastic eyes, set into the heads at the appropriate places.

I’m hoping these will be users as walking sticks, and not just decorations, so I am not *that* keen on adding plastic, but they might be fun. I can’t post a working link from my phone (combo of Flickr and iOS), but the photos can be seen in my Flickr link in my .sig

let me know what you think!

cheers, Bob

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_d14/

 

[Bishop]

Looking good so far,for my two penneth I say carve the eyes.

 

[Robson Valley]

Those are very well done. There's a concept in carving, to be minimalist, and let the viewer's mind fill in the details.
I'll suggest = do nothing more, maybe stain and varnish.

 

[John Fenna]

You only have two options - plastic eyes would ruin them!

 

[Janne]

4: Carve eyes from a sea shell.

 

[Toddy]

My Dad made his own walking stick. He carved a piece of Blackthorn his Father had cut fifty years previously, into a coiling thing full of creatures peeping out.
Then he came and raided my sewing boxes and he found the glass eyes that I used for teddy bears. The old ones came in sets of two eyes each end of a wire, so that the wire could be securely sewn into the teddy bear's head and the eyes wouldn't come free to choke a child. He simply cut the wires into short nails and fixed them into his walking stick.
I think that stick traumatised and engrossed small children everywhere he went. The eyes were sort of at their level, iimmc ?

Anyway, you can still buy glass eyes, in all sorts of sizes. I think glass eyes would be excellent on your pheasants

Like these.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/2701648579...gzbKeFeqpz3Liy37LvaQjw3XyQGEG6qhoCxuQQAvD_BwE

M

 

[Janne]

Extra scary if they are Blood Red. Do they come in a such colour?

 

[oldtimer]

Order! Order! I don't think the ayes have it this time. Unlock.

 

[Dogoak]

Nice work. I'm with Toddy, if your not going to carve then use glass eyes, way better IMHO. I'd suggest taking the time to work out the best size.
Let us see them when they're finished please.

 

[dwardo]

I really like them as they are with no eyes..

Sorry probably not helping.

 

[bobnewboy]

Hi All, thanks for the feedback so far. I do have some plastic eyes, and they do have quite a fixative fascination when held up in position on the heads. The eyes have black pupils with yellow cornea (???), which would be correct for pheasant. However, despite the startling look, I'm thinking that I have no intention of carving in more details than just the eyes, if I even do that, so any kind of photo-realism isn't really what I'm looking for. Also I want the sticks to be usable, and that is why I made the heads about 1.5 to 2x life size, and they fit into my hand quite comfortably. That is also why the crest on the male head is substantial - the two 'prongs' are quite comfy for resting your thumb between.

I am of a mind to follow what RV has suggested, some kind of minimalism and just fine finish the heads, stain/oil/varnish them, then fit them to hazel shafts which I have already straightened.

Cheers, Bob

Here are the direct links, now that I'm on a laptop:

 

[bobnewboy]

Nice work. I'm with Toddy, if your not going to carve then use glass eyes, way better IMHO. I'd suggest taking the time to work out the best size.
Let us see them when they're finished please.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!! <VBG> Equal comments....

I will post pics of them when they're done in any case.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Broch]

Sorry, late coming to the discussion

I really like the heads as they are; they'll make great users.

However, I would carve eyes - they don't have to be deep. The way I have done it for a duck head was take a piece of steel tubing the right diameter, put it into a drill or lathe and grind a bevel on it (of course, if you already have hole punches you don't need to) and gently tap the tube into the position of the eyes - then I just rounded the eye with a sharp blade. I used this method because I've never found it easy to get neat small circles in carving - but that's probably my lack of skill/practice.

Whatever you do, if you are not painting the heads, don't put plastic or glass eyes on. Even if you do paint them, a high gloss black paint with a white highlight will look just as good IMHO.

 

[Trail Snail]

Have you considered just a couple of photography pupils in each?

 

[forrestdweller]

i'd either leave it at it is or go for option #4(=seashell) -- abalone inlays were/are popular with the Maori (who developed woodworking to a high level) and i've seen some incredible samples of their work....

any chance for a tutorial?! i could imagine some stylized bird heads on the end of spoons...

 

[Janne]

Abalone does not live on the Somerset coast, but I have polished the common eating blue mussel quite successfully.
Not as beautiful as abalone, but if you select a large, old one, it has a blueish hue and a good depth.
Shell is hard work and difficult.

I second a schematic tutorial!