Our son's wife and daughter met the Irish President, Ms. Mary McAleese, the other day during her official visit to Bahrain. The guy is the photo is the First Leprechaun. You might remember Hannah from a couple of earlier appearances here. She and her sister Miriam have dual citizenship through their mother. I thought I would commemorate the occasion by carving a symbol of Ireland for them. I'll do it as a bust and probably stick a Shamrock to his vest. Can't wait to paint that beard orange!!-
As St. Patrick's day is just around the corner this would be a good project provided you can stay away from the Guiness 
long enough.
long enough.-
There are a few more photos in the Picasa Gallery and I will post some more once the piece is finished. Just click on "Lynn Doughty's Gallery" tab if you don't see this carving.
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As always comments are welcome.
Lynn, the only pictures I see on the Picasa Gallery are the ones for General-Napoleon, I can't find any for the Leprechaun.
ReplyDeleteOn the Picasa tool bar click OUT WEST BLOG's Gallery. I know that also appears just below the Picasa symbol and logo but you have to click the othe4r tab.
ReplyDeleteNicely done as always Lynn. With a few minor adjustments this would also make a good Abe Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, an inspiration as always. Dave
ReplyDeletevery well done as usual,Love the new Gallery,I cant figure out how to put a flag on the hit counter map tho, so I don't show up as visiting the site
ReplyDeleteRonB
Hi Lynn, I am new to the blog so someone may have already ask you about your component system of carving, How did you begin carving the body, arms and head separately? Did you begin that way or has the system evolved over time? I have seen other carvers carve the head separately and then add it to the body which allows them to pose the figure in different ways. But I Hadn't heard of doing the arms separately or even considered it. Is it faster? MikeH
ReplyDeleteMike: I've developed my method of carving over the past 40 years and I'm sure that I wasn't the first to use attached pieces. The strength of a piece of wood lies in the direction of it's grain so when you start to have things project out from the central core of a carving things can become fragile really fast. I am lucky enough to sell lots of carvings and I think it only fair to make sure that the carving I sell is strong enough to allow handling cause unlike bronze or clay people for some reason like to pick up a woodcarving...maybe it's the warmth of the piece. Is it easier? Maybe but then it can be a lot harder. It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. By doing the head seperate you can turn it to get just the attitude that will make the whole piece come alive. I hope this helps you understand how I carve and why I carve the way I do. I do it to please myself.
ReplyDeleteLynn, Thanks for your answers. You know I do have a bunch of carvings with re-glued limbs, arms, hands and even a leg but it never accrued to me to create the figure with separate limbs. On one of my figures I had to recreate a hand and a leg after they went missing. I will definitely give this method a try. I tried the separate head once but did not like the end result. It looked like a head stuck in a pipe with sleeves. got to work on that.
ReplyDeleteI admire your drawings also. very fine. did you happen to go to art classes?