Plains Warrior

Here's one I've been working on for quite sometime.  Still have a few things to finish but he's pretty well ready to head over to the paint table where the real work will begin.  With all the beading on his outfit it will take some time to finish that step.
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I think this is kind of pushing the caricature envelope pretty close to being realistic but that's okay.  Once the paint is applied he'll take on a more caricature appearance.
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I made the lance point out of some copper ground rod I had laying around.  I got out the ball peen hammer and really went to work on it.  Who said those old highschool metalshop skills wouldn't come in handy some day?  Once I got it to the thickness I wanted I shaped it with a file then back to some gentle pounding along the edges to give it that flintnapped appearance.  Looks pretty good I think. Some thread and superglue hold it in place.
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The bow and arrow cases are held to the body with those two little pins you see the ends of.  Once painted they won't show. I still have to do the feathers on the arrows.  The strap wrapped around the body is made from Tupelo which I steamed and bent to shape.
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The figure stands just at 15" tall and with the lance and base he should be around 20" or so.  A pretty impressive piece that should command some attention.  The hardwood base is sycamore.  I still have to scenic the small circle he's standing on.
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There are lots of photos in the Gallery and I look forward to your comments.
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Stretch

Here's a rather slim fella I finished this afternoon.  I rather like the long and lanky look about him.  He'll be holding a lariat once he's finished.  Hope you like him.  Comments welcome.

The Surgeon - Finished

I'm really pleased with this one.  I had originally thought when painting him that the predominance of surgical blue would be too much but that wasn't the case at all.  And those tupelo bows really give it some action.  The only problem I had in applying the paint was that after doing the lettering on the inside left page it ran when the top coat was applied.  The other page turned out great so go figure.  I thought the tie in to that kids surgeon game would really go with the Dummies book and it worked out great.
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I reduced the size of the base as the other was just too large.  This smaller version will look great once the brass nameplate is attached.
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Anyway, I hope you like him and your comments are welcome as always.   Loads of photos in the Gallery.

The Surgeon - Part 2

Slowly but surely, fighting through the snow, I finally got him carved out and ready for the paint table.  I finished the book yesterday but won't show the inside pages until he's all painted up and finished.  Got to keep your attention don't I?  He's mounted on a piece of turned sycamore and I still have to add a bottom base as with that outstretched arm he's a little off balance.   Anyway, hope you like him so far and your comments are always welcome.

Charlie Yellow Horse On Ebay

Only one more day left on my Ebay experiment.  So far someone is going to get an awful nice carving for a really good price if the bidding don't pick up.  Here's the link if you think you might be interested.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320650982089&ssPageName=ADME:X:DED:US:1123#ht_500wt_1156

There are photos of Charlie in the Gallery.

Eyeglasses – How To Make Them

I've received a number of requests on how to make eyeglasses so I thought  that is one video I think we could crank out for you at this moment.  I didn't hold anything back on this one....you get to see all the problems that occur when old fingers try to do delicate work.  It's really not as difficult as I make it look.

The important thing to remember is to make sure you choose the right sized wire for the figure.  Also, as I point out in the video, use silver solder as it's much stronger than normal electrical solder.  The last thing you'd want is for your welded joint to come apart once you've given or sold your carving.

So, have fun and don't burn your fingers….or the table top like I did.

 

Picasa Gallery Problems

This problem has me completely baffled.  I've gone into my Picasa settings and everything appears in order and it works fine for me.  As some of you seem to have the problem and others don't it leads me to think that maybe an update might be in order.  Here's what I would recommend:
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Switch to Google Chrome as your internet source.  I started with Internet Explorer as most but switched to Firefox as it seemed to operate faster.  Once Google Chrome came on line I tried it out and was quite surprised to see that it operated twice as fast as the others.  I'd suggest you do that also as I think you'd be pleased.  Also, as Picasa is an offshoot of Google they will no doubt work better together.  If you don't like it you can always swich back to your original service.
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You might also try updating your browser if you haven't done that for a while.  Also, do an update on Picasa.  Beyond that I don't really know of any other answers.
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I've also received a comment that Vimeo the video host was acting up.  Has anyone else experienced problems there?  Again, my system seems to access that address with no problem either.
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There are so many other factors that could figure in to the equation, i.e., dial-up, cable modems, DSL, PC vs. Apple and Mac, the list goes on and on.  Maybe someday we'll all be on the same program but I seriously doubt if we live long enough to see it.
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Anyway, good luck as I'd sure hate to see any of you drop off this Blog due to some unknown problem.

I can't remember whether I ever posted this little bust.  I did it quite a few years ago for a friend who had to have brain surgery.  The Columbus Hospital is in Chicago if I can remember correctly.  The ponytail was also one of his distinguishing characteristics.  Anyway, while doing the Surgeon I remembered that I had some photos of this piece hidden in the files somewhere so I thought I would dig them out and display them here.
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As you can see by the accompanying photos in the Gallery, the top of his head flips open to reveal a little grey matter.  From the crack that's visible he must have taken a tumble .  As any good surgeon would do, I hollowed out the interior of his skull and then carefully sutured my carved lobes into place with the help of a little Elmers.   The tricky part of the whole operation was the installation of the little hinge so they could keep track of his healing progress.
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Half the fun I have in carving is coming up with new ways to do things even though they might present a challenge.  This is a good example of that.  I've never done anything similar and probably won't in the future but the expression on my friends face when I gave it to him was more than worth the effort of making it.
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As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.