White Eagle

Here's a new one headed for the paint table.  Hope you like him.

"You Ought To See The Other Guy!" - Finished!

This poor fella just checked into the local Emergency Ward.  I sure hope he heals up okay.  Special note:  If you see him and he asks you out for a couple of beers I'd think up a good excuse not to go!

I really like painting things like this as it stretches my limited skill each time.  Most people would think bruises are purple but they're not.  Anyone who's had a shiner or a twisted ankle knows the color variations that show up.  I gave him a denim jacket as I hadn't done one in a while.  I wish the orange stitching showed up a little better but it's there so at least I tried.

Anyway, more photos in the Gallery and your comments are always welcomed.

You Ought To See The Other Guy!

Finally finished this one up today.  The head had been laying around on my table for the last several months.  I gave him a denim jacket which should look pretty good once painted.  Painting all the bruises and swelling will be a challenge but should be fun.    There are more photos in the Gallery and your comments are welcome as always.

Wind River Willie

The trip to Kansas City for their woodcarving show was cancelled due a severe snow storm that didn't materialize.  So I spent the day in the shop painting this crusty looking fella.  As I said earlier in the previous post on him, I have always wanted to do a Hudson Bay blanket capote as they're neat and colorful.  I also renamed him to something more directly associated with Mountain Men.   I really like the way he turned out.  I had thought about adding some snow but decided not to as it would be just a little too much.  Anyway, I hope you like him and there are a few others in the Gallery.

Wind River Willie

I've been wanting to do a Hudson's Bay Blanket Capote for quite sometime and here is my first attempt.  You can't tell much about that now but as soon as it's painted it will be pretty clear what such a thing is.  I carved the head & hat Saturday and finished up the body yesterday and am in the process of painting now.  Hopefully, will get it finished by the Kansas City show.   Hope you like him.

The Daily Grind - Part 10 - Wrapping It Up!

He's finally finished.  Everything is put in place and anchored down.  Unfortunately, during the upload of the video the picture dropped out at the 17.25 mark for about three minutes till it picks up again at 21.50. The audio is still there and you didn't miss that much...just the glueing of the figure to the base so it's not a total loss.  I guess those things happen occasionally.  Also, I forgot to film the insertion of the spurs!  Sorry!  I wonder if these things happen out in Hollywood? He turned out to be a pretty impressive piece.  There are a number of areas that I could have improved upon but I'll leave that till the next one takes shape.

I hope you enjoyed this painting adventure and maybe picked up some things you can use.  For myself,  I learned how to paint a leather-looking vest, something I hadn't done before but will definitely do again. I also tried a new trick with the lantern which I will pass along to you in the future.  So, as always happens, if you're willing to experiment and try new things your work always becomes better for it.

Daily Grind - Part 10 - Wrapping it up from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 9 - Gloves & Cuffs

We're getting close!  With these last two things the painting part will be done.

Daily Grind - Part 9 -Gloves & Cuffs from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Painting! What's Up With That?

Slowmover posted a rather long comment on the trouble he's having when painting a figure.  Let me see if I can address some of the concerns he brought up.

First, do not think that you can produce good results immediately with a technique you're not that familiar with.  I've been painting for over 50 years and I still hit the wall sometimes trying to do something and not having much success with it.  Then again, sometimes I do something that totally surprises me at the result.  Painting the vest is a good example of that.  I had never considered using a tan color for a vest, preferring the darker colors.  However, that tan, the darker shading and then the lighter highlights actually take on the look of leather.  A new lesson learned!

As for washes over solid paint just remember....once you dip your brush into water and then into paint it's a wash of some kind or other.  Some are light while some are heavy but they're all washes.  The only difference with my technique is that I wet the surface of the wood so my washes soak into the wood instead of flowing over it and that is a BIG difference.  The colors take on the color of the wood which makes them appear much warmer than they would the other way.  And I like the way the wood absorbs the color unevenly over the various surfaces of the wood.  That just adds another touch to the technique.  If there is a spot where I don't want that to happen I can always add more paint to even things out.

I think a lot of problems come from trying to copy something to closely.  My suggestion would be to read the book or watch the video a couple of times then put  those things away. That's the way THEY paint not the way YOU want to paint.  Next, get familiar with what you plan on painting.  You can't paint something that you know nothing about.  Say you're going to paint Jeans.  Go put on that pair of worn out pants hiding in the bottom of the drawer.  Now look at all the folds and creases, the worn areas, the holes, the grass or dirt stained areas around the knees. Doing this will show you what you're after and will teach you much more than any photo or video will.  The same goes for hats or horses, boots or biscuits, pick it up, feel it, pet it, maybe even taste it. If you know it you can paint it!

And here's the best advice of all.....CHILL!  Quit trying so hard.  Relax and have fun. No doubt a few of your figures will go sailing across the room to smash against the wall just like mine have on occasion. Accept the fact that it's going to take a long, long time and tons of practice but you will get there eventually.  If, for some reason you don't make it, you can at least reflect back on a great adventure and the satisfaction of trying and giving it your best shot!

Oh...I forgot the second most important thing after practice...Confidence!  But, fortunately for all of us, this will appear all by itself the more we grow confortable with what we're doing through practice.  I haven't ridden a bicycle in half a century but I KNOW, having done it once pretty good, I can do it again. Painting or carving works the same way.  The more we do it the more comfortable we become and confident that we can do it again.

The Daily Grind - Part 8 - Painting The Vest

Continuing to move up the body, the vest gets it's color with this one.  Someone stopped by the shop shortly after we finished the video and when first seeing the figure ask if  the vest was leather!  She was surprised when I told her it was just paint so I guess the operation was a success! Here's how I did it!


Part 8 - The Vest from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 7 - The Shirt

Oops!  Someone forgot to delete the previous videos off the memory card.  I won't name any names but their initials are Lynn Doughty!  As a result, this one ends kind of abruptly.  Sorry!  The only thing missing was the painting of the neckerchief so you didn't miss too much.  Maybe I should cut back on telling my life experiences and philosophy of carving and painting?

Daily Grind - Part 7 - Painting the Shirt from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 6 - Finishing up the Chaps & Belts

Uploaded this one overnight. Even made it through a thunderstorm.

Daily Grind - Part 6 - Finishing the Chaps & Gun Belt from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 5 - The Chaps

We start working on the Chaps in this one.  Hopefully, I got all the segments in this time.

Daily Grind - Part 5 - The Chaps from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Daily Grind - Part 4 - Hat, Holster & Gun

We taped this segment this morning using the new camera, a Sony CX-220.  I produced it in both MP4, the format used by Youtube and most other similar cites, and then made a duplicate in HD which is just below this.  HD is great but it has it's drawbacks being as it's such a large file.  Compared to the 139MB for the MP4 the HD version takes up 851MB.  It took a little over 5 hours to upload the HD video.   If you download these files for your personal use this higher quality will definitely affect your copying.   So.........   You are going to have to let me know what you want.   Do you want the higher resolution of HD or are you satisfied with the MP4?  We do this for you so you'll be the deciding factor.

 OOPS! I just noticed that I dropped a segment at the end of the Hat where I paint the hatband and do some dry brushing with white to finished it up. Too late now! We've covered that before so if you need to you can review some of the earlier posts.  Sorry!

Here's the HD version:


Daily Grind - Part 4 - Hat, Holster & Gun - HD from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.
And here is the MP4.
Daily Grind - Part 4 - Hat, Holster & Gun - MP4 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.
Looking forward to your comments as always.

The Daily Grind - Part 3 - Boots, Jeans & A Coffee Pot

WooHoo!  New table and hopefully better views!   I built a mobile table to aid in the recording of these videos which should give you a better view of what's taking place.  Let me know what you think.

In this one we paint the boots, jeans and the coffee pot.

Daily Grind - Part 3 - Boots, Jeans, Coffee Pot from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 2 - Painting The Head

As I started to paint this figure I thought you might like to come along for the ride so here is the first part on painting his head.  It's a long one.


Daily Grind - Painting the Head from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Daily Grind - Part 1

This one has been in the works for months.  It started out to be something and then ended up being something else so I guess you could say it ended up being what it started out as......Something!

He's a large one....standing about 18-20 inches with the base.  The lantern will probably be changed in the final configuration as I was able to get some hollow plexiglas tubing which will allow me to create an actual flame within the lamp globe.  Now all I have to do is to figure out how to do it.  But that's half the fun of creating these things.

Just one more photo in the Gallery and your comments are always welcome.

When The Boss Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy!

This one really turned out well.  The colors really compliment each other and his expression really conveys that he's not happy about something and that somebody is probably in a bit of a spot.

There are a lot more photos in the Gallery which Google has changed again, so I hope you will not have trouble checking them out.   As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.