Yellowstone Charlie

Here's the latest.  Really like the hat. The knife sheath.Will be beaded.  Hope you like him. Only the one photo this time.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 20

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 20.THM from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 19

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 19 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

"Starbucks My Patootie!" - Finished

I finally finished this one this morning and it's been a struggle.  Old age has given me a cataract in my right eye which is the one my vision is centered on.  Doesn't bother me that much for distance viewing but up close it's a real bummer.  Trying to do fine detail, especially painting is extremely hard to get a good focus on the brush and the surface that I'm working on.  Judy and I will be getting our eyes tested shortly so maybe I can find out if it's time to get it taken care of.  Sorry to bore you with my medical problems, something I really hate to do as I've told almost everyone I know that if I ever start beginning my conversations with my health status to just take me out back and shoot me.

Anyway, I really like this piece, especially the face.  Every once once in a while I'll do a piece, as I've mentioned many times before, that really ends up being an example of my best work.  This is one of those.  I'm sure you all experience the same thing the more you carve.  The cup of Joe is made from copper with a soldered wire rim.  I put a wooden plug inside and then topped that off with clear epoxy painted Dark Burnt Umber and then topped that off with another thin application of epoxy which I left clear.  As you can see in the closeup photo in the Gallery it creates a nice effect. The cup is quite large compared to the coffee pot but as that cuppa mud is the theme of the piece that's okay.   I spent a little extra time on my watch chain by adding a fob on the end going into the vest buttonhole.  I put a drop of solder on it to give it a domed look and make it sparkle a bit more.  I think it looks neat.  The more I look at it though the more I think it needs to be painted gold as it doesn't quite match the chain.   Why didn't I do a full body?  Because I think the figure would have been just too big to be displayed in most homes.  I think this bust format displays all the necessary details in an interesting manner.   I will confess that I had hoped to do a much more involved design on the apron but after several attempts it just wouldn't happen.  That vision thing again.

So, I hope you like him as much as I do even if he didn't get that fancy apron.  There are lots of photos in the Gallery and I'll look forward to your comments as I always do.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 18

Video from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Problems, Always Problems

If you've been wondering why we've been so slow uploading new videos it's because our video processing software crapped out on us.  I finally gave up after the fourth try yesterday and, using money from the Tip Jar, ordered the latest version and finally got these last two posted.  Hopefully the problem has been solved.  If all goes as they say it will we will be getting  fiber optic cable service mid-year.  What normally now takes 4-5 hours of uploading time for a 15 minute video should be reduced to about 10 minutes, at least we hope so.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 17

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 17 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 16

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 16 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Starbucks My Patootie!

Here's one I just finished this morning.  While I've done one similar to this before this one is much larger..standing almost 18" with the base.  I plan on a real neat apron design which should really make the carving.   Hope you like him.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 15

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 15 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 14

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 14 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 13

Carving a Native American Bust - Part 13 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.