Many Horses

After doing the head of this piece I had named it "Iron Jaw" for an obvious reason but as things progressed the shape of the head changed as did that jaw.  Finally, coming up with the design for the shield that name just didn't fit anymore so "Many Horses" seemed like an excellent choice.

With that shield and the hanging feathers this piece stands a little over "14 inches with the base.  Nice!  I've mentioned before that working in a larger scale not only gives you the chance to concentrate on details but it elevates your work to a higher level.  

As I seem to be moving toward the more realistic figure, one area needs to be addressed and that is the eyes.  On this figure I think they are a little large which is why I decided to do the facial painting as a solid black strip to reduce their appearance.  That pretty well corrected their size.  Yesterday afternoon I worked on a new head, reducing the size of the eyes and it really changed the whole appearance of the piece which was exactly what I was looking for. 

The beading design is my own and the feathers hanging from the shield are based on those of a Red Tailed Hawk.  The head feathers are large and out of scale but they balance the piece...the off-set shield pulls the eye one way but the feathers pull them back to the center.  The base is walnut and I'm trying a new routed edge to accommodate the name plate.  

There are more photos in the Gallery and I'll look forward to your comments.