Big Bear

Here's the last one I'll be able to finish before the trip to Ohio for the Dayton Ohio Artistry in Wood show.

Big Bear stands at just under 18" with the oak base so he's a pretty impressive Drummer heading off to the big Pow Wow.   I did a lot of paint mixing to achieve the colors of the blanket and shirt.  Some Red in with the Midnight Blue for the blanket and a little Midnight Blue with Green for the shirt.  This is fun to do but make sure you remember the color ratios in case your need some later for a touch-up.   I explained the drum construction in the earlier post so won't repeat it here. His earrings are made from aluminum wire left natural for a silver look.

I really like this piece as the character has a relaxed regal look about him.  Clearly, he must be the head Drummer and possibly even the lead singer.  I guess we'll just have to use our imagination to figure out which.

Again, as Google has did a number on my photo posting this is the only photo of the piece.   As always, I will look forward to your comments.

Charlie Red Horse - The Carving Parts Finished

After taking yesterday off, I managed to finish carving Charlie.  He's got his pipe, some feathers, and some fancy burnt detail.  If you're wondering why the upper part of the robe is so dark it's because I burnt it with my butane torch to remove the fuzzy surface left from the stoning.  That's a neat technique I came up one day.  After it's burned you can just brush off any residue with a small brass brush.  The burnt color lends itself well to the dark brown to come later.
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The feathers are kind of oversized but I think that just adds to the figure.  He should really be flashy once painted,especially after I add the designs to the robe.
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I put a link to a really nice reference book for robe designs.  I'm always on the lookout for new material I can use to come up with ideas to paint.  This book is a good one.
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Anyway, hope you like him so far and your comments are welcome as always.

Charlie Red Horse

Sorry, no video for this one.  I've been experiencing a run on my carvings lately so I've got to shut down the video production studio for a while to try and get my Gallery restocked.  Also, the Dayton show is not that far off and I'd like to come up with some competition pieces.
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I've used this robed pose several times in the past and it has always proved very popular, no doubt because once painted it is quite striking.  This one is a little larger than the others, measuring about 17" tall.   The robe will be painted with designs and the upper part will be textured to simulate dark hair.  He will have a horn breast plate and hold a catinite tipped pipe.  I haven't decided on his hair decoration yet.
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As I type this the body is finished and will be textured today and hopefully he's get his braids.   As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.  Oh...there are a couple more photos in the gallery.

Buffalo Soldier

This is the first Buffalo Soldier I carved. I did him back in 1999 after seeing the movie "Sergeant Rutledge" which starred Woody Strode as 1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge. Along with some other photos of this piece in the Scanned Photos album is a German movie poster I used as a guide. I managed to get all the details in except for one rather obvious mistake. Can you find it?

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The Buffalo Soldier really makes a nice character to carve as they are so unique to our western expansion. With units of them stationed north of where we live in Fort Scott, Kansas and south at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma I wouldn't be surprised if at one time or other they rode right by our house.

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Since doing this piece I've completed a few others and they have always seemed highly collectable as they don't stick around for long.