The Wood Chopper

Now this one is an exact copy of one I did a few years back.  But as he too is headed to Santa Fe, and as I always liked the way the colors were so bright and worked so well together,  I thought it would gather a lot of interest setting in our display.  

The wood under his arm is actually some split twigs I picked up outside the shop and instead of using Medium Density Fiberboard for the snow I used partical board....a mistake I won't repeat.  It took a lot of Bondo and some spot putty to get that rough stuff smooth enough to paint.  One think I did new was using some texture spray paint as a base for the white.  That worked out really well, giving a great appearance.  A fun piece.

Hope you like him.

Winter Warrior

I think this one will start off 2012 in the right direction.  I really like the contrast between the colors and Judy says he looks cold so as far as I'm concerned he's a success.  It took a lot of splattering with a toothbrush to get the effect I was after and I taped over the face to make sure I didn't get too much in that area.  I also tried to increase the snow in the areas that would catch it as it fell.  The base if a piece of medium density fiberboard coated with a gazillion coats of paint as that stuff really soaks it up.  Got to come up with a better way of doing it or search for a different material.
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Anyway, hope you like him and there are more photos in the Gallery.

Black Elk - Winter Colors

I was originally going to just place this figure on a plain base but as I had just completed Charlie Red Horse and mounted him that way I thought I'd put this one in the snow.  I really like using snow as the starkness of the white really amplifies the colors of the figure. 
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The hardest part of this piece was coming up with the painted designs on the robe.  Not hard from the application but as I had just done a painted robe I wanted something unique for this one.  So Black Elk sat staring at me unpainted for several weeks until I came up with something.  Personally I think the wait was worth it as while he might look sad I'm sure he's real proud of his robe and the memories and warmth it provides.
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There are more photos in the Gallery and, as always, your comments are welcome.

The Winter Robe

Finally!!! I'll bet that although he might be standing out in the snow he's at least glad to get off my workbench! He has been hanging around down there for the past three months!

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The Chief is just another example of why I enjoy doing Native Americans. Such a large opportunity to do a little research and a lot of painting not to mention coming up with the various designs.

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This guy stands a little over 14" so he's pretty impressive. I did the snow as I have before, i.e., finish painting the figure completely, mask off the face, then use straight white and a toothbrush to splatter paint from above. I came back with a brush to dab on a little more white on the more exposed parts. I also dabbed on the white around the bottom of his moccasins so it looks like he has snow on his feet.

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There are a lot of photos in the Album and your comments are always welcome.