Carving A Steer - Part 4 - Finishing Up!

While we've been overrun with Grandkids I managed to get this bovine painted up so I can begin the next step of this project.
-
In painting him I started by wetting the figure and then painting the entire animal a very light beige and once dry came back and painted the sock area of the legs straight white. I also painted the forehead and nose straight white. Next came straight Raw Sienna for the solid red areas and while that was still wet I use some Dark Burnt Umber applied to the nose and blended out into the other colors. The hoofs are also Dark Burnt Umber with a little white added.
-
To get the speckled effect I used a tooth brush and splattered the Raw Sienna over the beige areas. I really like that effect as it looks quite natural for a longhorn. Once everything had set overnight he was given a coat of Polyurethane Satin and then wiped with a clean paper towel to removethe excess varnish. A final coating of epoxy on his black eyes brought him to life.
-
With this part of the project complete the next figure for the scene will be the horse which I'll start after I regain control of my shop and life once the wee-ones depart. As always, comments are welcome and there are more photos in the Picasa album.

Carving A Steer-Part 3-The Head, Ears, Horns & Glueup!

With this post we'll carve the head, the ears, the horns and then attach the head to the body. As you can see by the photo it's really starting to take shape.

-

When carving the head keep the detail simple. This is a caricature so the anatomy doesn't have to be that accurate, just enough to carry the figure. The hardest part of carving the head is the placement and carving of the eyes. Spend some time here as if you get them off just a little it won't look right. When determining the placement of the ears check the reference photos or better yet go look at some cows.

-

Once you have all the pieces carved don't jump the gun and glue them up before you attach the head. Once that head is locked onto the body we still have to carve the neck to shape and it would be really had to do if the horns and ears were in the way. We'll attach the ears and horns in the next post.

-

Again, the new photos are in the same album as the others. Have fun. We're almost done with the hard part.

Carving A Steer - Part 2- A Nice Piece of Tail!

I just knew that title would get your attention! So lets get started with Part 2 of this project!
-
In this post we'll finish the main body, glue it up and come up with that piece of tail. One thing I've learned about carving my way is that you never throw anything away that could possibly be of use later on. Sure, you can find most if the stuff you might need at a lumber yard or a hardware store...but not always! An example of this is that piece of metal wire I used for the tail. It came from the reel off a spent roll of fence wire. I had no idea of what I would use it for but it was just too good to toss out so I put it in the drawer where I keep old coat hangers, brazing rods, sheet copper and tin just in case.
-
When carving the body of a bovine it's important to get the boney structure of the hip area. It doesn't have to be spot-on but it does have to be there or it just won't look right. I've included some anatomy photos in the gallery to help you see these areas. All the photos for this second part are located in the same album as the first part.
-
In the next post we'll start on the head and the horns.

Carving A Steer

With this new project I hope to cover a lot of requests that I've received since starting this Blog. First, we'll do a steer and then a Cowboy on a horse to go with it. It should make a neat looking scene with lots of color and loads of detail.
-
In the Gallery I've posted a number of photos outlining the steps of getting the legs and lower body roughed out. I used some of Dale Heineke's terrific Basswood which really makes carving a pleasure. In the next part we'll finish the legs, glue the body together and finish it to the point of attaching the head.
-
Comments and questions are welcome.