Making A War Bonnet

I've been holding off on putting up a post on this project until I can see if it will actually work.  Well, it looks like it will so here's what I've been trying:

For a long time I've been wanting to attempt to make a Native American wearing a war bonnet made with individual feathers,  Watching David Lemon's latest sculpture take shape really brought that idea forward to where I got the nerve to try it.  You can see David's work here: http://adayinthelifeofalemon.blogspot.com/  So......

I sat down and carved 20 feathers about 5 inches in length out of pretty thin wood.  I went ahead and painted them as to do that after they were installed on the headress crown would very difficult if not impossible.  I also painted the crown.  Once everything was dry and with the help of my trusty sidekick...Judy, we temporarily attached the feathers to the crown with super glue just to hold them in place until I could lock them down with epoxy.  This step, one which I thought would be difficult, actually was fairly easy.  With all the feathers in place I epoxied them permanently in place using a toothpick to work the glue around the base of each quill.   The next step will be modeling the base plumes at the junction of the feather and the red quill wraps.  I plan on using acrylic modeling past as this will lock all the feathers permanent to each other.

I've left plenty overlap where the crown meets the head for all the attachments to come...braids, ermine fur strips, etc.

I carved the body of the bust yesterday but it's still up in the air whether I'll use it or go for a complete figure.

To sum it all up .... I like it but do realize that the feathers are way out of scale which I why I only used 20 feathers when, to be correct I should have used 32.  But it is a semi-caricature so I guess I can get away with it.  Now that I know it can be done maybe I'll do a more realistic one later.

Building A Canoe - Part Four

Building A Canoe - Part Four from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Lash LaRue

I've been working on this one for quite sometime and finally put the finishing touches on it today.  I had thought all that black would just overpower the figure but I think it looks pretty good.  I did do a little dry brushing to bring out the details and wrinkles a little.  I wish I could have done a better job on the whip but other than actually trying to weave one that would be in scale would have just been impossible, especially considering the shape of my sight.  He stands about 12" high with the base.   Maybe someday I'll do his side-kick Fuzzy to complete the duo but it will have to wait till another day.

More photos in the Gallery and your comments are appreciated as always.

WIlliam F. Cody - "Buffalo Bill"

I also use this one as part of my demonstration at the Dayton show and finally finished painting him up yesterday.  I think he turned out really well.  Hope you like him and there are more photos in the Gallery.

Building A Canoe - Part 3

Building A Canoe - Part Three from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Building A Canoe - Part Two

Building A Canoe - Part Two from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Building A Canoe - Part One

It's been a while since I did a project like this and coming across a photo of a sculpture we had seen a couple years ago, I thought it would be neat to do another and give you a chance to see how I did it.

Should you want that Artists Manikan here's the link:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SSVGZ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 And here is Part One of this video series.
Building A Canoe - Part 1 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

The Trail Boss

This is the piece I used during my demonstration on painting at the Dayton, Ohio show last weekend.  I was a little worried about whether the limited amount of paint I was able to apply during the allotted hour I was given would carry over and match the other once I could set down in the shop and finish it.  I did have to repaint the shirt and neckerchief but the rest turned out fine.  I did add a pair of glasses as it just needed something to make it complete.

Hope you like it and there are additional photos on the blog.  Oh....I was told that a DVD will soon be available of all the demonstrations given at the show so if it shows up I'll try and post at least my portion.

As always, comments welcome and appreciated.

Weary Willie

Here's my contribution to the "Silent Auction" portion of the Artistry in Wood show in Dayton, Ohio beginning on November 8.  The Dayton group use this event to raise money for their charities and group.  This years theme was characters related to a Circus.   My first thought when thinking about the Big Top was the clown character created by Emmet Kelly.  I can certainly remember him growing up.  Anyway, I hope it sells for a nice sum so the Dayton club can benefit from it.   Hope you like it too.  You might even want to see if they take phone in bids!!

"You've Got To Be Kidding!"

Well, here it is.  This piece has been occupying my time for the past couple of months.  Not that it took me that long to complete.  Doing some of these projects gets me so involved with details that the entire project grinds to a halt while I try to figure out just how to do things.  I will say I think it turned out really well.  I wanted to convey the thought of a cowboy facing his assigned mount for the day.  It's clear from the title that his day is starting off on a bad note.  Oh.....one thing about titles...I've noted that people passing our display or visiting the Gallery almost never look at the title of a piece.  To me that's a real shame as it's the title that explains the piece.  Sure, sometimes the action will do that but not always.  On my pieces and no doubt the pieces of others, that title conveys just what I or they were thinking as we created them.  So, the next time you pass a carving or sculpture you admire take a moment and read the nameplate to see exactly what the artist is trying to show and say.

This is a large piece, standing about 16" with the base.  I spent about as much time on the saddle as I did the figure as I wanted to get it right.  I have an old antique saddle in the Gallery which I brought over to use as a reference to ensure that all the details were correct.  There is one very small piece missing but I won't tell you what it is.  If you're familiar with saddles you can probably figure that one out.  Hopefully, you won't find another.  I made the cinch out of a piece of tupelo which I steamed and bent over the seat.  The rear cinch is made from leather as it was just too small to make from wood and stand up to the handling that it would face over time.  Besides...it looks good swinging free back there.  The cinch straps and ties are also leather as is the bridle and reins in his other hand.  The horses bit is made from copper and the lariat from twisted wire.

I spent a longer time painting on this piece as I wanted the colors to show a larger degree of wear.  I think the chaps are really a work unto themselves and I'm proud of the job I did there.  It might not show but there are lots of layers in the coloring. I wanted a red shirt but settled for a rusty color to dilute it enough so it wouldn't overpower the rest of the piece.  It balanced out just right.  Looking at the entire piece all the colors work well together and have a washed out look to them as if they've been worn for quite a while and still carry a little of the prairie dust.  Neat.

This will be my main piece at the upcoming show in Dayton.  I've ordered a rotating turntable which I hope gets here in time so the carving can be seen completely as the viewers pass by.  Hopefully, one of them will have a few extra greenbacks in their wallet and want to take it home.  Make that a lot of extra greenbacks!!

Lots of photos in the Gallery and I'm looking forward to your comments.