John Wayne - Duke

I finished the carving yesterday and made the base this morning.  I think he turned out really nice and should make a nice addition to someone's collection.   I made the hat cord out of some twisted wire and then carved the knots at the end.  I made the badge out of a piece of hammered brass, silver-soldered to a post.  I'll letter "Duke" on it once it's painted.  The base is walnut.

There are a few more photos in the Gallery and I look forward to your comments.

The Duke

Well, it's been a while but I finally got back to doing something.  My Sister visited over the Memorial Day weekend and  on her way spent some time up in Winterset, Iowa attending the grand opening of the new John Wayne Museum (http://johnwaynebirthplace.museum/).  She brought along a bunch of brochures, etc., that she picked up there and that was enough to get me interested in trying to capture his likeness in wood.

Tuesday morning I spent some time on the net googling photos, drawings and other art work to come up with a working sketch to work from and then roughed out the head while at our local carving gathering.  This morning I finished the head, worked on the hat and pretty well finished up that part of the piece.  I think I will keep it a bust as even that will make a pretty large piece when done.  The head with the hat on measures right at 7".  The hardest part was getting the eyes right and I think once they are painted they should look pretty good.  At least I hope so.  I stuck a smoke in his mouth as he was a heavy smoker as were most cowpokes.  The hat really adds to the character.

There are a couple more photos in the Gallery and I look forward to your comments.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 21

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 21.THM from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Black Crow - Finished

With this we'll wrap up another video project.  We hope you enjoyed tagging along and also hope you might benefit from some of the techniques that were covered.  I think the piece turned out quite nice and clearly shows the fun you can have in creating a Native American.  There are more photos in the Gallery and will look forward to your comments.

Yellowstone Charlie - Finished

Painted this Mountain Man over the weekend and must say that he really turned out nice.  I thought he looked a little plain just by himself so added the knife and sheath and that really turned him into something else.

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

Yellowstone Charlie

Here's the latest.  Really like the hat. The knife sheath.Will be beaded.  Hope you like him. Only the one photo this time.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 20

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 20.THM from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 19

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 19 from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.

"Starbucks My Patootie!" - Finished

I finally finished this one this morning and it's been a struggle.  Old age has given me a cataract in my right eye which is the one my vision is centered on.  Doesn't bother me that much for distance viewing but up close it's a real bummer.  Trying to do fine detail, especially painting is extremely hard to get a good focus on the brush and the surface that I'm working on.  Judy and I will be getting our eyes tested shortly so maybe I can find out if it's time to get it taken care of.  Sorry to bore you with my medical problems, something I really hate to do as I've told almost everyone I know that if I ever start beginning my conversations with my health status to just take me out back and shoot me.

Anyway, I really like this piece, especially the face.  Every once once in a while I'll do a piece, as I've mentioned many times before, that really ends up being an example of my best work.  This is one of those.  I'm sure you all experience the same thing the more you carve.  The cup of Joe is made from copper with a soldered wire rim.  I put a wooden plug inside and then topped that off with clear epoxy painted Dark Burnt Umber and then topped that off with another thin application of epoxy which I left clear.  As you can see in the closeup photo in the Gallery it creates a nice effect. The cup is quite large compared to the coffee pot but as that cuppa mud is the theme of the piece that's okay.   I spent a little extra time on my watch chain by adding a fob on the end going into the vest buttonhole.  I put a drop of solder on it to give it a domed look and make it sparkle a bit more.  I think it looks neat.  The more I look at it though the more I think it needs to be painted gold as it doesn't quite match the chain.   Why didn't I do a full body?  Because I think the figure would have been just too big to be displayed in most homes.  I think this bust format displays all the necessary details in an interesting manner.   I will confess that I had hoped to do a much more involved design on the apron but after several attempts it just wouldn't happen.  That vision thing again.

So, I hope you like him as much as I do even if he didn't get that fancy apron.  There are lots of photos in the Gallery and I'll look forward to your comments as I always do.

Carving A Native American Bust - Part 18

Video from Out West Woodcarving Videos on Vimeo.