Santa Ornament

[Blake Lunsford]

I've decided to seriously work on the eyes and beards/mustache of my santas. Here is a new ornament that I just finished today. I've painted him and am waiting for the deft to dry. Tomorrow, I am going to try Mark Gargac's technique of using the dark Watco wax to accent the carving. I will post more pictures once that step is finished so we can see the difference. By looking at these pictures, it looks like I need to work some more on his nose. That will be my next project!

Thanks for looking and as always, your comments are welcome!

Blake

[Kenny_S]

Nice ones Blake. Nice on both carving and paint job

[Bartster]

blake,

he looks great i like to bring the cheeks way down like that to gives them more character.

[GaryMc]

Very Nice Blake, Keep it up!
GaryMc

[Joy]

He's looking good. Nice painting and carving.

I'm trying to come up with "my own" Santa face. But so far...I can't get him as 'happy' as I want him.

[Blake Lunsford]

Okay, I allowed the deft spray to dry and then soaked it with watco dark wax to see how it would change the carving. I can definitely tell that the shadows show up a lot better with this method of antiquing. Let me know what you think!

Blake

[Irishman]

The wax does bring out the detail. I just recently starting to use the same watco dark satin wax and like the effect. I use a liquid as opposed to spray. I couldn't find any of the watco wax in NS so I had it shipped in from the US. By the time it arrived I probably paid twice the amount.
Your ornament turned out very good. Nothing like authentic tree ornaments.
Patrick

[Blake Lunsford]

I agree! You can definitely tell the difference when you look at before and after pictures. I'm sure I will start using it on all of my carvings. I also used the liquid and painted it on, and then buffed it off. I really like the way it brings out the details. I will just have to make sure my paint color is bright enough before putting it on.

It's ashame that you can't find it up there. The only place I could find it was at Woodcraft. Lowes and Home depot didn't carry it. Hopefully you can find a supplier.

Blake

[gene-messer]

Blake .. he really looks great .. you can definately tell the difference with the dark wax ..

The carving was great already .. but the wax just brought out the clarity of the piece ..

Absolutely wonderful job ..

Gene

[Mark N. Akers]

Blake:
Very nice job on the ornaments,keep up the great job.