[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

There are always "experts" that will tell you not to do this or not to do that .....but you are creating your piece of art, if the carving turns out the way you had envisioned it in your mind....then you did it right! Some of those nay sayers I think are just jealous!! But then again, you are in a different country...different strokes for different folks!

[AlArchie]

Yvonne, there aret two distinct styles of animal and bird carving....textured and "smoothie". Purists in either style may consider the other style "wrong". Neither is! They are just different, but both can be beautifully distinct. Choose your poison!

Al

[Donna_T]

Yvonne,
Have you tried using a soft brass bristled brush to clean up the char after you burn scales. Anytime I woodburn anything, I go back and clean up the chared wood this way--it keeps it from being too dark and from flaking off in your carving's finish. Going with the grain as much as possible, I just scrub it much like you brush your teeth (in fact, I have a stiff-bristled denture brush that I use next to brush away all the char.) Then, I also go over the entire carving with a soft Scotchbrite pad to eliminate bumps, fuzzies, and stray slivers of wood. If it's intricate work, I use the scotchbrite pad in a power carver at slow to medium speed--if it is fairly smooth and/or stylized, I just use a flat pad.

If painting a fish with airbrushed paints, (I used water-based WASCO paints) I first seal the fish, Scotchbrite it to smooth it, then spray the entire fish with a thin, even coat of Superhide White and then I Scotchbrite it gently again. This gives you a smooth clean "pallet" for painting, but allows the carving and burned scales to show through. You may think the extra Scotchbriting is overkill, but you don't want any lumps and bumps to detract from your hard work...a few minutes at this stage of the carving will sure make a difference in the end.

When trying really new ideas, I usually just try them on a scrap of wood rather than my hard-earned carvings.

Good Luck Yvonne, and please let us know how your fish comes out.

Donna T