[Blake Lunsford]

Okay, here is my first attempt at carving a caricature and also painting. This carving was done from an H.L. Enlow roughout that I purchased from Smokey Mountain Woodcarving. I also play the banjo so I thought it would be a good keepsake. I carved the entire piece using flexcut palm tools but did not have a knife at all. I ordered the beginners kit today from Rick so I will have a glove to protect my hand and a good sharp knife.

Please feel free to give me some constructive advice....I know I need a lot of work on the painting and carving of the detail. I've realized that it is a lot more difficult to carve a smaller piece than a larger one. I definitely have a lot of respect for those of you who do small pieces!

Thanks for looking! Carve on!!

vacaricature carver

[MelNM]

Looks good, "keep on carvin"looks like your on your way to becoming a real tool junky like me. I placed an order from Rick the other, good service and nice people.
Mel

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Looks good to me!

[kaiserb]

He looks great... what song is he singing?

[squbrigg]

Well done, you have the idea! Don't worry too much about detail, each carving you do , you will advance your own ideas and develop your own style. With painting, you have a starting point with this carving, now experiment with shading on your next. I'm sure that you will recieve some great pointers from some of our resident experts here, much better at that than I could. Rick for example, has some great hobo's painted up, and they could give you a better idea of the shading I'm talking about. You have a great beginning, keep up the good work and practice all you can. Don't forget to sign and date your piece for reference later.

Bob

[Blake Lunsford]

Thanks Bob! I know that there are a lot of things that I could have done better....I think a good start will be getting better tools to work with, and learning some other people's techniques. I wasn't real pleased with the way his face turned out, and also the way the painting turned out....but like you said, it's a start! I appreciate any feedback I can get....and I plan to start my first Santa tonight!!

Hey kaiserb, I think he is singing "it's cold outside tonight, I'm sure your woodcarvings will burn bright!"

hahaha

Carve on!
vacaricature carver

[Mitchell]

You've actually gotten off to a good start vacc.... You just need to be more bold with taking off wood. This will come with experience. Basically this will involve making clear deep cuts to separate different areas - such as his hands from the sleeves, fingers from the banjo, hat from the hair, etc.....you get the picture.

As far as the painting, I can't tell what you want to do different - in other words, this seems fine. I prefer a wash - staining the wood - instead of covering the wood with paint, but that's just a personal thing. Any art form is more a matter of personal preference from the artist's standpoint as well as the observer.

[Don by the lake]

Just thought you would like to see a couple pictures I took at a class of Harold Enlow's of the Banjo Man. The one picture is the Banjo Man and the other is the little frog he is about to step on!

Don

[Blake Lunsford]

Hahaha! That's great!! That's a much better banjo man than I can produce, and I love the little frog! That's great imagination! I appreciate you sharing!!


Thanks for the pics!

Vacaricature carver
Blake

Carve On!