I Finally finished a carving!

[rick-in-seattle]

I began this carving in August 2004; finished him today!

[squbrigg]

Beautiful job Rick!!! I am very impressed. That character has character!!! He reminds me of an old lad who use to show up at my Grandfathers farm at potato picking time, to help with the harvest. Lord, the stories he'd tell us!!!

Bob

[GaryMc]

Great Job Rick, congradulations on a long job well done!
GaryMc Talking

[kaiserb]

He looks awesome...I love how he has the 5 oclock shadow look .

Rick,

Very nice, I like the layered effect of his clothes...shirt, vest, coat....

Pertaining to his day old wiskers look, explain the your carving method to get the wisker look, are you using the tip of your knife, or awl, etc.? The effect is real nice.

[bygeorge]

Great job Rick! I too am a little curious on how you did the stubble?


Chuck

[wade clark]

Rick,
Great work! But my Dad gave up smoking years ago, how did you get a picture of him with a stogie?
Nice job!
Wade

[rick-in-seattle]

Thanks,

Wade, you would be surprised how many times folks tell me my carvings look like a relative or friend.

ByGeorge,
This page tells how it is done; remember closeups never look good on a 3-6 foot carving.
Definition: "3-6 foot carving" (A carving with a normal viewing distance of 3-6 feet)

http://www.littleshavers.com/60210ShowMe.html#anchor_33

Here is a picture from about a foot away.

[Thomp]

Rick,

Great carving, It shows you think about your subject much while you carve them, who they are where they were and other things that influenced them, as well as their attitudes, I bet you had this one named before it had a face... and could write a book about his exploits in life......ha...

I like it as well as all the others, on your website i havent found a favorite but pie in the sky gets me tickled every time i see it.

IMHO, your carvings show you do think more about the carving than just whittling off the pieces of stock that isent 'what you see in the block' when you started..

Although i havent read all on your site yet, so far it is the best advice ive seen yet on the web, Keep up the support...

one question on style haunts me,

i have 2 uncles that have carved all their lives, you never cought them without a sharp pocket knife and some little project in their overall bib pocket.
The younger uncle, carves his charters smooth as glass, (prefected as he says) i think it looks more finished..or. store bought.

the older uncle his brother says you got to leave some knife marks in the carving to prove it was carved from wood... or it might as well be made of clay....! or plastic...
i think rustic but well carved..or. Homemade.

they both use a blade only no sand paper or dremels, due to them both firmly beliving in originality....
-
i can see both their points, and both uncles have effected my carvings as i work through difficultys in my works in progress..
I got really intrested in carving later in life my uncles have never seen any of my carvings, but that didnt keep me from being influenced by their work.

my question is which style is right? or is it just openions?

[rick-in-seattle]

I can't actually say one is right or wrong; I prefer a course finish, but it has taken me years of effort to get away from the smooth finish.

One reason I collect old Swedish carvings is to study the minimalist techniques they used; saying a lot more with a lot less.

One constant on these old carvings; they have no straight lines. Every part of the carving is curved, wavy, or broken with several cuts.


I do know one carver who uses no sandpaper, but his carvings look like glass.
He spends close to 1000 hours obtaining that finish on each carving.

Myself, I have better things to do with my time than carefully shaving and scraping a carving smooth.