[Claude]

Finally finished my Old bottlestopper. Constructive criticism welcome. I was trying something new with his hair and moustache - I put a grey base on first, then tried to dry-brush some white on top. It looked much better before I put the Ceramcoat varnish on it, as the varnish seemed to "melt" the top layer of white. I had waited several hours before varnishing, but I think I probably should have waited a couple of days.

For Ron: this is a 3 inch high by 3 inch wide head with Stetson. The cowboy's hat is old and sweat-stained around the hatband. He has a huge moustache, and it and his hair are both salt and pepper grey. I tried to make his eyes look a bit sad, so the overall intended expression is supposed to be worn and tired.

Claude

[Arnold Smith]

Claude he looks good to me.

Arnold

[gene messer]

Good job Claude ... Looks like a old southern gentleman ..

[Kenny_S]

I think you accomplish what you set out to do. The sweat stain hat, Tired look in his eyes and the hair and tash look ok to me, Dark with white showing he is aging.
Ya done real good Claude on both the carving and painting.

[Irishman]

Its hard to believe a carving that detailed can fit in your wine bottle. Great carving Claude.
Patrick

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Nice piece of work Claude. Lots of character. My only suggestion would be to toss out the flesh paint and just use Red Iron Oxide and Yellow Ochre. Flesh paint just has too much white in it and you don't need any white when the wood already has that color. Contrary to popular belief people are not pink. A little darker highlight on the back of the cheeks and nose would add a little more color. Not a lot...just a bit!

Well Done!!!

[Mark N. Akers]

Claude;
great job on the bottle-stopper.

[Ron Davidson]

Great job Claude! Sounds like a tired old cowhand. Thanks for the description.
Ron

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Lynn O. Doughty

Nice piece of work Claude. Lots of character. My only suggestion would be to toss out the flesh paint and just use Red Iron Oxide and Yellow Ochre. Flesh paint just has too much white in it and you don't need any white when the wood already has that color. Contrary to popular belief people are not pink. A little darker highlight on the back of the cheeks and nose would add a little more color. Not a lot...just a bit!

Well Done!!!

Thanks all for the nice comments.

Lynn: I put just a touch of burnt sienna, dry-brushed, onto his nose, cheeks, ears, and side of the neck below the ears - trying for the areas that get sunburned often. You can see the redder areas on the actual carving, but they didn't come through in the photos - PhotoShop with Auto-Level Adjust must have taken the red tones mostly out. Guess I need to get some better lighting for my photos . I'll look for the RIO and Yellow next time I get to Michael's.
Thanks,

Claude

[Coffeeman]

Claude...

Like the paint job and carving, have never done a bottle stopper yet andwe enjoy our wine, so I guess I'll just have to start one up and give it a try. Again, great job and thanks for sharing it gave me an inspiration to ttry something different. Bill