[Irish]

I thought I would give that poor dragon a second try and see if I couldn't get it a touch more dimensional! 3-D is not my way of thinking so I can be a little slow about getting in gear. So please consider this a Do Over.

Susan

Hey, Bob ... I'm blaming this one on you too It's all your fault that I am having way too much fun.

[Irish]

I don't know how that little green smiley guy got there? What did I do wrong??

Susan

[Lightningbolt]

Susan; Your dragon is either amazing carving or it is amazing photography... and most likely both! This staff topper certainly captures the twinkle of my eye a bit more than your previous one, probably due to adding some color, adding some fine 3-D (probably both) and that "twist" adds a nice touch if nothing more than making the piece even more interesting and captivating.

Looks like I'm gonna have to try my hand with dragons soon and I still haven't got to the great patterns in your "Green Man" book! Hopefully I can come up with something just a fraction as nice as yours and Bobs!!

Thanks again for taking the time to share. It really brightens up a lot of folks day!

[Irish]

Lightningbolt,

Thank you for the nice words ... it does take me a while to change gears from 2-D to 3-D. I love the first one, but being very honest it's a 2-D done on four sides ...

Mike got me a new digital camera before the Christmas holidays. It's a Kodak DX7590. It has a 10X optical zoom ... one of those that actually moves the lens, not just a digital zoom which just changes the pixel size. So it does great close-ups. The other advantage to this camera is that it's Simple, made for camera stupid people like me.

I have several flat single bed sheets, one in navy, one dark green, and one burgundy, just for photos. For these I laid the sheet, folded in half, over the top of my front door. Then propped the stick in my cane holder jar, a jardineer about 24" deep, then stuffed a towel in the mouth of the jar to hold the stick upright. I moved the stick to about one inch away from the sheet covered door so that I got some shadowing but not that harsh shadow that would come from resting the stick right on the sheet.

Now, the real trick here, get a tall ladder backed kitchen table chair to prop yourself and your camera on while taking the shot. With these new digital cameras even the smallest movement of your hands gets transferred to the photograph.

Anyway, that amazing photography ... nah! Tha'ts just experience learned from the School of Hard Knocks.

Susan

[squbrigg]

WOW.....that's way too cool!!! Well done Susan,....... outright "outstanding"! I love the colour accents, they just set the whole character off. I am very happy that you are enjoying yourself, carve, carve, carve!

That camera is a gem! I have the Kodak DX6490 and they are a ball to use. So much like my 35mm SLR in that you can go to manual and set all the settings yourself, or set for action priority or speed priority, and have the delight of editing your shots right there as you take them. I wish it had a manual focus, that's the only thing I miss. I see the new DSLR have made the leap to interchangable lens and manual focus, so I'll have to start saving my pennies for one. They have also recently broken the $1000.00 price barrier, so they are coming down.

Again, well done on Dragon 2! Vastly superior to Dragon 1, which is itself a work of art!
Bob

[Carvity_Carve]

Ooh! My, that's an awesome do over. Really, really cool, and much improvement from the last. Though the “2D one� still retains a certain mythical, Celtic look that I do love.

[Colin_Partridge]

I thought is was cool before now it is really cool with the do over. I also have many times done a carving and finished it only to re look it and completely change the carving. It is so fun to do. Great job Susan love the cane it has so much character.
Colin

[S-Shamrock]

I agree with carvity I like them both really well. the old one looked more like a viking figure head. but this one lookes much more alive. I especialy like the twisting body.
-silas

[Irish]

You know, you people on this forum are so nice, so generous, and so encouraging. I understand now what BobD meant when he said it's the best place on the net to be!

Thank you all! Susan

[Kenny_S]

Another OUTSTANDING stick. Like it also. Yep, Bobd is right, best place for meeting fellow carvers and getting the encouragement one needs.
Great dragon.