[bbeery]

I have just carved a woodspirit in a Cypress knee and would like to leave it a natural finish i.e. only seal it with linseed oil, and no color.
My question is the eyes. What can I do to make the pupils and iris stand out in the eyes? Just a blank eye ball looks like the eyes of a Roman statue; unrealistic. I've seen some pictures in WCI done this way but very difficult to tell how they made the pupils read.

[Kenny_S]

Use a gouge the same size if the eye, and indent the ires and pupils.
Some have scooped out a little of the pupils.

[mark yundt]

The most effective in my opinion is to leave a slight rise at the iris and then leave a slight pie shape in the pupil and hollow out the rest as if it is an inverted cone. I did this on a greenman in a tutorial/post not long ago and it read pretty well I think. If you can get any pictures of the statue of David by Michelangelo you'll see exactly what I'm speaking about.Rather than send you off in search of the post I included a pic of the piece....

[Kenny_S]

Mark explained it better than I did, but his picture sums it up. Nice Mark

[workinforwood]

nice example you have there mark!

[bbeery]

Thanks Mark, your green man is beautiful! Like your concept of pupil and iris will give it a try later today. Not sure about your statement "and hollow out the rest as if it is an inverted cone. Guess the inverted cone bothers me. But, not necessary that I do. Saw David several times while living in Italy, but never thought to look at his eyes. Unbelievable what Michelangelo was able to accomplish with the limited amount of resources (tools, books, etc) that were available to him. Will search the WEB for a picture.
Thanks also Kenny, for your idea. Obviously it is the opposite approach to Mark's but will worthy of a try.

[mark yundt]

Living in Italy,,nice! I've only had the chance to be there several times on vacation and see David.And yes,,it is amazing what those guys back then were able to do with so limited a selection of tools,,,let alone move a 20 ton block of marble around.Makes me think I have no excuse to do the best work I can with what I have available today.I've posted this pic before,,the cover of Essential Michelangelo,,migh give you some idea,,as well as another book you might like to look through if not own,,available at most any major book seller in the art section ( My favorite section) titled Bernini,by Rudolf Wittkower,,dozens of full page shots and close ups of how this master handled different problems,,no doubt you've seen his work all over Italy as well ,,even if you didn't know it was him..fountains,,cathederals,,St Peters,,etc...also amazing work. Just imagine carving that cover shot out of a block of marble,,,wow.You sound like you might appreciate this work,especially after living among it.Hope it helps.

[bbeery]

Thanks for the tip, Mark. 'Course it would be difficult to be in Italy long without knowing Bernini's work. Will look for the book. I spent several summers in a small hillside town outside of Rome, called Cortona. We would recruite over 100 students from the University of Georgia who wanted to study art in Italy. Three days a week we traveled to various places throughout the region and the other days were spent in studio. Took my family and had, not only all expensis paid, got a salary also. We had about eight instructors. The students enjoyed studing torsos on the nude beaches,...which was a learning experience for me as well.
Enjoyed the experiences but was always happy, after 12 weeks each summer to get back home. No place like the U.S. of A.

[mark yundt]

Ahhhh,,,sweet ,,you lucky devil!