1st painted bird head sticks

[kev.b]

hi well decided to bite the bullet and take my 1st attempt at painting the bird heads i'd carved for stick handles.
(L to R) American widgeon, Wood duck. Woodcock. Mallard.
i have tried not to over use the iridescent paint, though it does look really shiney on the photo, it isnt that bad. i have had a lot of help from several members on here so a big thank you for all your help, Twitcher, Neil Ward and Hugh-P in particular.
on the 3 painted ones i used gesso first then a mixture of thinned acrylics and Jo Sonya iridescent green.
the woodcock i have only lightly used thinned white acrylic as a highlighter. The Mallard i'm not sure about.....the colour seems too light for me , may try a darker wash before i'm happy..we'll see.
they all have to be varnished and mounted on sticks.
Cant tell you guys how much i've enjoyed this new world of bird carving.
as usual any C & C very welcome.
thanks again
kev

[twitcher]

you've done a great job of these mate...hopefully we will meet up sometime soon, I've just finished a mandarin ducks head, for comp in September, I've not carved for a long time so a bit rusty....mark

[Merle Rice]

They look good to me. Merle

[kev.b]

cheers Mark. thanks for all the advice. cant wait for the club to get up and away, and see some real bird carvings up close.

[ArtworksIII]

I'm convinced your intrest in waterfoul is intence! Are you learning how to create their bodys' too? Nice

[grdeno]

I think they look very nice I have not done a Duck head for a topper but may now I like the idea Gary

[woodchips4u]

Kev - These are sweet looking. I'm quite impressed. You are doing so well you might also dabble in doing bird head busts. They too are quite popular when simply mounted. I look forward to seeing more of your creations.

Larry

[kev.b]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.
Artworks these are my first bird carvings and found the whole process really enjoyable. Twitcher lives quite near me and he's starting a bird/decoy carving club, so hopefully i'll get some expert tuition in carving whole birds. he's a top bird carver, painter and photographer, check out his site.
Woodchips never thought of just the birds head bust....another idea to look into

[idigjars]

Hi Kev, I think you have done a great job on them. Congrats! Thanks for sharing. Paul

[torpidhummer]

Hi Kev,welcome to the wonderful world of bird carving,you did very well and as time goes by hopefully we will seeing some of your full body duck carvings.
Oscar