bird carving

[hen]

i live in southeast Lousiana, so i can get tupelo and cypress very readily

thanks,hen

[mark yundt]

There are some things some of us just don't want to hear,,,LOL.

Look up the Brunet (?) The father won the Worlds 5 times I think ,,, then the son (Jet) took over and cleaned up 7 or so,,, then the other brother Jude started knocking them silly.They're from that areas as well. Like I said,, there are a bunch of World Class bird carvers down there around the bayous...must be something in the water is my excuse...

After talking with him and his wood supplier I found out that what he did to make a piece for competition he would quickly rough out 25 or 30 birds of the species he wanted to carve in about a week. He then would study them ( and the live birds he keeps) in all their poses,, to pick the one that said "Mallard" or "Gadwall" or whatever the loudest and clearest to him,, and then concentrate on just that one piece to carve. The rest ,, some made it to completion ,,, most went in the trash as they just didn't have what it took in his estimation.
A nice way to do it with an endless supply of the most choice wood.

[kahunakalai]

Hen you received great advice, the only thing I can add is that there is quite a few good books that give step by step information on turning the head.
Lori Corbitt Amazon.com: Carving Award-winning Songbirds: An Encyclopedia of Carving, Sculpting and Painting Techniques: Lori Corbett, Phil Galatas, Tom Matus: Books