[Hugh P.]

Bird carving masters. There are a number of bird carvers that are classed as Masters, and rightly so. Two that I'm thinking of are Pat Godin, and Keith Mueller. I don't know of any Art form that pays as much attention to detail as a bird carver. First as a sculpture, the bird is shaped, muscle tone, and feather groups and attitude are detailed. Then the feathers themselves are carved , sounds simple, but the feathers must flow in the right direction, also must be in the right order in order to accomodate the intricate feather details. Shapes and sizes of feathers must be considered. Progression of feathers, shapes, soft and hard feathers. The bird carver must be aware of many small details in order to create a bird with life like charcteristics. The sculpture is three dimensional like human sculptures the carver must pay strict attention to bone structure of the head, feet and body. The painting of the bird is much more complicated than flat painting, it is 3 dimensional, and light and shadow effects must be properly used in certain areas to high lite the way the bird is featured. The base composition, carved from wood, some times constructed from wire and epoxy, must be intricate and compliment the carving, to the point of presenting the subject properly.
I'm in Awe of Fred Zavadil, and Mark Yundt, absolutely incredible sculptures, Robert Bateman, J F Lansdowne, two flat painting artists, incredible work. I guess the part that attracted me to bird carving is People like Pat Godin and Keith Mueller, they have the ability to create sculptures of birds and habitat, and the ability to paint as only a master could paint.
My skill level will never be any where near what these people achieve, but they are an inspiration.

I'm posting a link to Pat Godins Site: http://www.godinart.com/declifesizewildfowl.htm

And to Keith Muellers site: http://www.oldhickory-ct.com/Keith%20Mueller.html

[Ashbys]

Hugh,

I have yet to do a bird, but after being in the Baltimore show, and seeing the carvings, and more importantly learning about what makes a good bird carving, I have been studying about them. I hope others will post with their information. We have some excellent carvers that are so helpful, You, Goody, Falconer, Mark , Mitchell , Paul , Lori and so many others, can teach so much about this discipline. Sometimes I think the quality and the knowledge to do a bird is overlooked.

I was stunned , when a beautiful duck , was moved down in ranks because the muscle tone at the wings was to small. Another because the primary feathers and secondary feathers were placed at the wrong angle. One because the paint layers , did not reflect the correct color changes as it was turned in the sun.

The detail that is put into the birds is amazing. Lines pre inch on a feather to where there are 200 lines in an inch or more, and losing competitions because the count is less than 100. A bird that is oversized being placed lower because it should be half the size.

Bird carving is an art .
And I hope the other carvers will take the time to learn how much is involved in it. I know I will keep learning about it, because I am amazed at the level so many of you carve and the work you do.

Thanks for the Links , I will be studying them for a while.

Ash