[herbd]

Hi,

I'm carving a life size Great Horned owl. I do not like to sand or paint my carvings, nor use glass eyes. Given that, got ideas for carving the eyes? Specifially the pupil. I have the eyes carved and at this point are half dome shaped.

Herb

[Paul_Guraedy]

There is an excellent "how to" on carving bird's eyes in Greg Woodard's book, Art of Bird Sculpture, wood, bronze, & clay". It is not easy; but then, carving your own indicates a willingness to take the hard road. Woodard uses two 1/4 inch pieces of plexiglass, one for the back of the eye and one for the lens. He uses multiple colors, rather than just a couple as most glass eyes have, and then modifys the eye to fit the hole he designs in the carving....no epoxy eye ring means it has to fit exactly. He also polishes the eyes himself so you don't have to worry about scratches. This book is well worth adding to your library even if you decide not to make your own eyes.

[markken5889]

Tom Matus has a niece piece on carving eyes in a back issue of WCI

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

You can always carve and sand the eyeball, paint it, then put a drop of Treasure Kote on it....will give the eye that glassy look...works good. You can get treasure kote at wallyworld use it sparingly tho..it seeks its own level! You can build it up tho, after one coat has dried, you can put a touch on the center to dome up the eye.

[Claude]

If you can't find the Treasure Kote that Dave suggested, you can use regular 5 minute epoxy. Paint the eye completely first and make sure the paint is dry. Mix up a bit of the epoxy and stir for about 4 mins. Put a gob on a little flat piece of wood. Hold the bird so the eye points to the ground. Apply the epoxy to the eyeball and quickly smooth it a bit. Now, for the next 5 minutes, hold the bird in a given position no more than about 10 seconds, then turn on its side, its back, it's other side, over to the front again, etc. This prevents the epoxy from flowing down on to the rest of the birds face, or making a "drip" in the center of the eye. Consider the 5 minutes of moving the bird while the epoxy is setting as exercise time.

Claude

[herbd]

Hi,

Thank you for your responses. I think that I was not clear in my question. I want to carve the eye without use of any paints or finishes, it will be raw wood.

Herb

[Paul_Guraedy]

Several years ago I read an article about eyes carved very much like you are describing. I have not tried it myself.

Basically, The eye was carved and rounded in place. The pupil penicled in. It was then formed by taking a burr and pushing it straight into the area defined for the pupil. Go just beyond the depth of the burr so that the shank is free to move around in the hole. The burr was then moved in a circular motion to form a larger carvity behind the opening for the pupil. I think I would then stop the tool and remove the burr without taking a chance on it ruining the smaller hole of the pupil. This made a "shadow" and defined the pupil.

The pictures I saw made it very effective. They were not on birds; but, I do not see why the same thing would not work for them.