[Alice in Wonderland]

Hi Everybody and Thank you for your help.
I put on the back of the carving the sanding sealer and it did not change the color,"great" today I painted some black fine marks on with acrilic paint."Great again" so I think this might be the simplest way to go.
This piece of Poplar is very dry , it must have been the garage for a couple of years.
Dick , your suggestion sounds good too I printed it out and I am going to work with it too.
My husband said I should burn it, does it turn black???again I have to try it.
"HE" is looking really good maybe I can get my husbands camera :-))))) or have him take the picture.
Unfortunately I never really kept record of all my carvings ( I don'r feel good about it)
Alice

[Alice in Wonderland]

I finally got a picture of my Mongolian Man I hope I can download it properly and you can se what I meant by given hair and beard some color, I love the lightness of the face ,it does have some light variances within the wood ,I don't know if it shows
Alice

[Irishman]

Hello Alice,
You've captured the Mongolian look very nicely. What size is your carving, and what type of wood did you use? It looks like a wall hanging size.
Patrick

[thompj1]

That's really a nice carving, Alice. Looks like you've captured the grain of the wood just right for the subject that you have carved, and it really shows off nicely.

Hope to see more of your work...

[Alice in Wonderland]

Patrick is is Poplar also and about 13" and yes it would be a hanging piece
I certainly will darken the hair and line the eyes a bit but I do not paint normally I don;t know why I just love wood period and I could not cover it ,I probably will use waterborne poly so there is no yellowing of the light part the darkening is going to be the challenge sine I do not want it uniform. I have been looking at it for days:-((((
Alice

[chiseler]

Hi Alice:
I'm new to this forum....Just want to put my 2 cents worth in: I have carved over 1400 faces, it makes me very NERVOUS to put paint on wood unless of course it's on storm windows and such.
But that's just my opinion. What I have done whenever I like a color change is to find some tar, the kind they put on roofs. Take a small piece and put it in mineral spirits and let it sit for a few days until it dissolves. Use this it as a stain to darken any areas, that way you can keep it near natural as possible. Take a scrap piece of wood to try to get the color you want. lots of tar and little mineral spirits gives you black, keep adding mineral spirts to the slurry and you get a range from black to near clear. I am told this was one of the first stains used in the furniture making profession at the turn of the century and before. Needless to say it is one of the cheapest stains. Hope this helps you in this project of yours and many more.

Check out my webpage at chiseler.tripod.com let me know what you think.
Later and good luck.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Hi chiseler
thank you for your suggestion I certainly will try it if I find some tar somewhere:-)))how did you like the face since you have done so many? I could not get into your site ,only Tripod came up.
I like the way you said "natural" that is for me and my work ,I do not paint, as a matter of fact I even would like to leave it plain with just some wax on it ,but it sure needs a bit contrast for the hair and beard.
Thank again

[chiseler]

Hi Alice,
It's not an easy task to do a face in relief.
That said, your face is very very nice, so nice that if it were mine I would leave it like it is and finish it with real beeswax softened in mineral spirits and applied with a toothbrush. I then would let it dry for a day and then buff it with a shoebrush, maybe even give it several coats, -- but thats me.
Then, after you get a good base of wax, if you really want to get some different contrast, in the relief grooves you could put a small amount of brown shoepolish, again brush it out. This takes some experimenting tho.
(you can get a chunk of beeswax from someone who raises bees.) Again, more of keeping with the natural. You could also use minnwax pastewax but it's not the same. I experiment with different things to try and keep things natural.
Always try finishes or wax etc. on scrap wood before applying to your finished piece to see if you like it or not and to get the feel of it.
Most of my faces have no finish whatsoever, now that's really natural.(smile)
I am sorry, I should have given you a more specific address to my site. You cannot use www, just type this on your address line. http://chiseler.tripod.com/
or just click on this link, I think that will work ? When you get to the page with me sitting and carving then click on Carvings on the tree. Then click on a thumbnail to enlarge each picture. Let me know what you think.
I do not know how to post pictures on this site so if you would care to see more of my work you will have to send me your email address in the private message section. I also do large reliefs, sculpting, carved furniture etc.
I Hope I haven't rambled too much and that some of this might help you in some respect. Later then - John

[Alice in Wonderland]

John
Thank you again for your help "My Love for Wood " is my motto and I have only done any of my carvings either with laquer varnish or waterborne poly but always rubbed them out with steel wool and floorwax and many time I have been asked what I am using especially by experienced carvers( made me feel good":-)))) The same like you I only used found wood and I do too look for some imperfections ,I wish I had a big Lake at my feet ,where I live it is small Lake and not much driftwood anymore unless I walk around the shore in bare feet lol, but lots of old Maple trees which have spalted beautiful .
,I printed it out to keep reading it.
Thanks again
Alice