[doris]

i am still very unsure about how finish a carving. i have tried several things, including put no finish at all, but no one really pleases me ... the best i got is a clear briwax finish, oils bring out the grain too much on my wood. i need help.

so to make precise question, i carve linden, and i would like make a natural finish, which looks like the carvings from the old german renaissance carvers, like riemenschneider, or stoss... i always thought they were left unfinished, and only got light brown shiny patina from being about 500 years old, but now i have read that riemenschneider used oil, egg and pigment ... egg ? also, the oil confuses me, as i never saw lots of grain on these old carvings...

how i can achieve this sort of look on my carvings ?

[Thor]

HI Doris,

First, the older sculptures have aged so much that we don't know what they looked like when new or how their finishes were even meant to look.

I've done some research regarding finishes on the old masters works, and this is a quote from my favorite book, 'The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany' by Michael Baxandall:
"To protect the wood and to unify and darken its colour, brown-tinted glazes were used. The glaze on Riemenschneider's Altarpiece of the Holy Blood at Rothenburg has been analysed: 'it consists of egg-white and oil coloured with ochrer, black, lime and lead-white,. and it was applied direct to the wood.'

Using glazes would allow you to control the shades over the different patterns of light and dark in each individual piece of wood. These discriptives are of huge pieces too that would have large areas of differences. Further reading has definitely left me with the impression that this control was indeed used to highlight attributes on each sculpture like a face, or folds in fabric where the artist wanted the eye to follow.

My experiments have not been really pleasing yet, so if I learn more from experience, I'll try to relate them to you.

Mark Yundt will more than likely chime in here with words of expertise as hopefully others will too, and the green man finish that he did is a good example of how highlights in the finish can bring it all together.

Good luck with your project, and I do hope you'll post pictures.
Christina

[doris]

wow, very quick answer, thanks christina ... :-) ... yes, thats the book where i read about the egg, exactely that sentence you say... oh, yes good point about how looks today, and how when they made, never occured to me that there is bigdifference. ... what is "glazes" ? ... i am very timid to experiment much, i would like a recipe, which works almost surely...if thats possible... and, yes, pictures come, when i am finished, i am started detailing, but i take my time ...

[Lynn O. Doughty]

You'll never achieve the look of an "old" carving cause your carving is not old. That aged patina comes with age. Surely they put something on those carvings but even if they didn't the touching, cleaning and handling over the years would impart an oiled appearance to the wood.

One way to see how your piece will look 'natural' is to wet it. That is the way it is in nature, before the tree was cut and the sap was still running through the wood. You will see the grain. The grain in basswood is only less evident when it is dry but I don't think you want your carving looking like that as it would quickly become dirty from handling.

Wax is good but unfortunatly once you put it on it's there forever. Sure, you can clean it off but you'll never get all of it and the cleaning might even create more problems.

Oil? That's okay as long as it dries completely. Danish oil, tung oil or other brands would work okay but it will change the color of the wood and bring out the grain. The softer wood absorbing more than the harder. One thing I would highly recommend against is using Boiled Linseed Oil. Please don't do that! No matter what others will tell you that stuff never dries completely and attracts dirt like a magnet.

Varnish is another choice that gives a hard finish that can be waxed if you want. Water based varnish will impart a cold appearance where oil or urethane based will give the piece an warm amber glow.

[doris]

hi thanks lynn, too ... thats right, i dont want it look dirty from handling. and, yes i tried oil, and also linseed oil. i dont like it, since it makes grain see lot, and it makes wood very yellow and it seems grow more yellow all time. not a pretty color for my taste. i dont want use that again. other oils i tried, but i carve faces, and the oil makes stripes from grain, in disturbing intensity... the varnish oil based, sounds like something i might try... amber glow sound nice

and to explain more why i want finsih, is oh, yes, that very book also said that linden ages "ungracefully", i dont know what that means really, but that made me even more want make a finish that looks good, and carving stays looking good...

[mark yundt]

Hi guys! This requires more of an answer that I can give here.The finishes they used were mainly as you said were oils and "paint " finishes. Yes ,,eggs were used in a paint called egg tempera. Early paints here were done with milk.An artist friend still uses this method of egg tempera to finish Harpischords that another friend of mine builds. It 's a very fragile finish and easily lost.Many of these old carvings you refer to only have traces left,,along with some evidence of gilding.Since the sizing or "glue" that attaches the gild is a varnish base that's much of what you see is left.Contrary to some opinions you CAN make your carvings look old with the finish whether it's old or new. I do it all the time with pieces I have restored from the 16th century on.One client in particular had one of the largest early american folk art collections in the country and I was able to repair the pieces and finish them that they would pass inspection at Sothebys,,,yeah,, I'm braggin' a bit,, I fooled them!So it can be done.How do you do it though? Well depends on the piece,, and how many pages can I use to type on?For most pieces ,I would suggest using a stain,, even if it's only neutral in color,,and possibly a stain sealer,,though I usually don't use them,,you loose some of the control.Then using a succession of different stains,many times not stirred because I use the "gunk" left on the bottom of the can,start applying the stains in areas where dirt ,wax and dust would accumulate.On high points I will scuff or more accurately polish the area with very fine steel wools.After that,,depending on the look you are going for,an oil,varnish or laquer finish can be used. Here is where it can get tricky. Most of the old pieces look as if no finish is used,yet there is a satiny gloss look to them.Most finishes today end up looking like the piece was embalmed in some sort of high gloss liquid plastic,, it looks simply awful, and usually ends up killing the piece.The trick is to get just enough finish on to seal the piece,then attain just enough "gloss" .It's better to stay on the duller side,, and then pick it up with wax.

[doris]

thanks mark :-) ... sounds like finishing is even more difficult than i was afraid it is... sigh ... only to make sure we talk about same, i mean to make the carving look in one color. i not want a colored carving, only color to make look less pale. thats why i said natural finish....exactely, i not want high gloss, to me it not looks like wood then anymore....my carving is smallish, a bust a little more than half life size.

ok, seems to me, i use all information given here, and need now make experiments to see if i can get look i wish... thank you all for giving your knowledge :-) i will keep you updated on progress, or pop up with new questions on finish ;-)