[Pyrographer]

Kathy, great job. She's really starting to come alive!
Nedra

[Mottles]

Susan: Thank you, you are right about the hard part being over. As with painting I like to start the eyes first and work my way outward. So many times if I can get the eye structure, surrounding bone and shading right then all else falls into place. As they say 'eyes are the mirror of (or to) the sole' and she had great heart and sole.
Gary: Thank you, will update this evening
Nedra: Thank you too, I appreciate you looking and commenting. I'm presently using a small writing tip--what size Razor-tip writing pens do you carry? Geez I know your busy I'll go to your website.

Thanks again,
Kathy

[Pyrographer]

Hi Kathy, I carry all the sizes: 9, 9S and 9XS (this one is sharp, but can be sanded smooth, and intended for tagua nuts and miniatures)

[Mottles]

Hi Nedra, thank you for answering my question...I'll have to check to see what number my tip is...
Kathy

[Thor]

I not only enjoy seeing the progress on this heartfelt and beautiful piece, but also the responses from those touched by it.

Wonderful work of art.
Thor

[Mottles]

Hi Thor, and thank you so much for your wonderful compliment. I love to do work that touches the heart or brings fond memories. I know I'll see a grown man with tears in his eyes after he opens his present Christmas morning. Mandy was special.......
By the way I visited your website and you do remarkable work. I was amazed that you did so many carvings all in one summer. Beautiful work!
Kathy

[Mottles]

Hi All:

Here is update number three, didn’t get to work on it yesterday. Instead felt I’d better work on my search dog oil painting commission. But today did get a chance to work on Mandy again. I’m finding it hard to choose between painting and woodburning. I do find myself wanting to burn wood more than paint. Grin

OK sorry for the scraggy looking ears but this is going to take sometime. The English Spaniels tend to have longish strands of hair, but until they are all nicely rendered they look sort of funny. Kind of like a bad hair day... I did fill in the medium and lighter value on the tongue and I’m in the process of defining the gums. Also I need to establish a better value division on the ear folds (viewers left).

This time I’m not going to tell you I’ll work on my woodburning and post an update tomorrow night. Best laid plans and all that......grin

As always I appreciate your thoughts and comments

Kathy

[Irish]

Yep! That's exactly the way a spaniel's hair looks. Every day is a wild hair day. Beautiful progress, Kathy! I don't see any problems with the ear folds ??? You've got great depth in that area and, of course, the outer hair ... looks great to me.

Susan

Oh! The tongue rolls forward wonderfully.

[Mottles]

Thanks Susan, maybe I'm being to critical will re-evaluate my thoughts on the ear. Our daughter one day put hair gel on the wispy hairs on the top of Mandys head. She looked so funny without the little wispy hairs going here and there. lol I enjoyed doing the shading on the tongue which has about four different values. For most of this woodburning I'm using my writing tip and just today used my shader on the tongue and parts of the ears.
One of my gourding pals who comes over on Tuesdays brought her Razortip and I gave her a couple of birch panels to work on. She had burned gourds but never wood so she was game to give it a try. Well, I think we have another burner in the works. She really took to it and wants to learn more. My other pal who also comes over on Tuesdays was absent today. Probably a good thing because she's a die hard pencil artist and thinks that is the only medium. I love pencil work too, but there are other mediums to explore. grin
With plenty of ventilation my pencil pal will survive us other two pyro's. tee hee
Kathy

[Callynne]

Kathy, that is fantastic! What a wonderful gift it will be!! I love watching her 'come to life' through your talented fingers! Thanks for sharing her, can't wait to see the finished work! Deborah