[feb]

I really like the look it's hard to say if it's worry, fear, sturn, etc.

Feb

[markken5889]

keep it comin' Joe. looks like you're doin' fine!

Mark

[jmuscel]

Hi everyone!
I got a little more work done on the Madonna of the Streets relief. I would like to do a little more cleaning up on the baby Jesus but I am dangerously close to poking through, When I transfered the design I didn't realize that his head is right at the center of the growth rings and the grain goes all over the place. Anyway, I'll just have to be careful and call it done without ruining the whole piece. I hope you all like it.
Joe

[doris]

hi joe, yes i like your carving. nice emotional work once again :-) ... have you measured to know there is no much wood left under the babies face ? from what i can see the deepest spot is where his face meets mary´s shoulder. so, if you avoid that, you still could take very thin slivers of wood off babies face to smooth it more... oh, mark gave me once an idea to check thickness of wood : hold your carving against a bright light. as long as there are no light shimmer through, you still can cut (very carefully of course !!!) cut deeper. i use that occasionally. but, maybe you are right, often is better to be careful, too easily one could ruin a nice piece. i think your wife will love it :-) did you use your wife and baby as reference ? and, please share when you finished, and have put finish on :-)

[jmuscel]

Thanks again everyone for all your kind words and comments. This is such a supportive forum and so helpful.
Doris, the refernce is not my wife and daughter (Although I did a carving of them in a similar pose) It is from a painting by Roberto Ferruzzi originally called The Madonnina and is now known as the Madonna of the Streets. It is my wife's, my mother and my mother-in-laws favorite painting of Mary so I decided to use it. I've heard of the light through wood trick before and yes, I was getting sort of a glow around the baby's face. I decided to lightly clean up and sand the area and sealed it and waxed it. This is what I ended up with. Not too happy with it but I try to look on the bright side and tell myself, I'm still new and have alot to learn and in a few years hopefully, I wont make as many mistakes. I will try to post better quality pics in the future, I also posted a picture of the carving of my wife and daughter
Thanks again everyone!
Joe

[doris]

thank you joe :-)... she turned really out beautiful, and dont worry, if you not completely happy. i feel this way too, after i finish a carving, since i do see what i would have liked to get different. but, you are doing wonderful, you carve only 6 month, and look what you can already do ! just a few weeks more, and you will do even more. i am looking so much forward to follow your progress :-) ... dont fret over the mistakes you see, but dont forget them either, ... keep them in mind, they will help you more than everything you did right already...
and, thank you for letting me know about roberto feruzzi. i did not know his work, but now have looked with google. was very interesting, also to see how you interpreted that image :-) ...
oh, then you knew that with the light, and it was shimmering through already...shows, you learned a lot, namely, to use all depth you have from the wood. had took me much longer ;-) ...nice work.... thanks for sharing

[markken5889]

Joe. Hey, if I hadn't read your post I wouldn't have thought there were any mistakes! Great work. Maybe a similar piece from a board where the grain all goes one way. I've had some difficulty with the pre-routed laminated boards (ie from Michael's, etc) where the direction of the grain alternates.

Great work - keep it coming!

Mark