[meipo]

Hello All!

I am working on a momento for a friend.

Her son is the third in the family to become a Dr Fisher. Every Dr Fisher received something that says "Dr" and a fish followed by "er". After pondering for months, I decided to make a box for this Dr Fisher following the same theme. In addition, I am going to put the designs of the two previous Dr Fishers on the side of the box.

I have never done relief carving. In order to test out different ideas and to try my hands, I did a test piece. There are things I like, things I don't, but it definitely taught me a few things along the way. Being able to see the design in 3-D also helps me make some changes in the final design, e.g. the way the dorsal fin flips, the direction of the head, etc.

Here are the numerous questions I have. I hope you can help me:

1/ As I was reading Susan's relief carving tutorial talking about different levels, I feel as confused as can be: Does my fish look too flat? Is it convincing? Do I need to carve deeper? How much deeper? I am using a 3/4" wood for the lid.

2/ As you can see in the original drawing, I thought about kolrosing stylized "waves" in the background. However, once I started carving, everybody saw what I had done started saying how much they like the effect of the gouge marks -- looking like water! I lightly sanded the ridge off just to see what it is like. What do you think? Can someone tell me if this "water-like" background will look too bland once the piece is finished? Maybe I can still use the stylized waves on the side of the box between the 2 Dr Fisher patterns.

3/ In the final piece, I think I will keep the border on the outside. I took it out in the upper right to see how it looks. Without the border to frame the fish, it feels like there is a lack of definition. Would you agree that the border needs to be just a tad wider? Technical question: How do you carve the background without making the inside edge of the border all jagged? Similar concerns about the lettering of "Dr" and "er".

4/ Given my anxiety, I have not even done anything to the eye yet. All I have done is the lightly cut into the edge of the eye with a V tool. The eye is only penciled in. The "iris" part of the fish -- should it be "dug in" so as to look darker? Normally, there is a small reflection of light from the eye ball. How do you do that if you dig the eye in? Help!

I cannot even list all the questions and concerns I have. I am a lonely beginner who needs a teacher! Please help me. Any advice appreciated.

meipo

[wade clark]

Very cool! Don't worry! Be happy!
Wade

[meipo]

Oh, Wade, I am not sure if I feel all that cool. Yes, I am worried. If you are like me -- inexperienced, not very skilled, have no teacher or other carvers nearby to turn to, at times like this, it can feel rather helpless. Nevertheless, I am grateful to you because you always have been helpful and supportive. Thank you.

Here I have taken another picture of the test piece with slightly better lighting so you can see what my concerns are. Here, it is clearer what kind of mistakes I made. I am glad I make them now rather than later. The box is going to be a round one. I am just too lazy to cut the circle out because this is a test piece.

meipo

[mark yundt]

I think you are going in a good direction. I like the yin-yang look of the piece,,it's fluid and graceful. The gouge marks are a fine representation of water,,no problem there and a good resolution and with just clean gouge marks no sanding should be necessary.The border has a nice size to it,,not intrusive and yet it's there framing the piece,, I especially like the way you didn't keep the fish totally within the frame and have it extended and overlapping a bit,,,nice touch!One way to do the eye and have it look as if a reflection is on it is to use the technique I used on the greenman I did. The pupil area is cut as an inverted dome with a small triangular piece left in place.This accomplishes two things,,one,you see a reflection instead of a gaping hole,,and two,,it gives a good shadow showing depth,without actually having to paint the eye, it's the shadow that does it,,,,plus it has a "cool" factor. You may not need to go much deeper,just play with the shape of the fish,, looking at what points would be high,, which would be low and carve it according to that,,in shallower reliefs that's about all you can do,, going deeper will require the same thing,,only of course just much deeper.

Just had another thought I had to throw out there,,if you do feel it necessary to have greater depth, instead of going deeper into the panel..why not add to just the thickness of the fish itself? You can do this one of two ways. Either push everything else down and still have it appear as it is now or add just a fairly thin piece to the fish itself,,this I think might add an interesting dimension to the piece. You don't need much for a good effect,,a quarter inch will make a big impact. This is what I just did for the shell I carved on another post. It had a frame (rectangular) as yours does,,and I just added a bit to the shell and leaf areas 1/4 inch deep relief,,1/4 inch added,,to give me a half inch of total thickness with only 1/4 inch of real depth,and most was carved off,just something else to consider. Not sure what tools you have ,, but in your case since you're not really limited by thickness as I was,, I'd push the areas other than the fish down,, then it's all one piece and no gluing up is necessary.Just another thought.

[AlArchie]

Very nice and a super neat idea! Wish I would have thought of that much earlier.....we have a very dear friend by the name of Dr.Charles Fisher, now living in Lyons, Colorado. His daughter introduced my wife and I back in....well, never mind how far back!

Al

[mark yundt]

It's never too late Al...do one and send it as a thank-you .It might be " How far back",, but I'm sure he would understand that you didn't want to jump the gun and thank him prematurely before you found out it was going to stick,and you had a "keeper"! LOL

[Kenny_S]

Mark, It may not be a THANK YOU!

Had a man introduce my wife and I also, but I don't want to thank him for sure!

[mark yundt]

OWWWW! That's what I get for trying to ASSUME.you know how that breaks down....LOL...if I was off base,,,sorry!

[AlArchie]

Not off base,here, Mark! 43 years and going strong!

Al

[meipo]

I have been busy with other things and then got sick. Wish I could get back to you sooner.

One thing I did was to make a "Jacob's Ladder" for my beloved neighborhood boy for his 2nd birthday. On one side, I chip carved his name, one letter on each block. On the other side, I "drew" his favorite things with a V tool and then colored them lightly with color pencil. With an outside chance that he may keep it as he grows up, I included a picture of his house. The parents immediately recognized it. Not surprisingly, the kid looked at it for a few seconds, flipped it around a couple times in his hands, and proceeded to other birthday presents. It was the parents who fought for their turn to play with it. Mom allegedly brought it to work so that she had something to "do" during boring meetings . . .

Just for the fun of it, I am posting also the pictures of the other Dr Fisher items. As I said, I will extract the patterns of the "Dr Fish-er" and put them on the side of the third Dr Fisher's box. I think it is a god way of linking them together.

Thanks, Mark, for your advice. I remember reading your post some time ago. I just have to go back and dig the right one out and read very carefully to learn to carve the eye. I always feel kinda anxious and a little afraid when I start a project. Given the lack of experience on my part, almost everything I do is the first time. It is part exciting, part scary. Please bear with me if I come back with more questions after I re-read your post. I am not so bright a student.

meipo