Sunflower Relief

[Sharon of the Dell]

Wow and yes it is coming along great!

[markken5889]

Beautiful piece, and a really great concept. I do like Phil's idea for the seed head.

Mark

[northwood bob]

This is not going as quickly as I would have liked. My wife is getting a bit impatient but then again, you can't rush an artist!!!!!. The seed heads have really given me a fit. I've tried several methods on scrap wood and all proved to be extremely unsuccessful. I would really like to try something like this on a more manageable piece of wood. My final method (again, based on the cedar and it's lack of ability to hold detail) was to drill holes to simulate the seeds. I felt that since the finished product will be displayed out doors and will only be seen at a distance, this will serve as a simulation of the seed head. We're not trying to present a detailed likeness of the scene but a simulation of the thought. I think it'll turn out OK

Bob

[Bill V]

Good start, will be beautiful when completed. Thanks for sharing.

Bill V

[northwood bob]

OK Guys. Here's the last installment of this thread. See the attached finalized detail work as well as the finished project.

As with all projects, I think one must learn from the mistakes, cover the mistakes, make the best of a less than perfect situation and do the best with what is given to you.

Let's first learm from the mistakes. Cedar!!! The wood should weather good in the outdoors with a small amount of maintenance BUT this stuff did not carve well. The detail was forgone and as I've said before, it was a bit hard on tools. I would like to attempt this again with another species of wood that would hold detail much better. I would like to try to find a different species fo cedar that might work out beter. Time will tell if it was the best choice of wood.

Finish - I tried something a bit different. as you look at the finished product, I used a acrylic wash covered by a brushing of linsed oil and then applied Thompsons Water Seal over the whole thing till it wouldn't absorb any more (about 4 coats). Let's see how that weathers????

The most difficult part was the seed head. As I said, I opted to drill holes rather than have the seeds protrude. This was done because of the woods ability to hold detail. another species would have led me to other choices. I'd rather have seen them project.

Above all, WATCH YOUR STOP CUTS. There were many areas where I thought I had the detail in the correct position only to find that I had to move it 1/8" - 1/4" to get the perspective right. Opps. now I had the mark of a stop cut where a finished smooth surface shoulc have been. Only one way to correct this!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I had. Let's hope my wife likes it equally as well. She won't have a chance to see it for about two weeks.

Tqake care
Bob

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Bob, I think it turned out awesome!

Dave

[Mottles]

Nice one!
Kathy

[carver33]

Very nice. I think it turned out great.

[hwallen48]

Bob
It came out great , your wife will Love it!

[Josef]

That is a keeper for sure. Well done. Joe.