Relief Carving Wood Spirit Grape Man WIP

Irish · #81 07-10-2006, 07:34 PM

Step 135: This is a good time for a quick clean up with a white artist eraser. Those
erasers remove a lot of little fiber and the oil and dirt that a carving normally picks
up from your hands. Don't use the pink ones! Occassionally the dye in those will rub off onto your carving and you'll have a big pink streak on your wood.

Step 136: This is a good place to stop for the day. Tomorrow I am hopefully going to
finish him up. We have the leaf veining to do, the rolling and rounding of the stem
and the detailing of the leaf edge ... and then I think he'll be ready for the oil
finish.

So ... I need a quick hand count ... Mike says I should paint him in detailed color. I'm
thinking of just oil finish for him ...? Let me know what you want to do so I can plan
where I'm going next.

See ya'll tomorrow, Susan

MelNM · #82 07-10-2006, 09:33 PM

Oil finish works for me Susan.

Tidewalker · #83 07-10-2006, 10:05 PM

oil finish would be great for me Susan as well. I posted another couple pics , I think I now need to work the rest of the face down to where the leaves are or maybe like you said I could give him a great big long nose lol.I know I need to clean up my cuts a little but was tired and thought I had enough for tonight. thanks for everything Susan!

Darren

Irish · #84 07-11-2006, 08:11 AM

Oil finish it is!

Step 137: Now that I have the leaf smooth I am marking where I want my leaf veins. One set of veins comes from the end of the eye brow ridge. Another set, the center leaf lobes, comes from one of the cheek wrinkles. This helps to connect the face and the leaf.

Step 138: V-gouge in the veins. Each veins can be done in several cuts to establish the full length of the vein depending on how that vein moves across the grain. And each vein is dropped slowly using several cuts. This prevents the edges of the cut from chipping out.

Also I prefer if possible to work two v-gouge cuts that join or make an intersection into that intersection. Notice the bottom vein on the leaf and how the arrows go into the joint where these two intersect. Now in the vein above I worked away from the
intersection and you can see the chip out that occurred.

Step 139: I am using my chisel to roll over or round over the sides of the leaf section into those v-gouge cuts I just made. I don't want a flat plane then a sudden drop into the gouge stroke, I want a gentle rolling over of the leaf into the bottom score of the v-gouge cut.

Step 140: All the leaf sections for this lobe have been rounded down into the original v-gouge cut. Now I am re-cutting that v-gouge cut very lightly just to clean up the trench. Work through all five of the leaf lobes, adding the veining and rolling the leaf sections into the veins.

Susan

BobD · #85 07-11-2006, 08:30 AM

Anyone else notice that this thread has gotten over 1,000 views?

Thank you Susan. We could NEVER devote this much space in the magazine to such a project. I really, really, really appreciate you taking time to do this for all of us (Yes, my printer is working over time as well and I've got some new chisels to test out).

Bob

Ashbys · #86 07-11-2006, 09:24 AM

You know Susan,
Wc could do a special insert for this , You have so many things here , I think it should be stickied . Your web site and your help has been a step by step improvement for me. I get stuck , I look at your site and this is just fantastic. For those that do not have access to other carvers the simple line by line instructions you supply is beyond anything anyone could ask .

Garry

Irish · #87 07-11-2006, 09:48 AM

Oh-My-Word ... I've been stickied !

Susan

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #88 07-11-2006, 10:23 AM

Now we'll have to call you "Susie Stuckup"! LOL

... great tutorial, a lot of work to do that on your part....thanks!

Irish · #89 07-11-2006, 02:24 PM

....... Hi_Ho, That's not fair ... you got me to laughing so hard that now my sides hurt ....

Grinning right back at ya.

Susan

Irish · #90 07-11-2006, 02:26 PM

Step 141: The last eye brow hair has now become the leaf vein.

Step 142: I am lightly sanding the roll over areas of the v-goue. Not enough to lose the chisel planes in the leaf section but just enough to dress out the trench. I can and will use a variety of tools for this including my small riffler, sand paper that can be folded and pushed into the trench and foam core finger nail files. Finger nail files are great for relief carving because they are stiff, fine grit and can easily be cut to fit tight areas.