This little guy reminds me of my Navy years, huddled against the cold wind with a turned up collar and pea jacket. He is carved in Basswood (your Lime wood) and stands only 6 " tall ( 29cm. ), and is painted with acrylics. This is one of a series of carvings of seamen and sea related figures that I have done lately, as good practice.
Bob
Welcome aboard from a fellow newcomer. Greetings from Eastern Canada.
Bob
How about burning the background, with a woodburning tool? I have used that technique on celtic crosses and it works well.
Bob
Greetings Berkow. Thank you for attaching that video, it is a very useful tool in improving my skills. I did notice that at min 9:35 he skips over some very important details, it is too bad, those details could be very useful. Otherwise, it is a very useful video and I have watched it several times to get the idea.
Bob
As specified, I painted the carving after sanding it thoroughly. I am quite happy with the results. In one photograph I compare it to a picture taken of the original off the internet. I changed my base to sand instead of planks, just was more to my liking.
Well today I finished the detail on the figure. I appreciate your advice and constructive critique, I continue to strive to do better. The piece is finished, sanded and a water based varnish applied, to raise the grain. Tomorrow I will re-sand and then paint the figure.
Jakob, Butternut is a beautiful wood to carve. It is soft for a hardwood, about on par with Basswood/Linden or White Pine. It can splinter easily, so care must be taken while carving detail, sanding can be difficult in that you must sand with the grain to get best results. I very much like the colour and character of the wood once oiled or varnished. I enjoy Butternut for carving busts, faces of people, especially Native American or Indian faces as the colour is perfect for them.
Beautiful job Jakob, a nice addition to your front yard. That should keep the unwanted visitors away.
Bob
Hello Berkow, I also am a retiree, have been retired for over a year, but was disabled in an automobile accident 19 years before that, so I had plenty of time to find ways to pass the time and prepare for retirement. I have carved since I was young, so it was natural for me to turn to carving to pass my time and carving also is excellent therapy for me. I am also carving a person at present, a sailor leaning against a jetty pier support. The wood I am using is Butternut wood, also called Light Walnut, a species native to our province. I am far from finished this piece, so have lots of detail yet to carve. It is nice to get to talk to fellow carvers around the world. Greetings from Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada to my Berlin friend.
PS: I also have a good band saw, a Laguna 14", with a one and a half horsepower motor, and I find that a band saw is essential for a carver. This saw can cut a block 8.5 inches/42cm.
Well done. The hiker looks natural and the walking stance is perfect. I look forward to seeing the finished detail.
Bob
Jakob, your dragon is progressing very well. I agree that the head should emerge directly from the ground and that section behind the head be removed. You have captured the essence of the Lindworm, emerging from his lair underground, to terrorize the community. You should recieve many comments from people passing by as to the excellence of this project.
Well done.
Bob
I agree with Zillertal and James, some good warm or hot water and dish detergent will remove most and a scrub brush or a toothbruch will remove the remainder. Once dry, apply an oil finish to restore moisture and protection to the wood.
Thank you Jakob for the welcome. I was fortunate not to have been involved in combat during my time in service. The closest was to chase Soviet submarines in our waters, Gulf of St. Lawrence, during the Cold War. Exciting but not dangerous.
We to have our issues with crime and immigrants, but such is every Western country now a day. No system is perfect, but we do what we can to help and try and pick out those who would do harm. I would rather stick to carving than think of all the problems surrounding us in this world. My service in the penitentiary service is not something I like to remember with fondness, it was a bad time in our prison system, with much violence and many hostage takings. A very difficult place to work. I have earned every grey hair that I have.
Bob
Hello fellow wood carvers,
My Name is Robert Squarebriggs, I live in Miramichi, New Brunswick, in Canada. I am 66 years old and have been carving wood most of my life. I am not a professional, I am a person who has a great passion for carving and expressing myself through my efforts. Upon completion of school I joined our armed forces navy for four years, as a seaman sonar operator. Having been born on Prince Edward Island on Canada's East coast my love for the sea is great. I have a passion for sailing ships and the sea. I began building ship models, while at sea, and continued after I left the navy for life ashore. I went to work in a maximum security penitentiary as a correctional officer for the next six years. I departed that job and went into industrial security first in the mining industry and later in the pulp and paper industry. I succeeded to the position of security director after a few years and conducted operations for a paper making company of 2500 employees, and assisted in the human resources department in various capacities: safety, teaching, recruiting, interviewing, and union relations.
My carving continued along as my life progressed, first as a model ship builder, always from scratch, built from draughts of original historic vessels. My ancestors were all sailors and ship builders, so I suppose it was natural for me to have this passion for ships. I began carving other styles and subjects to help me improve my skills as a ship modeller and found that I very much enjoyed carving a wide variety of subjects. I always wanted to insure that I could pass on my skills to the next generation, so I took on an apprentice a few years ago. I am teaching my second apperntice currently and enjoy the teaching aspect very much. I have been fortunate to have been recognized by our local community and my work has been recognized in several local and provincial newspaper articles, followed by several national and international magazine articles. My other hobby is reading and I have accumilated a nice collection of works of fiction and a sizable research collection of books and other information on sailing ships, their design and their construction. I often am requested to lecture in the local community on the subject. This region has had a long history of ship building in the age of sail, including a shipyard operated by the Cunard family.
My working career was ended abruptly due to an automobile accident in 1998 in which I sustained a traumatic brain injury and damage to the spine. I had to relearn many of my skills, including speech and mobility, and I have physical and cognitive limitations, but make the best of what I have. I enjoy talking with people and am an avid outdoorsman and use to hunt regurlarly. Now I enjoy my time at home with my wife of 45 years, two grown daughters and five wonderful grandchildren. My best companion is my Siberian Husky dog.
I look forward to sharing and exchanging information on carving with your group and am happy to answer any questions that you may have about my efforts. While I am not a professional carver, I do sell many of my works, to clients in this country and the United States.
Thank you for explaining this, I found it very helpful.
Regards,
Bob
