February Workbench..............

Pat, Neat Speck, we only get a few lost migrants here every few years.


One thing we get a ton of is Snows and a small proportion of them are prime adult Blues. I have been seeing some nice ones on the farms around the house so I figured to make a few.




 
I like it, nice clean lines and paint scheme of what I think of as a gunner broadbill. Very nice..
 



While I am painting for the show I finished some gunners I had on the shelf. This high head Broadbill came out okay.
 
Jode,
Would love to talk about how you got those colors so right. That is a very cool bird.

Joe,
I really like that hen good lines and cool paint.
 
John/Jode - Thank you for the kind words. Love the blues...
John - It does have a wash on it. Mutes the colors down to a more natural look... Pat
 
Thanks Larry!
Thanks Brandon , you have my number still , give me a ring anytime. Besides the bill , It's only 3 colors on the bird.... Mars black, cobalt blue and titanium white. Just all different proportions. ( plus a slight warming of the head white) Blue Geese are highly variable so I pick a general mid tone I like and went from there.
 
Good morning, Jode~

It was 14 below over the weekend - a good time to stoke the stove and make some woodchips and sawdust. Three warm bodies and single-glazed sashes made for a heavy coat of frost inside.

Pintail%20Minus%2014d_zpshihjdlqs.jpg



I was teaching a couple from Connecticut to carve and paint a pair of Snipe. I had never carved this species before so I drew up some fresh patterns. It had been decades since I last held a Snipe - but Dave Speer helped me out with the size.

Snipe%20H%20-%201_zpsvyoxcgzr.jpg



Snipe%20H%20-%202_zps6ydcn2yv.jpg


In the interest of time, we used acrylics to paint them. Rick and Sabrina headed back to the Nutmeg State with their next carving projects dancing in their heads......and I am thinking of carving a Snipe or 2 myself.....



Snipe%20Pair_zpsb0rvsob9.jpg


All the best,

SJS
 
Good morning, Jode~

It was 14 below over the weekend - a good time to stoke the stove and make some woodchips and sawdust. Three warm bodies and single-glazed sashes made for a heavy coat of frost inside.

Pintail%20Minus%2014d_zpshihjdlqs.jpg



I was teaching a couple from Connecticut to carve and paint a pair of Snipe. I had never carved this species before so I drew up some fresh patterns. It had been decades since I last held a Snipe - but Dave Speer helped me out with the size.

Snipe%20H%20-%201_zpsvyoxcgzr.jpg



Snipe%20H%20-%202_zps6ydcn2yv.jpg


In the interest of time, we used acrylics to paint them. Rick and Sabrina headed back to the Nutmeg State with their next carving projects dancing in their heads......and I am thinking of carving a Snipe or 2 myself.....



Snipe%20Pair_zpsb0rvsob9.jpg


All the best,

SJS



Outstanding!
 

Steve, we went snipe hunting this weekend to close out the Texas season. I took 4 snipe decoys and there were so many birds, we could have decoyed them. However I wasn't expecting to limit quite so fast Sunday and I had walked way back into a new spot on the wetland and figured I'd finish up my last couple birds over decoys on what had been the honey hole the day earlier. I left my decoys back at the truck. When I had 7 snipe and was faced with the choice of walking 1/2 hr back to the truck to get the decoys, move the truck and walk across some more mud to set up, I opted for "a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush" and shot my final bird to fill my limit.

Oh well, there is always next year.

I really like the plumage on the left bird, it says SNIPE! And the base, is that Rustoleum "weathered grey" stain I detect? If not, it looks awfully similar. Not very grey at all, way more blue, but a cool color.
 
Good morning, Dave~

Sounds like a fine day afield for you. Is it common to hunt Snipe over decoys - or is that a Speer Specialty?

The color on the base is one I have used for several years - on my photo background and other display features, on the bottoms of my decoys - but originally on the doors of our camp. I just stumbled across it while perusing the Valspar color chips at a Lowe's. It was the blueish-greenish grey I was searching for - and when I saw it was named WETLANDS I just had to use it.

All the best,

SJS
 
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