Old Squaw pair

Keith Mueller

Keith Mueller

Active member
I just finished this pair of smoothie old squaw (sorry, I can't warm up to long tailed duck) and delivered them today to my customer.

Here is a simple tutorial showing the steps I use to make this style of decoy. If you have any questions please feel free!!

The birds were carved from tupelo and the tail inserts were carved from "bulletwood" (aka sapodilla) -(species-Manilkara bidentata) which is a very strong wood that I collect in Costa Rica. My friends in Costa Rica call it "bulletwood" because if you shoot the tree, the bullet will not penetrate much deeper than the bark.....it is also called "chain saw killer" for obvious reasons. The long spapular inserts of the drake are carved and inserted from English holly.....very strong and durable.

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sanded and ready for primer........

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the birds have been primed with white Japan oils....

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The birds are carved very hollow and light.....the bottom insert wood is African walnut and the keels are carved from African Padauk. The red color of the padauk is a perfect compliment to the chestnut color of the secondaries of the birds. The carved keels with the open back design were carved to compliment the dynamic of the upswept tail of the drake.


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The initial Grisaille steps completed, a simple color plumage plan is mapped out in Japan oil.....

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The painting begins. This are the steps that I use to block in the colors of the plumage by simple blending techniques to pattern the feathers and the feather coloration. This is only a step to develop the feathering....the details will be painted later. I begin by creating the feather groups and individual feathers of the wings and scapulars of the hen.....and the wings of the drake......

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The painting progress' to the dorsum and tail of the hen, and the dorsum, mantle, chest and head of the drake....

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then I painted the side pockets and the chest of the hen.....

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After the hens head and the scapulars of the drake have been painted, I began to detail the feathers of both the drake and hen.....

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the completed feather details.....

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The bills of both birds and the chest of the hen are painted, and set aside for a week to dry completely......

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Very impressive.

Whenever I start to carve something that is about what I picture in my head, but it never turns out anything close.

Thanks for the photos.
 
Fantastic Keith!..... Just when I think I have a few things figured out, you raise the bar. The range of color in that hen is amazing. And knowing you, I also know how much fun you had painting them.You and Jen have a safe trip. Talk with you later.
 
Keith,
Amazing work and I love the fact that you are willing to share it step by step. I read the post but I certainly have not digested it. I plan to try to though as I think there are lots of hidden gems in it I wont see the first few times around. Thank taking the time to contribute this.
 
Keith,
There must be others here that are like me, we struggle to bring our patterns, edges, blended areas all together and wonder if it can even be accomplished to the level we'd like to see. We know it can and then someone with your talent and skills joins in and proves it in fact can be done. And you make it look so simple, even knowing you have so many years of training and practice to get to your level. The fantastic part is how willing you are to share. Thank you for sharing and the demo's.
 
Keith ; very nicely done ,I have two drakes and a hen mounted on a branch in flight hanging on my wall pretty nice birds.by the way osage -orange wood is also a chain saw killer.
 
Thank you Tony and Andrew.....having the vision is more important than the result....I am sure all of us who carve here expreience the same thing....the finished bird will usually be different that what we had envisioned in the first place; somtimes with better results, but often not! Thats what makes this artform so interesting......without the vision, you can't be creative.
 
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