What's on your Work Bench ? FEBRUARY 2018

George makes a good point. I never see hen ringnecks and hen redheads painted alike, but they are nearly indistinguishable in-hand.
 
Patrick, looks like you are getting some good advice and looks like you're coming along nicely with your duck head. If this was mentioned before then forgive me for being redundant, but I didn't see this posted. If you can't save or don't have a frozen specimen, google images and pinterest and any other site that has lots of pictures to look at will be your cheap and easy new best friend. You can find pretty much every angle you would ever want on any pose you would ever want on pretty much everything you might want to carve. I can tell you that it is so much easier for me to carve something with pictures, or even better a 3D version....dead specimen, another carving, statue, etc...to reference. You might check to see if there is a carver whose work you like nearby that wouldn't mind mentoring you, or see if there is a carving club where you live...one really cool thing about carving clubs is that generally the areas of interest...bird carving, carving walking sticks, chip carving and lots of other carvings...are wide and so you can be introduced to lots of different methods and tools of carving that you can use to learn how you like to carve the most. But if you want to go it alone, no problems with that just remember that the internet is your friend and you can use it for reference material. Good luck and post up more of your progress.

Dani
 
Well I went back to my carving class tonight for the first time since early December. I did some work on a frog that I rediscovered a few months back. This little feller was a project I started back when I lived in Jacksonville for the carving clubs' yearly frog contest. I'd say this feller is at least 6 years old. I have made some decent progress on him since I rediscovered him and I am pleased so far

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Good morning, Dani & Patrick~

Another readily-available 3D reference source nowadays is a modern plastic decoy. So many are manufactured from masters that are carved by World-class carvers. Such decoys provide lots of useful (and accurate) visual info.

All the best,

SJS

 
That's true Steve. I hadn't thought about that, but makes sense. The folk at my carving club uses plastic kids toys of animals as references too...the kind you can often find at hobby stores.
 
Hey, before you paint tht stool, PRIME, either with GAC700, Jansen's cork sealer, or another
. If you do not do this, problems will occur, like the deke will begin absorbing water. Cork-at least all of the newer tan variety-contains small voids, which tend to wick water
. The result is a very heavy decoy, since the water has filled the voids. REMEMBER!!! SEAL BEFORE PAINTING![mad]
If the bird will never see water, no worries.[;)]
 
george w said:
Hey, before you paint tht stool, PRIME, either with GAC700, Jansen's cork sealer, or another
. If you do not do this, problems will occur, like the deke will begin absorbing water. Cork-at least all of the newer tan variety-contains small voids, which tend to wick water
. The result is a very heavy decoy, since the water has filled the voids. REMEMBER!!! SEAL BEFORE PAINTING![mad]
If the bird will never see water, no worries.[;)]
Click to expand...
George
What paint can you use over the sealer? Oil or latex?
Thanks
Pat
 
patrick, your doing good, keep chippin away.

I have a feeling you might have a time getting that bird to float well though. You got a lot of weight up top, especially towards the tail and much less material at water level. Gonna take a heck of a keel.

I'd start using some proven and established patterns and as your skill grows start adjusting those patterns into your own style. Goal is to get a nice simple gunning bird figured out first.
 
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