Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

[jartzh]

Re: Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

love to see that anaconda. scales are the worst thing to carve. There are just too many unless its a short fat snake.

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Re: Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

Greg , it is an absolute beautiful piece, and I thank you for posting how you did it. I may not go out and try it on a flute, but it gives me ideas for other things. Thank you. fred k

[pararaptor]

Re: Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

Thanks again for the kind words.
Now....here's a few pics of the anaconda (I haven't made the block for it yet).
I've begun work on a similar sized flute, 1 1/2" bore G#, and carving a Burmese Python. It's a little more challenging than the anaconda so far; the scales are smaller and the paint job more complex.
Thanks again.
Greg

[pararaptor]

Re: Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

Burmese python is finished carving, textured, and painted. I need to make a sound bock for this one too.
For the python's coloration, I use a little brighter colors than I wanted to, but then used a stippling nozzle on the airbrush, with the snake at arm's length and painted it with a fine film of charcoal color to darken and blend to make the snake have that dirty colored sorta look.
I'll take some pictures of it dry, and then dip it in salad bowl finish a few times so you can see what an impact a finish has on the paint.
The finish will make the colors of the snake 'pop' right through the charcoal film.
Gimme a day or two and I'll post these pictures.
It just serves to illustrate that the colors become different than what you might expect when you put a finish on it. So aside from the planning of the color scheme, you also have to anticipate what effect the finish will have on the colors.
Greg

[pararaptor]

Re: Doin' a Mermaid Kinda Thing part 2

I attached some pictures of the python.
The pics taken outside don't have finish; the ones taken inside, do.

I thought heading into this project, carving both an anaconda and a python, that it would be essentially carving the same thing twice, and painting them differently. Boy was I wrong.
Hundreds of pictures on Google search showed me the head shapes were different, and so were the size and shape of the scales.

Both these snakes sold today, so I'm gonna plunge headlong into carving a buffalo flute. I haven't carved a buffalo yet, but neither have I carved a snake before this, so maybe it'll work out. I'm feelin' kinda lucky!
Greg