Fruit, Flowers & Leaves

[Rezbar]

I did this relief in a dark African wood named 'okoumé'. Herewith, I post six subsequent phases of my work. At the end, I wasn't sure whether I should paint it or leave it plain wood. I painted, but the result looks not so good. I would welcome your opinions and views.

[DiLeon]

Next work.....I would sand down the finish work. Coat it with gloss lacquer, and lightly stain creases with a darker color.

[Brian T]

Do another. Your oranges are excellent, very good paint.
Then add only orange leaves and only orange flowers (white, 5 petals like a star).

[Tinwood]

Nice work. I think leaving it natural and putting some type of finish on it would have made the overall carving very dark and definition of the figures would be hard to determine. Painting or some form of highlighting the individual figures is the way to go in this case. I like the comments that Di and RV made. I think those are good options for this piece. Just my nickels worth.

Tinwood

[Arthur C.]

Well, in my opinion, the wood is too dark to leave natural...the details would be lost. On the other hand, I'm of the school that thinks using opaque, bright-colored paint on a good carving can "plastizice" it's look. A compromise that I've used, to my mind to good effect, is to use an off white chalk paint on parts of a carving, leaving background/other parts stained (or in your case of a dark wood) or natural.

[pallin]

I agree with Arthur. Carvings with a lot of detail should be done in light colored wood or painted. Carvings to emphasize the grain figure should be simple, stylized. As a non-carving example, these kayaks are made of 4mm Okoume plywood and are finished natural, unstained to show the grain figure.

kayaks.jpg

[Richard Yates]

Hi Rezbar. I have to agree with everyone on the use of dark wood or putting dark stain on a piece when it’s finished. It will definately rob you of the shadows in your detail of the carving. You always want to get that contrast of lighter coloured wood or finish to allow those shadows to do their work and make your carving pop!