Unusual Portrait

[Dileon]

looks great so far....just pondering a creative thought the background would look awesome with an inlay of the same wood you used for the face.

[Glenn Jennings]

Looking great so far Pallin.

[pallin]

A good friend surprised me recently with this oil painting of me, from a casual photo taken in their backyard. Maybe it could be the subject of the next "unusual portrait."

Self.jpg

[pallin]

Here is the current status of the carving. As I cut grooves into various areas, I find that those areas may need to be reshaped, as in deeper, rounded, tilted, flat. It's getting me going. . . I think the background will be just shallow gouge scoops.

P7.jpg

[Ferry80]

I like where this is going. It is interesting to look at.

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Pallin,
I see what you mean with regard to the shape of the piece the greater depth is bringing it to life nicely. I think the textured background of small scallop cuts with have the added effect of putting the point of focus on the head and will prevent the eye pulling away to try to make out the grain in the background wood. The random textured background will I think reaaly add the wow factor to the centrepiece. Just my 2 cents worth hehe.

He is going to look very special . But then your work always does !!

[pallin]

Continuing with the "groovy" details, but not trying to match the original woodcut exactly.

P8a.jpg b.jpg

[Merle Rice]

Hi Phil , That Painting of you sure looks like the Guy you are doing now . Don't need to be Exactly as the Original , always good to add your Personal Touch . Merle

[pallin]

If you go back to the beginning of this thread you'll see that the original background was some squiggly lines or ribbons. I felt that was too busy, but I couldn't think of a good replacement. Now I've started a gouge texture (photo) that will fill most of the space outside the head, but only up to the scribed line. The scoops will diminish in size to that artificial horizon. The sky above that will be plain (walnut). What do you think? It can still be carved off.

P8a.jpg

[Brian T]

I like the design of a horizon beyond the head.
The texture: horizontal rows, vertical rows. point of extinction or random?
I like the design to make them smaller as you approach the horizon.

[joepaulbutler]

What woos? Something that will hold detail, and carver easily. This going to be quite a project, Phil! For a finish, I would give it a couple of coats of sanding sealer, then color the carved out areas with your preference, epoxy pour, after it has dry well, a light sanding, then seal with Feed-N-Wax

[pallin]

What woods? Something that will hold detail, and carves easily. This going to be quite a project, Phil! For a finish, I would give it a couple of coats of sanding sealer, then color the carved out areas with your preference, epoxy pour, after it has dry well, a light sanding, then seal with Feed-N-Wax

This is old, dry black walnut with a basswood overlay. Since the walnut is open grain, I will need to fill the grain before final finish. The upper flat part may need to be scraped to bare wood so the final appearance matches. After sealing the basswood, I may wipe gel stain into some of the grooves for emphasis. The final coat for the entire carving will be a water-based polyacrylic.

[joepaulbutler]

Somewhere along with this post, I dropped out. I still had the project just starting on one piece of wood∙∙∙∙∙Da

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Pallin
I think that is going to work nicely for the piece. I think I would go quite small with the scallops around the front of the face and not too deep so the face catches the eye and remains the focal point. not the background.

Would suggest giving the scalloped area you have done so far a wipe with a wet rag to bring the wood grain and pattern up like it would look with a finish on it. In the photo the scoops look a bit flat and lacking in colour and the finish is going to change that dramatically so damping it down to bring out the effect and colour of the work would give you an idea of how it will look so you can make up your mind if you like the effect. Just a thought.

Like how the head cas come to life !!!

[sappy]

Personally, I don't think the scale look goes with the face. The face is flowing, the scales are too structured. But that is just me.