Owls, Gnomes, and Indian carvings

[woodburner807]

Nice looking Santas and am partial of the fellow on the left, Herb.

[woodburner807]

Well, Claude looks like my square is very similar to yours. Handy tool.

[woodburner807]

Saw that video and like your adaptation for the season...

[woodburner807]

Nice work there, Rontana. Canes and walking sticks are fun to do, especially if you can find a piece that has an integral head to carve as you did. I used to do it that way but just haven't searched for them. BTW, I use the same/similar leather lace as you have. Suggestion: Wrap the grips larger so...

[woodburner807]

I carve smaller figures and just use a compass like divider...

[woodburner807]

I know this lady and she is top in the craft of pyrography. When I started my "Applied Pygrography" newsletter she had some articles and got to know here via that. Anyway, check her work out: https://danettesmithpyro.weebly.com/

[woodburner807]

Wow, nifty carvings there, Shawna. I'm in the process of carving some similar to Doug's, but yours has a distinct personal accent. Well done!

[woodburner807]

I made six of them until I got on the owl kick...so many things to carve though, and limited time. Civil War soldier sounds interesting and would like to see it. Simple, or detailed? I'm interested in that part of our history and haven't done any yet. Now on scare crows.

[woodburner807]

Thanks, Mike and that is the one I saw... a big help.

[woodburner807]

Rick, some people can "wing" it but I need to make measurements. Just the type of person I am and without numbers, I'm lost. I use a square, centering ruler, compass and a template....

[woodburner807]

Certainly a lot better than my first butchering, Denny. Nice job. I learned to use a graphics program with filters, like Photoshop/GIMP and make a stylized or sketch version there, and then trace it on the wood. It just clicked and worked for me. You'll probably develop your own technique.
...

[woodburner807]

Is that the one Scott has done? Is there a link?

[woodburner807]

This recent butternut is great to work with, but I bought some a few years ago that was "stringy" to carve. However, you are right about availability. I did hear Doug Linker once say it is now illegal in Canada (or Ontario) because of some disease wiping it out. ...

[woodburner807]

I'm partial to the owls also and the one with two different eyes is in fact the same as what you see. Light reflection made it look different. When I painted them my wife wanted to know how I made the eyes look with so much depth...all I can figure is I used undiluted black paint applied very thick....

[woodburner807]

A, C would be my choice, but may not necessarily be the best one...others input?

[woodburner807]

Welcome Nigel and this is a great forum for learning all styles of carving...What type of carving do you like?

[woodburner807]

Nice carving and looks fine. The recent picture I posted had some of those and they were a lot of fun...based on Doug's tutorial.

Now make a dozen more.

[woodburner807]

I usually ruin a few prototypes when I start out and expect that, Mike. I just learn better that way. All are painted differently and the butternut just has the eyes, beak, and feet painted. I like the bare wood. Some of the basswood pieces have the bodies and heads natural, also.

The...

[woodburner807]

I've attached a picture showing a sample of owls, Indians in a blanket, and gnomes I have done. The dark "grainy" owls are from butternut (favorite carving wood) and the rest basswood. The top shelf owl that has two different colored eyes is a result of some reflection anomaly.

...

[woodburner807]

Your paranoia might just exceed mine. Is it sapwood or heartwood...any idea, Chuck?...