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Here is my first detailed carved head. He looks a little mad at me for the way he looks. I can't really blame him. I did learn a lot of things from creating him, but like my last carving, too late for this guy to benefit. He started out as a caricature and wound up with no humor, and no character whatsoever, nor is he doing anything interesting aside from racking down on my work. Too bad, he will just have to live with it!

I am just starting to learn some anatomy. My son sent me some drawing tutorial books on the net and I have been trying to learn a little so as not to embarrass myself again. I thought it would be nice to have this carving in my gallery so I can keep track of my progress.

During the summer I have to sit on the terrace out in the garden with my wife to get some sun. I do get pretty bored just sitting there getting cooked and twiddling my thumbs, so the thought is that I might just as well enjoy myself while I'm at it by doing a little carving.

Thanks for a having a look and I hope a laugh too!

Gallery

Comments

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Great post Mike, yea, I got a laugh out of it. Carving faces is not as easy as anyone would think. I've learned that the eyes are the most difficult and the sockets need to go pretty deep. Looks like the guy still has plenty of room for improvement.
 

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I think if you put a beard on him be could pass as your twin. Only he has more hair. Nice work. Sounds like a good idea to relax in the sun enjoying what you do best.
Just curious as to how many hours would be involved in something like this.
 

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Great starting point Mike, I think faces would be very hard to get right you have built some real character into this old guy, well done keep em coming
cheers
Pete
 

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great work there mike
your learning curve is amazing

i can understand his reluctance to having someone
carving his face with a knife
it's not the same as shaving i bet
 

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Mike, I think it is a pretty nice carving. I agree with double DD if you look at your posted head shot and the carving he looks a bit like you! Some inner deep meaning or just a coincidence? Perhaps DocSvaga/Thomas can offer a professional opinion.

I think the face has lots of character and expression.
 

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Try paper mache or clay or other low cost sculpture techniques to get a fast feel for what you want to carve.
 

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Mike, You're so modest. I think it's pretty remarkable. I couldn't even imagine how to begin.
 

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Well done!He's looking more and more handsome by the morphined minute LOL .Alistair
 

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I find it exceptional that you in so,n short time already make this kind of carving. Well done.
 

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I thought right off that he reminded me of Richard Nixon in a way but no matter you did a fine job on this guy .
Sounds like you have found something that you enjoy a lot and I am sure it will lead to more good carvings .

Stay well and have lot's of fun .

Klaus
 

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i applaud your efforts here mike, i think you did a great job , you're teaching yourself and doing a great job, i think by the time summer ends again, you will have advanced to a good level…thanks for sharing this with us…
 

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NO FAIR !!! How many skills can one guy master. :(
 

· In Loving Memory
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Thanks for your comments guys. No, it's not me, I'm a lot better looking (in spite of what my wife thinks). I hope the next one will be a lot better and perhaps even amusing. Carving like this is very therapeutical. Somewhat like basket weaving, but more fun because you get to cut yourself with some really sharp knives.

I bought a carving glove for my left hand and then I cut myself (superficially) 3 times on my right thumb. That was done with my new sløyd knife, not while actually making a cut, but by being a little careless. I have to get used to that longer blade compared with my chip carving knife which I use the most. I actually bought 2 carving gloves. 3 fingers and the thumb will be cut off the right hand glove to make thumb protectors as soon as my wife gets around to stitching where they will be cut off. these gloves are are rubberized on the palm side. I hope she gets them done before I run out of bandaids.

The jury is still out on the painting. I have a lot to learn there too. I can't help feeling the pain of coloring wood, but these figures do look better when they are painted properly. I'm not there yet, so just don't hold your breath while waiting to see it done better!

Jim Yes, I thought I had the eyes far enough back while carving, but it is obvious that they are not nearly sunken in as much as they should be. He looks quite bug eyed. His proportions are also way out of whack even though I did try to it right. Now that I'm armed with the drawing books I hope the next figure will be more anatomically correct. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Dave Quite a few hours, 6 to 8 by my reckoning. I really don't keep track, as I just do it whenever I have a little spare time to get out to the shop. We've been busy this week with home improvement stuff and other shopping (post Christmas sales).

Alistair I can understand where morphine would definitely make this one look better. Shall I give it to the carving or take it myself?

John Just change the word 'master' to 'mangle' for a better description of my woodworking exploits!
 

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This is awesome Mike! I'd hang that in your shop by a window. He can keep watch. He does look like you, ya know
 

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Great carving Mike. Like Klaus says it reminds me of Richard Nixon a little. And if you do keep him in the shop you better give him a pair of safety glasses!
 

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I think I know this guy Mike. His name is Big Tony and he does collections for a family business near here.

It will be fun to have him around in the future to remind you how far you've come. I have my baseline marquetry on my chevy to remind me and I look at it frequently and smile.
 

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Exactly why I started carving. Keep it up. Lookin' good.
 

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Looking good Mike. You are well on the way to master carver ;-)
 

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Thanks for those way to kind comments guys. Like my cowboy It sure does not deserve to be in the daily top 3 or anywhere near it, but I am real glad to hear from you all anyway. I have a lot of other things on my to do list, and instead I'm just playing around with this carving thing. My shop loft is waiting for organizing so I can build my spray booth up there. After that I am want to do some more marquetry work. I realize now that my self-discipline is seriously on the decline and not much is getting done.

Roger The secret is that all us old guys with gray hair look alike, (except for you with that really long beard).

Tony Coincidentally I have downloaded a great caricature of Nixon and I have thought about carving it in the near future.

When I look at my carvings to date I'm more likely to cry than smile, but if I improve then maybe the smile will come back.

Hunter* I have somehow missed your carving posts. I see you have done quite a few nice carvings last year. I put you on my buddy list so I won't miss anymore.
 

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Excellent carving. He is a little bit angry, doesn't he?
 
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