Post #252561 by Tamapoutini on Tue, Sep 5, 2006 10:31 PM

On with the show...

Benz, those edge/centrelines are a MUST for me! Working on such a thin scale, shaping is very important & I really need to know where curves begin and end.

At this stage I draw them on the internal edges also.

The entire form now gets a rough (relativly speaking!) shaping with med/large bullet-type burrs... Detail is lost and redrawn many times, dont know why I bother sometimes, but like to keep the 'vision' there for my mind to ponder... Often deliberate changes are made each time I redraw.

After the rough going-over I do it all over again, concentrating on smoothing out the shape (not easy when youre underwater!!)

This pic shows the newly smoothed shape with details redrawn... A tiki-wahine (no offence tikiwahine!)
This is what the piece actually looks like fully 'frosted-up' (dry).

But with a quick squirt of CRC/WD-40, the dryness temporarily disappears giving a better idea of how sanded stone will look... Ive gotta go back & do something with that head, the skullcap look just aint in this year, Oy. (again, no offence intended to anyone, just a sick sence of humour)

At the end of another days work, some of the detail has been added; fingers (all 6), some facial detail & wahine bit :)
Some carvers use small core-drills (shown) to router out those eye-sockets, but I prefer to go the slow route & go round & round with small 'ball' burrs (also shown) Just gives a more organic result than using cores, which I find a bit dead-looking, especially when there are to be no inlays in eyes. This staunch lady will have paua added as a final detail (I just love 'opening' their eyes at the end!!!)

Gotta go, dinners on the table! God bless her!

Tama the terrible :)