Post #414450 by hodadhank on Mon, Oct 20, 2008 1:22 PM

So, I couldn't go to Bills to carve, and missed out on Kate Cakes and Meiksubi... but the day wasn't a total downer.

I had a wonderful visit from former neighbor Mandy who's daddy lay the carpet for the original Freak Factory over a decade years ago. In fact Mandy was no longer than my forearm and lay sleeping ina a blanket on the giant roll of carpet.

As it happens, Mandy has Show and Tell in fifth grade Monday and is learning about native cultures so "WE" decided she should carve a Rated-G Tangaroa quick.

Mandy has never carved before, but this is pretty much my own process for any carving whatever scale. Hope this is helpful or at the very least interesting.

Mandy used both chisel and draw blade to husk this ficus branch...

After sawing this in half we examined the proportions of other tikis in the shop. Mandy noticed that with few exceptions, about half the total tiki height was a massive head and the lower half divided between torso and legs. I explain that at this point I usually try not to think of the tiki as anything beyond merely a collection of positive and negative geometric shapes.

After mapping out the surface our tangaroa with a pink crayon I had Mandy defines with the head/torso divisions using gradually wider V chisels, soften the edges with straight and curved chisels and sand away any "poopies".

I didn't realise Mandy was holding it backwards till just now but shoulders and hands have already been roughed out on the other side. Detailing after lunch. It was 1:15 and I told her to met me back at the Boutiki at 2:00.
She says " how about 1:45?"...LOL Kids!

After torch work and some hook knife cleanup then more light sanding from Mandy, uses acrylic to darken the deepest relief areas. I would usually use stain but Mandy's gotta go before six!

A final application of Hodaddy's Patented Organic Tiki Rub and this curious little castrato Tang's ready to Show and Tell.