Post #496383 by pdrake on Sun, Nov 29, 2009 9:38 PM

thanks, mike, i always appreciate your input. you have a keen eye.

tom, that's pretty high praise coming from a master like yourself. thanks.

tikimango, thanks, i hope you'll stay tuned for future stuff.

the wax is both easy and hard to carve. sometimes it's even harder to work with than bone. it's quite brittle. you can make the perfect cut/shape and it will break off whereas bone won't. i'm going to do a bone piece this week just because i miss the medium. (plus, it may show people that i can actually carve. i can never decide where to post stuff. carving or other crafts? i carve wax and cast metal. hummm . . . )

this piece was fun. i did it in pretty much one marathon carving session. i tried to sculpt it in clay first, but the mold failed and i said, "screw it, i'll just carve the wax". i know it's not as smooth and perfect as a machined piece, but i think it adds character. metal is interesting to work with. i know i can leave a few sharp edges to add detail and they'll work out during the finishing/buffing stage. that's an important thing to keep in mind. if you make it too smooth and perfect it may lose detail. well, in my work at least. wish i'd learned about this art about 20 years ago. now i have to learn a lot of stuff and it makes my brain hurt.

mahalo!