What I did on my summer vacation....P*I*S*C*O joins the family!

Well, we had hoped to make it to Exotica in Chicago but it wasn't possible this year so I got the chisels sharpened and went back outside to tackle a 5 foot Sycamore log that followed me home. I just kept at it for a few hours each day until it finally said "I'm done".
Hope you like the pics. Thanks for looking, 8FT

Started at the top.

Gave him a face.

I was outside so much that the neighbors thought I got fired from my job!

When I first started debarking this log my daughter said "Are you looking for the inner tiki"?

When I finished carving and sanding I wanted to paint it to look like the bottle.

I had a tough time finding the color I wanted but finally I did.

Close up of head.

Close up of bird man symbol on chest.

And here is the finished carving with his little brother, an actual bottle of Pisco Capel which measures 13 1/2" tall.

I liked working this kind of wood and am glad I have an even bigger one waiting its turn.

CHEERS!!!!!!

I once was lost.......

.....but now I'm found.

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki 2005-07-12 21:12 ]

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki 2005-07-12 21:14 ]

absolutely wonderful 8 Foot Tiki....I think this is one
of the finer posts in recent memory....great color...
I want it!

We all must pursue our own "inner tiki". :)

Great Moai!

hey that's wondeful!
great carving!

-Tw

Man is that a great Moai. I started making them and now I can't stop. I know exactly what it feels like for the people of old Rapa Nui.

love the bold colors, bottle or not. Theres just something about a green Moai with a black top-knot. You nailed it.
You need to post a pic of the carving in the moai post flouder started.

Thats just awesome 8 FT! Why don't you just ship it to me to take care of for ya?!

That is super cool . The color is amazing.

Mahalo for sharing.

ah, moai, my favorite! love his color ~

is he an indoor or an outdoor tiki?

That's freaking amazing 8 Ft. Everything looks great about that tiki - the carving, the paint, and the finish. So, I take it Sycamore is good carving? I remember you asking about that way back. Sweet job!

Aaron

great work. great carving.

Wow. I'm stunned. Fantastic job, 8-foot. That's one of the most appealing tikis I've seen this year.

Sabu

Holy smokes!!!!! Jeez, that one turned out nice. REALLY nice! Keeping it or selling it ?

8Ft, this is one High class looking Tiki. Very nice job sanding and finishing. The colors are Amazingjust look So Warm amd inviting. Very powerful piece of tiki art. Thanks for sharing.
HappyHappyhappy

Well,that is just unbelievable!A most welcome addition to your family.

It's looks so smooth and rubbable. I bet all your guests like to touch it.

I my self like natural wood grain.
The colors you chose look perfect though. it gives it a more modern feel. And I like the black top.

The top down style is different.
The other log looks quite imposing I can't wait to see it finished.

How many hours did it take?

Awesome tiki dude. The colors really suit the design and execution of it. The cuts are so clean and tasty :)

That is a great looking tiki and using my very favorite colors. It's finished up so completely clean.

Aside from the few cracks, It doesn't even look like it was made of wood. Was that intentional? I'm sincerely curious as I have some projects in mind that don't involve wood.

Can't wait to see how the next tiki emerges from the other piece of wood.

LOVE that piece. That next one is going to be FAT! It already is FAT.

that looks great 8ft. may i ask how/ what kind of paint you used?..primers/sealers?..looks awesome..totally awesome.

Excellent!!!

Many, many thanks to all of you for the kind replies.
I am pleased with the end result and my only goal when carving is just to try and improve from the last one I did. I have seen several threads lately which say that one carver or another "has raised the bar". I agree that the skill level is improving and it is so neat to see all the unique styles emerging as new pieces are being created. But I want to state here that I am certainly not trying to compete with anyone at all. I just wanted to share the results of my latest project. I will now answer the questions asked by everyone so far.

DOGBYTES: This is going to be an outdoor tiki for summer and indoor for winter.

SAXOTICA: I will be keeping this guy and will place him in a special spot.

ALIENTIKI: I also like the natural grain look of wood for tikis but so far what I have done with most of my carvings
is to add some color to jazz them up. Hopefully not garish or gaudy. I do intend to "go natural" with future carvings.
I do think the sycamore was a good candidate for paint or stain though because it is nearly an eggshell white wood grain. Now if you wanna carve a "ghost tiki" then it might be perfect. Oh and I would say that all together it took me between 20 and 30 hours.

MANOKOA: On this carving I got pretty lucky when it came to cracking. It didn't do that much splitting. I must admit that although I did not do it, I did consider getting some wood putty and filling and then sanding all the cracks in order to make it look EXACTLY like a bottle. I decided that I wouldn't be fooling anyone and just liked it fine the way it was so that's what I did. I wouldn't rule out using putty
on a future piece but that could limit the staining possibilities.

CURB CREATURE: As for the paints used, here is what I chose.
Flat black for the top knot and Amazon Silt Green (#6010-4)for the body. I had it custom mixed at Lowe's paint counter. If you are going to paint a tiki for outdoor use, make sure you get EXTERIOR paint. I selected "American Tradition Exterior Flat Latex"
as the base. I then coated with a MINWAX SPAR urethane sealer called "Helmsman Indoor/Outdoor Clear Satin"

GREAT QUESTIONS EVERYONE!!!
I hope that answers all the queeries to your satisfaction.
Let me know if you have any others.
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR KIND WORDS!!

8FT

I once was lost............but now I'm found

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki 2005-07-14 20:58 ]

I love the inspired pieces. This one turned out fantastic. I know you must be proud.

Let us know what becomes of his chunky sycamore brother.

That is one heckuva good looking Moai. I dare say perfect, Excellent job 8'.

Chongolio

So So Sweeeeet. Easter Island must be jealous! Exquisite use of colors.

Nice work Great color.... Man love it

[ Edited by: Thanatos 2005-07-16 14:38 ]

I think you just broke the cool scale.

Man, i'm sittin' here looking at your progression photos and going, "Holy crap"! that is one amazing moai!

beautiful job!

8FT,

I think you have been to the top of the mountain! That is THE nicest piece I have seen of that type. It's a beautiful carving...and the colors are perfect. You're THE man!

What did you do to keep such a large piece from cracking badly? I live in very humid weather and most of my wood still tends to crack right where I don't want it to. Do you have any pointers or tricks?? Right now I carve in "live" wood and dry them for severl weeks, face down, on a rack in my garage. That seems to keep the cracks to the back of the carving, but I would like to limit the cracking to a minimum. I've tried some oils with limited sucess. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Gman

Thanks GMan, I appreciate the comps. I am proud to have had so many fellow TC'ers reply so favorably to what is only my 4th carving. I just started today on my next one. It is a smaller pine log and will not be a full body figure.

As to the concerns of cracking in logs, I am not the expert there. I usually just live with whatever happens but I agree those cracks often appear in the worst places. However, sometimes they just add a taste of authenticity to a carving. I would suggest you read some of the older posts and threads to find out what some of the regular big boys do to retard cracking. I seem to recall that Benzart and Basement Kahuna had a lot to say on the subject in previous posts. Do some searches and hopefully you can gain some knowledge there that will help your situation. Meanwhile, keep carvin' !!!!!

8FT,

Thanks for directing me to the posts on cracking. I'll look around and see what they have to say. I just finished putting a second coat of linseed oil on the carving I did on Saturday. I actually sanded this one a little! The smooth beauty of your work inspired me!

I can't wait to see some progress pics of your new carving....show us!!!

-Gman

Hey 8 ft - I dig a good doorknob-head Moai! He's slick too... Great work there.

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