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G-MAN, your Marc/Fusion finished out Really nice. He has developed a strong , clean look. I really love your saw fish too. Nice lines and clean carving.

Ben,

Thanks for the kind words about my Marq/Fusion project. Coming from you, it means a lot. Thanks.

Today I carried a big log to the backyard and got a few hours of saw time in. I've been busy with holiday orders of both carvings and gyotaku and have not been carving tikis. I'll need to spend all day tomorrow printing an octopus for a client. Anyway, I started the rough out of a full body Maori this afternoon and removed a fair amount of wood before the rain chased me indoors. This one is cedar and 52" tall and 12" in diameter. The pics are below.

As with always, candy coated comments are appreciated! :tiki:

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2005-12-22 13:56 ]

GMan you're off to a great start with this one.....I was thinking of starting some sort of full size
Maori today.....we can compare notes as we move ahead....I love that wood that you use....keep the pics
coming....

Hey Gman,

I like the way you handled the feet. I'll be checking back to see how you progress on this guy. A nice start indeed.

Right ON! He is going to be VERY cool! Can't wait to see the progress... Blow out the octopus and get busy!!!!!!!!!

Lookin' real good on this big one. Can't wait to see'er done!

Looks like the amkings of another Awesome Tiki Piece by the GMAN. This one will be nice to follow since we're looking for great new things from you

The Master of Cedar strikes again. Lookin' good.

This one looks real cool. Can't wait to see it finished. Skip the octopus painting and get busy. What do your neighbors think when you fire up the saw to carve for a few hours?

JP

Conga, Raffer, Doubravsky, Surfintiki, Benz, Loki, and JP,

Thanks for commenting on the Maori. He doesn't look like much now, but he'll start looking better over the next week or so. I just wanted to get the basic shape out so I could think about where I want to take him. The cedar is so irregular in shape that I really need to think about how to use it to my benefit. So far so good.

JP,

I have had no problems with neighbors complaining about noise. More often they come over to see what I'm carving. Most of them think my stuff is pretty cool. My one neighbor has like 5 of my tikis. I run the saw for 4 - 5 hours sometimes, but no one seems to mind (much).

As for the octopus, no can do my man. My gyotaku has a much larger profit margin than my carvings, so when someone wants a rubbing I have in stock, I stop everything. If they want something special/custom I get on it fast. If you keep your clients happy, they keep coming back. At least 50 percent of my business is return clients. Here's some of what I did today.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2005-12-19 17:11 ]

On 2005-12-19 17:08, GMAN wrote:
As for the octopus, no can do my man. My gyotaku has a much larger profit margin than my carvings, so when someone wants a rubbing I have in stock, I stop everything. If they want something special/custom I get on it fast. If you keep your clients happy, they keep coming back. At least 50 percent of my business is return clients. Here's some of what I did today.

Love the maori dude.Gonna be awesome.

But, can you explain a bit more what a gyotaku is, and maybe some process pics?

Hewey,

Gyotaku is a Japanese art form where you make ink/paint impressions of fishes/marine life on rice papers and/or fabric. I work in the direct method of gyotaku (as opposed to the indirect method) where you apply pigments directly to the subject and then transfer the image onto your paper or fabric. There's a lot that goes into prep, inking, and transfer, none of which I should really be talking about here on TC. I've been doing it a long time and have sent my gyotaku all over the world. I enjoy working with the art form very much. It is very different from chainsaw carving and takes a real careful touch :) You can get more info and see more pics on my homepage. I haven't updated any of the pics up there for a few years, and my work has progressed, but you'll get the idea.

Thanks for asking,

Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2005-12-19 18:35 ]

Gman- You're a man of many talents.... I had no idea you also did this Japanese artwork. Very cool stuff.

Hey Sam,

Yeah, the Japanese arts are really appealing to me. I've been studying gyotaku for eight years now. It's like a dance...one that you can never master. There are way too many variables. Right down to the humidity in the air, each changes everything. It's a real quest. Some of my sessions go on for 12 hours before I get what I want. Here's some more of my stuff.

-Gman

Wow! The Hog Wrasse is great. They really are unique. I've never heard of that art type before. Thanks for sharing.

Nice rough-out on that one. Classic pose, too. The thing I like most about carving cedar is that smell, man...just opens up the sinuses and makes everything within 25 yards smell fresh and clean..

That is some fine work, GMAN. I can identify somewhat because gold leaf is touchy and temperamental. I can attempt gold leaf 10 times, trying each time to do the exact same thing, and in the end, I end up with ten different results. Sometimes it comes out pristine, and other times, it comes out trashy and raw-looking. Thankfully, when it looked raw, it happened to work with the design I was doing.

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing it.

That sucks big time, oh wait you said candy coated. That is another delicious sweet job G.
moon :)

Those fish prints are sweeeeet. I like the style. Gman posted a link to his website a ways back and there are other great examples there. I spent a lot of time there oohhh and ahhhing.
JP

Loki, BK, Sam, Moondance, and JP,

Thanks for looking at my gyotaku and also at the start of the Maori. I haven't had time to work on the Maori again, but I will try to work on it some more this weekend. This one will probably take a while as I will be continuing to carve my other less involved "tikis" and printing fish while tinkering with the Maori.

Today I finished sanding the sawfish for Pristidae and applied the first two coats of finish. I need to start scavenging shipping materials so that it has a nice safe trip to Virginia.

Thanks for checking in...

-Gman

GMAN-
I love the sawfish. I would like to give one a go at some point. But wait is that Earnie I see chillin'?? How's is your boy doing?
My great dane was put to sleep last week, he was 11. Damm I miss my buddy.
R. Wesley

Wes,

Yep, that's my boy. He's doing well, thanks. He still has a limp and will have to have shots and therapy for a long time, but I think he'll pull through ok. He is back to being playful and alert. For a while all he did was sleep, now it's only 80% of time like ususal :) It's nice to have him back around when I carve or paint.

As for your great dane, I'm very sorry. Putting a pet down sucks, and it takes time...sometimes a long time to get over it, but after a while you will remember only the good things. At that point, when you remember him, it will only make you happy. I hope it doesn't take too long for you to get to that point. I'm sorry it had to happen around the Holidays. Keep your chin up and your chisels sharp!

-Gman

Looks like a Nice sawfish GMAN, what is the finish you applied. Love to see it when he is all complete and hanging on a wall in all his toothiness!.
Again, your fish prints are Awesome. Wonder if you could do that with tiki?

I was typing pretty much the exact same message Benzart just did. The master will always be ahead of the student.
JP

Benz and JP,

I dunno. I probably could, kinda like a grave stone rubbing, if I used the indirect method. However, if I applied pigments to the tiki, like I do for fish, some would probably never come off. That could be a downer. Plus, smooth sufaces don't work well.

As for the finish, it's nothing super secret. I mixed my own ebony and mahogany stain for a deep dark mahogany and I use a nice poly for the topcoat. Pristidae said he wanted it to look like glass, so I'm doing what I can. Here's a pic of the third coat of finish. I may need to do one more tomorrow.

I've also attached pics of some of my gyotaku sent in from some clients.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: gman 2005-12-22 14:08 ]

Hey all,

Here are the final pics of the latest sawfish. I also took a pic with it near some of my recent projects. Before you guys bash me for still having the Marq here, rest assured he is spoken for, just not picked up yet. Hope you all have a great holiday.

Thanks for looking,

-Gman

That's some sheen on the sawfish! Real nice finish.

So do you shoot off that canon on special occasions?

Raffer,

Yes sir, yes we do! It takes three of us to run it on the line and we can drop 4 pound projectiles on target at 300 - 600 meters :)

It is all hand made and I just finished up the carriage. It was machined in my friend's shop from all stainless steel. I'm still working on an elevation device to give us better accuracy. Here's some pics of us shooting at a 300 meter target.

-Gman

Gman I Love that Stain color, it's Awesome and the finish looks like glass, just as ordered.
Excellent project.

Hey G, thanks for sharing all of your works. We've learned so much from you in a short time. Just wanted to say that I am glad you have breathed some fresh ideas in to the creating forum. Keep it up!!!

8FT,

I'm happy that you guys enjoy my stuff. Thanks for having me. I enjoy it here. It's a good place to be.

Happy Holidays everyone!

-Gman

GMan yer blowin me away with all the stuff....the tikis...the fish...the carved fish...not
to mention the canons and the great looking house...you got it going big time. Best wishes for
an even better year of creations.....I agree...this is a great place to hang out.

Thanks Conga. Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time in the workshop this year. I hope you can too!

-Gman

Well, it looks like Mrs. Gman has been talking to Kirby behind my back. I am now the proud new owner of a print of "The Chief" and a Kirby tiki necklace. What a great Christmas gift! THANKS KIRBY!!!!!

KIRBY ROCKS!

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2005-12-25 07:12 ]

We love the canon!! And your camo jammies go well with the canon :wink:
Now go shoot something :lol:

Great job for the Mrs. being sneaky and getting you a Kirby print.

Mele Kalikimaka!!

Love that sawfish - the finish is super sweet. I would love to see a tiki with that glass finish! Yes, Im a pain the proverbial.

Kirby rocks!

You are a lucky guy. "The Chief" was my favorite Kirby piece!
JP

JP,

Mine too! I am really happy to have it here. I'm going to hang it in one of my spare bedrooms where I keep my available carvings. I really dig this painting.

-Gman

Hey all,

I'm finally caught up with my gyotaku and carvings and happy that the Christmas ru$h is over. Today I was able to spend a few hours tinkering with the Maori. He is still in the early stages and will be getting lots of adjustments, but he's picking up some attitude. I hope you all had a nice holiday.

Yes he IS gaining an attitude! excellent progress shots, keep'em coming.

I really love the color layers on him. Awesome.

Ben and Loki,

Thanks for commenting out the Maori last night. I know it's hard to see what's going on with the carving with the camera flash, wood colors, and the dust, but I promise it does actually look better than the pics show.

I got home as fast as I could tonight, but I just barely beat the sunset. I was able to get a little done on his face before dark, just enough to make me happy. I used colored pencil to put eyes on him before I took some pics so you can visualize his face.

Thanks for looking

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2005-12-27 17:05 ]

now for some candy-coated comments for the GMan....great job so far....that red/white contrast
really gives the cat a funky look....and I mean that to sound as sugar coated as possible. Always
fun to observe your updates....now get back to work!

Lookin' Good GMAN. When you gonna start the tattoos. Can't wait to see him done

Looks really good. I understand that it looks better in real life without the camera flash, the same thing happens to me.
JP

Benz,

I'm a long way from laying out a moko, however I have some ideas. I'll probably be picking at this one for a while and will likely bring it to the Tiki Jam in January. Maybe I can do some of the moko then. I have a few other Gman tikis to make in the meantime and more fish to do.

-Gman

Hey gman, Thanks for the kind words about the print, I hope you enjoy it, your wife must realy love you... I realy like the new tikis . keep up the good work...

Hey all,

An update pic of the Maori face...getting closer......

-Gman