BENZART's Carvings Second original thread

Love love love the little guy!!! :wink:

Which museum are these guys going to?

Aloha Benz-
Your two new additions look Great!! I wouldn't want to mess with those two!! I am looking forward to seeing them with moko!!! Got moko???
Later,
Spermy

Ben, those pictures are so cool.

Ben,
The fluid movement on those bodies is perfect. I'm liking this new body style from you. Nicely done my friend.

Thanks GMAN, It just dawned on me that I had never shot the both of them together and you really don't see the size difference without seeing them together. I started the Moko today on the big guy but have to charge my camera batts so won't update today, sorry!
Conga, there IS somewthing better than a tiki carving on the back of a Chevy truck,,, TWO tiki carvings on the back of a CHevy Truck! These guys are good peeps, they won't start clubbing you at all, unless you provoke them... Thanks
JOhnP, thanks to you too, I'm just bewildered period most of the time.
Hiltiki, now Why would you be lovin' this little guy so much??, I think he likes you too! Thanks.
RAffer, thanks, these are going to the TC'rs home museums, best in the world. Thanks, but I think the real Museums would know the diffrence right away,
Spppermy, thanks for the kind words, they'll be lookin'at'cha soon.
Bete, thanx again, it's the camera, not me, so I can't take credit, I just pushed the buttons.
Loki, thanks, the "New" body style is actually a very "Old" body style that I am borrowing from the ancient ones. They have been kind enough to do a lot of this work for me, I just get to hold the chisels for them.
Thanks everyone, After these 2 guys are done I will close this thread and start another one so it won't be soo humongous. I may start showing fewer pix too since I Know they take so long to load, and it is very selfish of me, sorry and Thanks.

Selfish my BUTT! I wanna see more pics!

I Can't stand it.
forgive me for double posting on one set of pics....but I keep going back to these
guys....the guy with the big forehead drives me nuts.

You ain't kiddin', Conga.

"Do YOU want a piece ah ME??!!"

Scary!!

I hate to see them depart from each other don't you? It almost seems like the little guy is there to guide him through life.

On 2006-05-23 06:37, hiltiki wrote:
I hate to see them depart from each other don't you? It almost seems like the little guy is there to guide him through life.
[/quot

..sez you!!! maybe the bigger guy needs to guide the little one!!

Ok OK guys, when you get your respective guys home to their new places, you can let them guide you as to where they go, in the meantime I will guide these guys to make sure they ar on the right path. I purchased a new/used wood-burning tool today from a fellow carver at my Wood carving club and it will Really allow me to go Crazy with the detail. It's like putting on magnifying glasses and using super fine toolz Can't wait to show y'all what it does. I might post an update in a few daze or so. HappyHappyHappy

OK, so Herez the daily update.

that's beautiful ben. can you explain how you get the dark stain just in the moko?

And WOW again. You are the king!
JP

Now I know why you sealed him first.....:lol:

-Gman

Wow Ben, that moko really brings the whole piece together. I like the contrasts in stain colors.

Ben you are so funny, hahahaha you are right we should wait and see what happends when they come home. Although I still think the little one looks wiser!!!.......just like me!!........just kidding

On 2006-05-23 17:49, hiltiki wrote:
Ben you are so funny, hahahaha you are right we should wait and see what happends when they come home. Although I still think the little one looks wiser!!!.......just like me!!........just kidding

..and the bigger one is angrier!!!....yeah, just like me!!!!!...whhooooohoooo!!!

Quit fighting kids or both carvings will have to come up to summer camp in Wisconsin. How
'bout that....they spend the summer at camp and go home after Labor Day.

That tattoo detail work is looking so cool Ben!

Thanks again everyone. I have been looking for this effect for a long time: Fine lines with darkened coloring. Carving the lines, to me, has always been unsatisfactory, because of the size or width of the line, especially when carving palm. It is difficult to get Fair, straight, clean lines. The Wood burning tool is a lot slower, but gives me the fine line I was after Plus, it darkens it Too! This is a difference similar to drawing the moko in chalk versus drawing it with a fine pencil. Unfortunately it will allow me to add much finer, more detailed lines,,,Can't wait. I haven't stained him yet, only added the linseed oil. The color you see is the natural wood grain with a slight yellowing and darkening from the oil. It is such that I may not even stain it at all, I'll see.
I love both these guys and will start the Moko on the short guy soon. I believe they both will be my best Maori's to date.

Awesome man! The detail you go to on such big tikis is awesome. Dont know where you get it from!

Aloha ben!!!!!!!!! Your stuff is truly a work of art from the soul my friend!!!!!!! You keep coming up with so much incredable work that definatly blows me away, thanks for sharing , Aloha for now your friend , Mooney

Thanks Hewey and Mooney, good to hear from you Mooney, I thought you were lost or something.
Here is today's update.

freaking awesome as usual !

Howd-u-do-dat?

I found a Used one of These used and it gives me just what I have been looking for.
Thanx Saxotica and Surfintiki

YIPES Ben! You're just a couple steps away from tatooing people! So all that is burned in? Are you using the ballpoint tip? Yeah, I know, LOTS of questions . .

hey ben! the moko is amazing! it's hard to believe, but you're still getting better.

Ben, so many questions...too little time! What can I say that nobody else has already?? Freaking mavalous! I wish coontiki did not happen yet so I could claim a spot. Either I need to go to Florida or you need to take a vacation to Cali. And I thought my new v-chisel was cool!

Cheers,
Beachnik

Looks very cool. Nice detail. The teeth are awesome. Question, what is that black spot between the right cheek and nose, is that part of the wood, like a knot?

[ Edited by: Bete 2006-05-25 10:19 ]

Going wild with the magic fire wand ...
JP

Fire! Fire! Fire!!!!

Insane!!!

Very nice. He really looks pissed at that Chevy Truck about to knock him over! The burned in moko is quite good. I hadn't realized that all that was burned! Keep 'em comin'.

Yes I'm insane alright, Thanks guyz.
Bete, the black spot is a hole. One of many drilled into the tree to save it from the "Lethal Yellowing" disease many years ago. Silverline, I'm using kind of like a Skew blade, 1/8" wide.

So there was a tree disease, that's to bad, I know a lot of the trees where I live had dutch elm disease and we lost a lot of them to it, what a shame.

Ben, the Moko Mastah! Simply stunning detail. I've been staring at that awesme pendant I got form you and studying that moko thinking that it has to be one of the more complex pieces you've done, but this one blows it away! I'm floored everytime I see your posts ben.

POLYNESIAC - putting the 'F' back in ART

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2006-05-25 18:03 ]

incredible....incredible....incredible.....the eyes really freak me out....along with the
moko...and the forehead....and.....it's kinda like that alien from Outer Limits...are you
old enough to remember him Ben? How old are you anyway....a few hundred years...come on...
tell us the truth...you really are an old tiki master aren't you?

Yeah, I'm an Old fart at 60

Another awsome carving Ben. I love the attitude of this guy and the detail is off the charts.

hey ben...

lookin awesome, once again!! .......are you gonna make his eyes and teeth that lighter yellow color like the maori on page 26??........that would be a nice detail...

Bete asked

Question, what is that black spot between the right cheek and nose, is that part of the wood, like a knot?

Benzart answered

the black spot is a hole. One of many drilled into the tree to save it from the "Lethal Yellowing" disease many years ago.

I looked at those for a long time and was trying to figure it out also. I had a couple of guesses. #1: Some sort of bore #2: Spikes from tree cutter climbing gear #3: Some one drilled out scars from either #1 or #2(because the holes are larger and rounder than I've seen on examples of 1 and 2)

Glad to know the real answer. Locally we have a problem with lerp boring into and killing Eucalyptus trees. I think UC Riverside worked on breeding a wasp that would target and kill the lerp. It would dig into the bark and lay its eggs in the lerp. It was released and tested in eucalyptus laden Rancho Santa Fe. I used to do code enforcement stuff there at the time. During site visits, I would see all kinds of elaborate methods that arborists would devise in futile attempts to rid the trees of the lerp. Holes, poles, poison etc. I talked to one lady who spent thousands per tree to remove all of the soil, treat it with some chemical concoction, and then dump it back in. Nothing worked until the wasps established their colony after a few years. They still have major problems in some areas.

As far as the tree climber spikes, Ben if you allow me for educational purposes to show a good example here on your thread, check this out every one:
Parallel scars left from the climber going up the tree

sometimes I get them in clusters where the worker must have been working in one spot for awhile. I like how you incorproated the scar into the scroll work. One time I had one that ended up on a tooth on the tiki's mouth. It was like a cavity

BEte, Poly, COnga, Swampfire, Tipsy and Buzzy, Thanx for all your kind words, They Keeps Me Goin'! Tipsy, Here is a light white wash, almost wiped off with a dry cloth. The oil and Poly will yellow it up considerably.. Buzzy, there are several holes(All in his Head!!) and they go all the way through to the hollow back. I Was going to fill them, but decided to use them instead. After all this guy is a Warrior and whatare a few more arrow holes anyway!
Crank yer modems into Overdrive, heres yesterdays And todays updates.

someone get Ben a tattoo machine and put me down on the list. Amazing work sir.

Ben,

I think you've crossed the line now. I new you were nutz, but now I'm sure you are crazy. I really like crazy people, they think like me! Beautiful work. Thanks for making my day!

-Gman

..yeah!! that's what i'm talkin about!! love the way the white wash makes those teeth and eyes pop!!!,,,,whhoooohoooo!!!