Benzart 's, Last, most recent thread

Oh, that one is going to have quite the personality, I can tell.

looking good as always ben! i see another awesome tiki that's gonna blow all of us away coming out of this one. looking foward to more updates on this one. keep the pics coming!

Excellent carving work, as always Ben. Congrats too on the D50. With the right software you'll get nice sharp images up to 24x36 with it! And as for macro lenses, remember that ANY auto focus D lens will work well with it (not just the DX series specifically for digital bodies), and you can find good D lenses cheaper than DX series, too. But you probably already knew all this.

Happy Happy Happy!

Nice to see you working on this guy! Those curles are something else!
JP

that looks so good. i always like seeing your work. keep showing the pictures.

good work

I'll post todays pix tomorrow, way past my bed time now so see ya tomorrow.

Gip! Sleep tight! See you at 4:30am TCtime. I'll still be up, waiting for some updates, stacking bricks, one by one...

Geez, I was here at 4:30 this morning and No one was here so I finished stacking the bricks, but I was in a hurry and stacked them 10 at a time. I'm goin' back to bed!

Benz,

Sorry for chiming in late on your hog-log-Lono progress. He's coming along very nicely. I can't wait to see his face and body progression. You always come up with some different twist. The vertebrae are wikid!

-Gman

Shabaam! HI Benny! Looking good my friend, Hukilau is on, after next weekend, I'll ship out yer ole pendant!

MC, Thanks, I hope he stays nice and I don't mess him up!
Harro, Thanks. Actually the Mahogany, while classified as a Hard wood, is really fairly soft to carve and really is a Joy to carve. If you ever get some, you will see what I mean.
Bete, personality? I don't know, we'll see? Thanx.
Tiki5-0 thanks, you guys really make it tough on this poor old soul. I have all these expectations to live up to. What if I DO Screw this one up? All it takes is one errant slip of the chisel and the guy would be history?
TDuddy, Thanks, I'll keep'em rolling.
Gman, Thanks, I Might finish this guy one of these dayz.
Here is the progress from yesterday, not much, but some.




I will post more later tonight from todays work.

Lookin' good my friend...that mahogany is fun to carve...hope all is well.

Looking cool! I really like that bone looking part of the headress, it's like a spine, and yes, it will definitely have "personality", I can tell already.

Thanks Loki and Bete. Yes the Mahogany is Super carving wood.
Bete, dodays update starts to reveal that "Personality"

Look at this guy strutting around with that awesome head dress! You are once again schooling the rest of us. I only wish I had the time to apply these lessons.

It's alive! Nice work Benz, perhaps he would benefit from a set of iridescent peepers? :wink:

Looking tops, Great facial on this one

Benz,

I love how your chainsaw work sets up your flow. Very nice!

-Gman

Ben- that guy sure is looking great. The headdress does look a lot like a real spine up the middle. It's a beautiful piece even unfinished.

http://www.samgambino.com

[ Edited by: Sam Gambino 2006-07-29 20:12 ]

so, i see there hasn't been a slip of the chisel to screw this one up yet ben and i doubt there will be. this guy just keeps looking better!! even if it did slip some, i'm sure you could fix it somehow & we'd never know. you 'da man!!

The personality is starting to shine through! The eyes, mouth, teeth and nose are going to be cool and beginning coming forth. That incredible headress is going to be more than great. Man, oh, man, it is going to be a piece that totally rocks!

[ Edited by: Bete 2006-07-30 14:16 ]

Benz - I love it when you carve the big ones - slows you down a bit - gives me a chance to catch my breath - he's a beauty! Hows your health holding up mate? Take it easy dont push it too hard (no I am not saying that to give me more time to catch up hehehe) I really mean it better to see slower progress on tiki then no progress at all cause your laid up!

Hey Raffer, Thanks, You need to take time to MAke time. The time goes so fast, pretty sioon you might not be able to carve any longer..Carve while you can..
Thanks Paipo, he would except for his eyes being so darned big. Plus I hadn't planned any inlays for this guy, but soon.
Hewey thanks for the props.
Thanks GMAN, I really didn't do much chainsaw work on this guy, just basic chops.
Sam, Thanks, it does look a bit back boneyish, enough to give you a backache.
Tiki5-0,Thanks, and Right, no slip yet, but those slips are always just around the corner.
Bete, funny You should be saying great stuff about this guy, Thanks I love it.
Marcus, thanks, yeah I have been going pretty slow here recently, but will be mending soon, so you better catch up while you can. I hear you are working on a few pieces all at the same time??
I took a break from the big hard wood today to work on the small hard wood. Here is the Lono for one of TikiBirds keg handles that I started only a year or so ago. I'm so bad I hate myself .
Before today

After

This keg handle makes my mouth water.

WOW, that "tiki tapper" (handle) is so very cool looking right now.

Ben, the spine and bone look on this one is amazing. I really love the scroll work down the head dress too, it's incredible! I could look at this all day.

Zaya

Raffer, Thats what it is supposed to do,,, Make you order more beer, and then some more. Thanks
Bette, thanks, it was different workingn small again.
Zaya, Welcome back from your Vacation. I hear you have a burner coming?? Thanks for the props on this guy, the Spine thing is really going to be wild.
Thanks

Whoa - awesome tap! Mate, thats worth waiting a year!

Thanks Hewey, I Hope it has been worth the wait.
Here is the update from today. I decided to give him some eyes from some old stock that BambooBen gave to me from hid Grandpa, Thanks Other Ben

looking good ben! i like the eyes, they'll stand out nice. you've got a lot going on at once.....i've got nothing. i think i need to get going on something SOON! i'm looking foward to seeing how the keg handle and bigbenzart come out.

I love your little guys Benz, they've got so much character. He seems too precious for such a functional use. Very nice work on orienting the shell pattern for the eyes too.

That can't be easy getting those inlays to fit nice and tight! Awesome stuff, all of it, Ben!

Those inlays are great. I like how you lined up the shell features to look like the eyeballs. It's nice to see you do a little tiki.

JP

I was wondering about the big mahaogany lono. Thats going to a mighty fine tiki. What more can be said about the tap - it looks great. Carving big is nice but I really enjoy the smaller stuff.

Tiki5-0, thanks, You Better get busy, we're waiting for you to post your next masterpiece!!
Thanks Paipo, it was a bit difficult getting the eyes to match up, but one of the hard things was to find 2 pieces of shell that had similar patterns. There are very few matches like this. Thanks.
Kahaka, Long time no see! Thanks for the comps. I think it was as much Luck as anything matching the eyes.
JP, Thanks, It is Nice to do a little tiki, I have So Many to do...
AS, Thanks from the Pen Master, thats a great comp. Yes I miss carving small too, there is something more intimate about it, looking under magnifiers and all. Plus, I get to Sit down while I work and that means a lot to these old bones.

Here is an update on the new digs for # 11 sitting on Hiltiki's bar.Thanks to Zaya and Buzzy for visiting him in Hiltiki's bar.



(Hanford This is SOO Much easier,,Thanks again)

Ben, the shape of the eyes on the tiki tapper are very cool. I can envision that tiki with stain and then the eyes on it will really pop when they catch the light, it will be very cool piece when it's finished. Is that abalone shell? I know abalone is supposed to be the ultimate shell for inlay work. Very cool how those curves in the shell pattern center within each eye, very nice touch. How do you cut the shells to do your inlay? What do you use to "glue" them in? Nice, very, very nice.

Thanks Bette. I used a diamond 1" disc to cut and shape the eyes and glued them in with super glue. Then used wood glue around the edges where there were gaps(There were gaps? Yes!!). After the gaps were full of glue, I sanded the edge with emory boards to cram sawdust into the glue so it would look more like wood than glue, but if you look closely, you can tell.
I spent about 2 hours on the eyes.

Man Ben, that tap is awesome! The eyes came out great. I dunno how I missed this yesterday....go figure. He's gonna be some sorta wild when finished. And imagine, he gets to pour beer for the rest of his days and hang out at parties.....where did I go wrong........

-Gman

Thanks GMAN, I don't think you did go wrong, Sure HE gets to Pour the beer and hear the stories for the rest of his life, But YOU get to Drink the beer and listen to stories all your life too.
Here is todays update. Spent all day finishing up the face and mouth.
Oh Yes, I brushed on some sanding sealer to his face to see what the wood would look like when finished. Mahogany is beautiful wood.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2006-08-03 16:43 ]

Holy Crap! Ben you are amazing X 2!!!

Ben, the tap handle is awesome. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to give it a pull & pour a cold frosty one at T-bird & U-dream's place one day.

Question: I've often seen you staining some parts of your tikis while the other part is still not finished being carved. I've never tried this. Is it so you can see how the parts looks "in progress"? And I guess it's no problem when you add stain to the other parts & the 2 stains overlap (obviously!)? Just curious...

Arrrrsome!!!! Father Ben!!!

I decided to give him some eyes from some old stock that BambooBen gave to me from hid Grandpa, Thanks Other Ben

Arrrrrrsome!!!!

The face on the tiki tapper turned out very nice. The eyes look sharp with the stain, they really "pop" now. Is that abalone shell? Wonder what kinf of beer he will be in charge of for the rest of his days? Hopefully some very exotic brew.

Ben, he looks great...please explain what the sanding sealer will do for you. I've seen it in the store and wondered what it really does for the final finish of a piece. Would you go through the trouble of using it again?

awesome ben!! the mahogany looks great with just sanding sealer on it. nice color and they eyes look good against it. so with this one almost complete, are you going back to the big guy? if you haven't noticed, i'm looking foward to seeing it completed. :D

Gman, Thanks,though I'm not sure about all that!

Aarons, Thanks, The sealer is just to see how the piece will look with a clear finish on it. If I had planned to stain it, I would not have used the sanding sealer and most likley would not have put anything on it until it was all ready. The is OK if I were going to stain some small area like the teeth or such but it will interfere with the evenness of the stain.

Yo Ben, Thanks double! Eli did those little pieces just for me and didn't even know it. I'm not worthy! Big Ben gets to meet Bam Ben Finally. Take pix.

Bete, not sure what kind of beer but it Has to taste great and you better like it or Else!. Yes it is abalone ans was a gift from a great friend, so holds much mana!

Thanks Loki, The sanding sealer is a product that when applied, dries quickly and is Easily sanded smoothe. A couple coats sanded in between will fill open pores and give a very smoothe finish in prep for whatever final finish you use. I'm not sure, but I think it can be stained, or at least Some of them can be. Try it you'll like it.

Thanks Tiki5-0, I will be going back to the big guy a bit, but there is a mate to this tap handle that needs to be finished also, so I'll be on that very soon too.
I will post daily updates later on today since I'm not done yet.

That guy looks great Ben. I think that you'd have to be careful about staring into his eyes for too long and falling under his spell. Is this your new way of hypnotizing people long distance, through your carvings. Look into my eyes...... you are feeling sleepy......... send me all of your tikis.

cheeky half

Shhhhh!