Ben est là's stuff: 03/24 Creative Chimps' masterpiece in Paris !

Great Lono. That would look really cool hanging from a rear view mirror.

Thanks Aloha Station.
Rear view mirror ? That is a very ingenious idea, I'll do it :)

Benjamin.

Top one, Benjamin! I see you're diving deep into the wood like a Yellow Submarine.

Thanks Tikidav, The end is near :wink:

Kia ora,

A late update on the lono (still the same one).

I've been working on the headress to carve it as neat as possible and I've put some details on it.
For finishing, I predict a walnut stain and Bee wax... until I change my mind :lol:

Mahalo

Thanks for looking,

Ben.

Hi,

I said stain and wax so here are the pix a bit under.

I was very disappointed when I saw this poor Lono after the stainning session because the color was not homogenic: darker here and shiny there, but, after a night of rest I was glad even if it still seemed to be "special" like a wet wood (brrrr).
2 days later I put the wax on and polish with a silk brush.
That was yesterday ( :music: all my trouble were so far away :music: ) and here is the result, hope you likee :) :

Thanks for stopping,

Benjamin.

I think it finished beautifully!

Keep up the great carves!

Wonderful work Benella! I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve next. Keep-um coming.

Benjamin, your Lono turned out Great, Wow and the finish is Excellent too. Are you a proud papa?
:) :) :)

True that! That is one bad mambyjamby! Beautiful carving and a super finish. That is slick! As Benzo would say, "How many tons of proud are you?"

NICE! Way to go!

-Gman

Most excellent work , Benella! The finish turned out FANTASTIC on this cat! Love the detail in the head dress as well.

It looks great, Benjamin. The dark color works well for it. Congrats!

Hi tiki friends,

Shame on me for not having answering to you all :)

Heath- Thank you, I'm happy to learn you've liked it.

Babalu- Thanks for the compliments. Indeed, I have something in my sleeve: Something Rapanui if you know what I mean :wink:

Ben- Thank you too, I'm even more addicted at carving. I'm a proud papa because it turned the way i wanted with the less tools I had, but I've got money to spend now :lol: :lol: :lol:

G- Thanks for the compliments. I'm thinking about moari things as you certainly know but I take my time because I still haven't found a piece of wood that could support it :)

Surf-n-turf- Thanks for the kind words. I'm looking forward to your next carvings :wink:

Tikidav- Thanks for the congrats, the dark stain is one of my favorite but I think the wax makes it glossed.

Next progress pix to come :) :) :)

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Great! The stain looks perfect, congrats!

Thank you, Clarita. Happy you likee :)

Benjamin.

Ben, really great piece, really like it. ok, how did you do the swirls in the headdress there? i gotta know that.
great disign

Hi Duddy,

Thanks for the words.

For the swirls, I drew a line that showed the boarders of the future deep parts of the swirl.Then, I carved between the lines with the gouge I have on my carving jack (flexcut), trying to carve it in one move by curve (don't know if it is "understandable"), in order to avoid to have to sand too much.
At least, I sanded it with sand paper like any other piece by respecting the curves and not the lines of the wood.

Hope that will help you,

Benjamin.

BenjaMin!, Excellent job here bubba. The stain and wax really transformed this guy to a Sweet piece of work. Congratulations. I Love how you went the extra mile with sanding and detail clean-up. The Lono headdress is one of the more difficult ones to do and yours came out great. :) :) :)

Thank you very much, Ben.
I'm very happy you likee and that means a lot for me because I know Lono is one of your favorite figure (just like me).
Thanks,

Ben.

Nice lono :D love the markings

Benella, superb piece. The details really make the tiki special! I can't wait to see what is next.
ST

Thank you Hewey, as you wrote it in your signature, I've been very influenced by some very good carvers on TC.

Thanks Sneaky, the details are the elements I prefer in general in the carvings. In my opinion, a beautiful marq or hawaiian or maori figure is even more beautiful with markings details, swirls ... That is one of the things that makes me completely addict to tikis :)

Benjamin.

Kia Ora,

I said something Rapanui.

I began with a moai basis then the "carving Jack" knew how to do... And here is the result:

Hope you likee !

More pix when the battery of my camera will be reloaded :)

Benjamin.

We must be one the same wave length - I am also carving a small Moai head that is almost identicle. Creepy!!

WOW, amazing what you told me !
When the great spirits meet... :wink:

Ben.

Dejavu - here's a quick picture. Not quite 6mm tall.

Indeed.

Very similar and very nice stuff you've done.
What is the wood you used ? Cocobolo ?

Mine is 13 cm tall (5,12 inches).

Ben.

Hi Tikiphiles,

It's update day !

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Well Ben, It's taking a long time but you are Finally getting close to finishing your Moai and a Fine one he is too! I really love the ears and you have the rest down pretty much spot On. Keep working on him and he will be complete before you know it. Well Done(Half done) :) :) :)

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the kind words. Indeed, there is still work to do on this little fellow.
The ears are inspired by the violin of my wife and when I think of these "violinish" ears I dream about inlays with shells I found on the beach in Brittany (Bretagne, north west coast of France) last week during my holidays :wink:

Benjamin.

Looking good Benella!
I really love your Lono, nice stain and wax job!

Grts, Jess

Hi

I spoke about shell inlays (i'm a newbie in inlaying), so here is a teaser :lol:

I'll send more pix when the inlays will be all O.K.

A question for inlayers: should I sand the shell to have the paua colors?

Yubaba - Thanks for your entry, happy you like the Lono.

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Interesting touch. How are you going to finish the wood?

Hi Tikidreams and thanks !
I am hesitating between 2 things: natural with bee wax or walnut stain + wax.

Benjamin.

On 2007-07-16 00:09, benella wrote:
The ears are inspired by the violin of my wife

I thought of violin sound holes too when I first looked at it. Maybe this Moai is a musician!

Looking good, Benjamin.

Hey, Thanks Tikidav.

I grew up with music everywhere because of my father... and I married a musician last year :) I think my mind wanted to do a tribute to music :wink:

P.S: message edited to add that the holes in a violin are called "ears" in french and the ears of my moai look like the ears of a violin... Isn't that what you call a spun ?

Benjamin.

[ Edited by: benella 2007-07-25 07:49 ]

Hi,

A monday update to add a few progress pix. I've been working a bit on this little fellow: sanding, shells and sanding.

Sanding it made me a bit crazy because when I sanded it by hand, the dust seemed to stay glued to the piece of wood ! So I used a kind of Dremel (but unfortunately a cheaper one that doesn't work so well) and another machine like this one:

And it was a bit easier.

I was thinking about a pattern for the back of the base but I fear it would be to much.

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Hi Benella...I don't know much about carving, and am very new to Tiki, but I do know what I like to look at. I LIKE the shells, and the carving. I think it's a nice touch. I like the story about the violin ears as well.....nice how all these things tie together.

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the kind words, it encourages me.
I got the idea with the shells when I saw them in Brittany, France, during my holidays and I thought this would be a way to make the moai "unique".

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

My pleasure! About the shells...I've collected shells around the world, shipped quite a few back to the states, they are really nice momentos of pleasant times. These look remarkably like some I found in New Zealand. They look great on you piece. Where to now?

Really nice job here Ben, I Love the shells. What a sneaky way to get the spirals on the ears, I LOVE it!

Hey thanks !

Robin - Thanks. One can find shells all over the world but it's true that they doesn't look the same everywhere. Hope you will do a lots of travels to collect a lot more of shells to inlay them in your future pieces. By the way, do you carve ?

Benzart - Thanks. Such kind words from you are waves of motivation for me ! I've been wondering about the inlays because when you dig too wide, the whole thing is only good for the dog :lol:
I have followed your advices with photoshop on the previous page for the "macro" pix : that works, man :) :) :)

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Hi Benella...well, as far as carving, I just started, in jade. I worked in clay for a long time....it is very very different...although the eye hand coordination is helpful for most 3D work. I'd like to try some inlays some day, but for right now...just getting something smoothish would be nice!

I'm gonna have to ask Ben about that photoshop thing....I need some help there with my Pics.

Looking forward to your next update....I think carving all around the base would be nice...contrast that really austere smooth surface with a detailed base....what do you think?

I think Robin has a cool idea! That would look pretty cool I think.

Thanks Robin and tikifreak1 for the idea.
I was wondering about some design on the base: all around and behind too.
I'll do it next week because I've forgotten my magic tool (carvin' Jack) in my sister's house :( ...and I'll show progress pix, of course.

Benjamin.

Looking forward to it...Bonne chance! You certainly wouldn't want to begin without your magic tool!

[ Edited by: Robin 2007-08-05 15:04 ]

Very nice work Benjamin...I agree some adornment on the base would look pretty cool. The shells are a great original touch, and the use of found materials adds the beachcomber spirit to any piece.
So you do all your pieces with the carving jack? I've been wondering about getting one, but hadn't heard anyone on TC recommend it. It looks like a great little tool for what I've seen...

Hi Robin, thanks a lot, indeed, I feel a bit "alone" without my tool :lol:

Hi Paipo, thanks for the kind words.

All my pieces are made with the carving Jack because I carve small pieces.
I know a lot of TCers use the hook knife but to me the carving Jack is multi-purpose. Indeed, it contains 6 tools :o and I admit it was a good start when you know the price of a gouge set :wink:
It is sold with a "sharpen pack" especially made by Flexcut and I think it is a super first tool to begin the wood.
For example, I began a much bigger piece last week and after having drown the lines, I used the V-scorp of the carving jack to "materialyze" the main volumes.

http://www.flexcut.com/products/images/Comp-Carvin-150.jpg

Mahalo,

Benjamin.