Some new photoshop pics (with moai!)

Aloha everyone!

I haven't been around much lately. A lot going on in other areas of my life I suppose. A terrible excuse, I know.
Today I finally finished up #3. It's carved from a piece of coconut palm and was much harder wood than I expected. Cutting out those angles was very difficult and I was afraid they would break off. It all worked out nicely though. He's about 46" tall and 15" at his widest point.




Most of this one was carved with my new set of Flexcuts! I'm very pleased with them to say the least, and of course big thanks as always to master Benzart for his sagely advice.
Next up is a big piece of cabbage palm. I'm planning a full body for this one too.
Thanks again for looking everybody!

awesome work my friend keep up the good work

Nice chops Finky D!

Dang those Flexcuts are chewing up some serious angles AND you're truly chipping deeper into these bigger pieces!!! Keep'em coming...with lotsa ATTITUDE! :D

Finky, I'm REALLY Happy to see what you have done to this guy! I guess those Flexcuts really lit a fire somewhere.
I stopped by Thursday as Finky was working on the mouth and tongue and this is the first I have soon of him since then. GO man Go. Excellent work there. I'd Love to take credit for how he turned out but he is all yours, We're looking for Magical tikis from you so Crank it UP! :) :) :)

Nice job Fink. I'm glad you were able to score a few new toolz and put them to good use. Sorry to hear the life thing is getting in the way of your carving. It won't always be that way, and we understand. I hope things are looking up for you.

-G

Looks great Finky! Love the use of negative space, especially on such a large piece. Dont let your life get in the way of your REAL priority - keeping us fed with pics of your tikis! :lol: :D Cant wait to see you go full bodied :D

Congratulations on a great piece Finkdaddy, you should be proud of this one too.
The open cuts are very cool and the design is awesome. When things get too stressfull
just grab the chisels and dig away.
But that doesn't always work...I spent about five hours on a two footer over
the weekend...everything was going great...and the head broke off. Now it's either
the headless tiki or it's gonna be firewood.
Sorry to ramble...great stuff.

Thanks a ton Marcus!
Thanks Traveling Jones, I'm loving the Flexcuts. They're staying real sharp, even after the hard coconut wood.
You're the best Ben! Please stop by tomorrow and show me how to straighten out my v-liner. It's all goofed up and I'm afraid to use it.
Don't worry Gman, life wont stop me, even if it wants to. I'll give you a call tomorrow some time. I have off so I'll be home all day. Mahalo!
My mate Hewey! The negative space was fun but surprisingly difficult. It turned out well though. Thanks a bunch.
Aloha Conga! One of my biggest faults is that my mood greatly effects my creativity. If I'm not 100%, I just can't do it. Sorry to hear about your tiki's head. Maybe you could turn it into some sort of head hunter piece!
Thanks everyone, you're all wonderful.

See ya' Tomorrow

Yeah...families, life, commitments - jeez! It's all about the tiki man! Obviously all that other stuff hasn't got in the way of you developing some amazing chops on these big guys. I'm a big fan of negative space too and you've pulled off an ambitious design here with ease. I'm gonna have to get me some of those flexcuts!

Excellence Fink!

What's next?

Mahalo

McTiki

Mahalo Paipo! It's actually a small set of Flexcuts and a small set of Irwin flat chisels. There's a few more random chisels I'd like, but for now I'm pretty happy.

McTiki! I'm not sure what's next. I know it's a big piece of cabbage palm, but that's all I know until I actually dig into it. I like surprises too!

I should probably point out at this time that #3 is for sale.

Very nice. Can't wait to see whats next?

Very nice. You are getting all fancy and such! Must be that south Florida ocean breeze.

Full body piece? Tang maybe?

Thanks Aloha Station, JohnnyP, and Gman! I wish there was a South Florida breeze today, 'cause it's hot as hell. (I know, I know. "Just wait until August...". But I'm hot now!)

Here is the beginning of #4. Yes Gman, he'll have a full body! :wink: The pics don't show it, but it really is pretty wood. The chisels you see in the box are the new Flexcuts I just got and the ones on top are a set of Irwin flat chisels I've had for a long time now but never really used until recently.

#3 is still available if anyone is interested.
Thanks again for looking everyone!

Thanks for the post Fink. Looks like you are on to something great again! I can't wait to see you dig out his body. I wish I was over there....

3D full size full bodied tiki - all I can say is about bloody time mate :D

There is "good" bad taste, and there is "bad" bad taste, and the difference of the two is in the eye of the beholder - Sven Kirsten

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-07-05 20:38 ]

Looking great Fink, Guess I'll have to come check him out!

Here is where I've ended up today. This guy has taken some very unexpected turns to get where he's at. I have no idea where he'll end up! I always say that the palm I'm working with is weird in the middle, but I figure now that it must just be the way palm is. I can't say that I like it. When I'm done with this piece I'll move on to a couple HUGE pieces of pine. I'm thinking of doing 1 very large mask, 2 smaller masks, and 1 giant sized full-round tiki with it. We'll see what happens. Here is where I'm at right now...




There's a few cracks forming, but I'm liking them for some reason.
Thanks for looking!

I Visited this guy today and he looks Much Better than the pictures show. GO FInky!

Yeah man, that's nutz! I'm diggin it :D

Looking cool man! Love the tongue biter :D With those cracks, this will look cool with an old vintage look. But you're just teasing us - leaving the body till last... :lol:

Looking good. I really like the tongue bite and the expression.

Palm is so nice to carve because it so soft, but each log seems to have their own personality. Looks, feels, and sounds dry then you cut into it and Bam - its crap!! Oh well, nature of the beast! I'm not giving up on it and neither should you (considering I have 2 huge logs on the side of my house).

I like your noses Finky....great lines on all of 'em and this big guy is no
exception. The "bit-tongue" is another cool look...you rubbing shoulders with
big Ben on this one?
Keep it up....really enjoy seeing you get BIG!

Style and talent- the expression is wonderful.

I picked up some small pieces of palmwood at the local wood store. Any tips for carving them? They look very fiberous and I have never carved palm before so don't know exactly how to deal with it.

I Like the depth of the face. Cracks can look really good aswell.

Love the style, nice one.

I'm lovin the whole brow line you got on him! Yeah, some logs are almost dust in the center and you just have to be gentle with it. Once it's sealed though...no worries.

He's looking very stylish thus far.

Mahalo

McTiki

I know I've been away for a while now. This is my first update post in quite a long while. The move back took a lot out of me mentally. But I've finally gotten the chisels sharpened up and working again. The progress you see below is just the head dress, but I'm hoping to have him all finished up soon.

I want to take some time here to thank those of you who have kept in touch and took the time to help me through everything. It has meant a lot to me. Thank you.

Here is my progress so far:
Front

Side

Back

Mahalo!

go finky, go!

I'd forgotten about your move - I hope everything is working out for you. Looks like you've certainly slipped back into the carving groove without too much trouble. The headress looks spectacular, and quite an achievement considering how fibrous and chippy that wood seems from the pics...

Thanks Kingstiedye!

Paipo, I'm probably over achieving on this piece because the wood is terribly fiberous. I'm hoping that with a lot of sanding, coating, and resanding that I can smooth it out some. Thanks!

Very nice Finky! Let's see some more of him?

How's the noggin?

-G

Nice detail work, Finky.

Yeah, as GMAN says, where's the rest of him?!

Yay! Finky slingin da chissels :D Lookin gooood mate :D :D

Good to see you back to your chisels Finkdaddy, carving will help you get back on
track. The detail work on the back of that headdress is way cool, gonna be a good one.
Thanks for getting back to us.

Finky, your new Work Shop must be agreeing with you, This guy Really is looking great. i Love the headdress.

The "overly fibrous" part will just make him look more ancient after he's all done and stained. I've carved a few that I didn't even bother doing any fine sanding on, and they just came out looking old.

awesome detail on that headress! glad to see you back and posting.

Welcome back to the great white north. Missed your carvings, looks like you soaked up a bit during your stay in paridise (Benzville)

What do a piece of mahogany, yellow cedar, purple heart, maple, and bone have in common? They are the beginnings of my new project. I don't want to say what it will be right away, because I'm pretty sure that it wont turn out like I want it too, but I'm going to give it a whirl.

The palm log isn't finished yet, but I have this idea that I want to tackle while it's still fresh.

Thanks everyone who responded. Now that I've settled in I feel OK about the move. My noggin's fine after the scooter spill. The scooter's fine too, in fact, I'm planning a big trip with him. More details on that to come.

Aloha again folks! Here's a couple of progress pics on my newest piece.
I was really itching to do a pendent sized piece again, and for some reason this piece has renewed the carving bug in me again. I've sort of taken a personal vow to spend as much time and energy as needed to make every piece I do as nice as I can make it. Does that make sense?


I'm going to start on the skirt next. Thank you so much for looking. :drink:

Super Fantastic Finky! Killa Design. Please keep posting as you move along with this....That purple heart juxtaposed to that lighter wood kicks booty!

The headdress is awesome as well. Love, love it!

PS, what are the lips made of?

Schooled by the finest.....Capt. K and Master G

[ Edited by: Babalu 2007-10-02 18:29 ]

Thanks for the props Babalu. The lips were carved as part of the head, but they looked a little plain so I colored them with a kissable-looking gloss enamel. The lighter wood is Alaskan Yellow Cedar.

Very cool, I think you are thinking the right way, it's the only way.

Love it Finky! This is really cool, keep pushin' it. Good to see you back in your
creative mode.

That is absolutely gorgeous Finky! Great to see you settled in and carving too!

All right Finkdaddy! That's the stuff. Looking forward to see the progress on that one. She rocks-I mean, she shakes!