Ganthis update 4/17, Happy Teeth Tiki!

Hi Guys,

So during spring break, I gave carving these little guys a shot. I used freshly cut mango wood and a chisel.

My first one, crude and simple:

For my 2nd guy, I was able to familiarize myself more with the chisel and give more form:

For the 3rd guy, I wanted to take the next step and carve hands and feet.
Except after I carved him out, I realized his face is way too plain. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to do about his face?

Thanks

[ Edited by: ganthis 2008-04-01 11:34 ]

[ Edited by: ganthis 2008-04-17 19:23 ]

Welcome ganthis that is a fine fist few tikis much better than
my first. You are progressing nice already.

Go with your gut and apply the experience to the next one.

For the 3rd guy, I wanted to take the next step and carve hands and feet.
Except after I carved him out, I realized his face is way too plain. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to do about his face?

I don't think you need to do anything to the face. All three are great first starts and worthy of some more polishing and fine tuning in my opinion. :)

Do some finish work on those suckers and get some stain on 'em!

Pretty good !

Keep up the good work.

Benjamin.

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. They are greatly appreciated

Anyone know how long one should air dry these guys before applying finish? I chiseled them out of freshly cut mango wood.

I'll post pics of my latest guy a little later.

I think the quicker the better, now that you already carved it. Stain it, coat it with a sealer, and that will prevent it from drying too quick and cracking.

Ok so I can officially say that I've been bitten by the tiki bug. I think about carving when I'm not. I carve when I can. I keep a look out for free logs on the side of the road when I'm driving. It's awesome to make them.

So here's my update. I added more features to LippyT. The last thing I want to do before finishing him is to add texture to his back and perhaps level out the top of his head.

His face is a little skewed, but I"m going to leave it that way. He was my first complicated tiki. =)

For my next guy he's called Chooch. He's a little taller 7.5" and has more of a body figure. I gave him a butt. Which has a cool knot in it.

Thanks for looking!

Hold on to that gem and start another one.
You are ready for more carving tools for sure.

Love the driving down the road looking at logs or trees
i do that all the time.

Thanks for the tip, I didnt realize that it was ok to trap moisture in. Well, I also noticed that there's mold growing at the bottom of the tiki. I applied a wax at the ends, which I'm not sure it was the right thing to do. oh well, if they crack, that'll just add character. =)

Thanks for the advice.

On 2008-04-06 17:51, surfintiki wrote:
I think the quicker the better, now that you already carved it. Stain it, coat it with a sealer, and that will prevent it from drying too quick and cracking.

These are the coolest first Tikis I've seen on TC! They look tough, like Tiki longshoremen or little gangsters!

Don't sand these suckers, just stain 'em and leave them outside but not in the sun. Get some small cheap cans of stain, whatever looks good to you. In a few months apply a final coat, like spar varnish (if you're going to keep them outside) or 2 coats of poly (for indoors Tikis). They really have to dry out some more, don't apply varnish or poly to a wet tiki, but the stain will help keep the mold away.

More, man!

Aloha ganthis! You've got a good start at your first Tiki's my friend! It's a good thing to get hold of you (The Carvin Tiki Bug) Just hold on you in for an Amazing Ride. Keep havin fun with it and slayin the Wood.You have some INCREDABLE wood over there in Hawaii. Aloha, Your friend from Florida Mooney

[ Edited by: MooneyTiki 2008-04-13 07:13 ]

Hi Guys,

Cammo - Thanks for the compliments. Yeah, they're tough alright. Except they're growing mold at the bottoms of their feet!

MooneyTiki - I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that keeps an eye out for logs. I just picked some up. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is, it's pretty dark, but the bark is really soft.

So here's my latest Tiki, He's not completely done. I've noticed that I havent finished any of the tikis that I started. That's because I'm having so much fun, roughing them out.

This guy has teeth and he looks happy! Enjoy!

Yeah, He's starting to come around, with a Smirk on his face too!

He has teeth, looks happy and pretty nice !

nice carving, and good design.

Benjamin.

Woah!

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Ganthis yesterday to swap some tiki goodies, and he told me that he posted a few new tikis on his TC thread. A few? Man! You are a tiki carving machine! :)
Great carvings - I love the last guy with the teeth - super expressive!

Mahalo for sharing your work -

Henrik "VanTiki"

Yes, nice work thus far. Love the little bend or twist in
the wood.