Carvings by Atomic Mess

Hi all,
I've been lurking here for awhile now, admiring all the amazing carvings and learning alot from everyone. I have been carving on and off for years but have been doing a bit more recently so I thought I'd post some stuff here. I can't decide whether to post stuff chronologically (even if i could remember the order) so I'll just stick some stuff up when I work out how to do pictures and see what you think.
Cheers,
G

Here's a small (5cm) Moai I made awhile ago...

another view..

Enjoy!
G

Good start!

keep 'em comin'....

Thanks 5150. Here's another one from some time ago-

An outdoor shot-

I went through a phase of making holes for tealights-

This is how he normally spends his evenings-

Thanks for looking,
G

Welcome to TC !

Nice start! I'm diggin the tealight Witcoesque one for sure! What else ya got?

Keep em coming man.

Mahalo

McTiki

[ Edited by: McTiki 2012-04-14 12:38 ]

Welcome to TC AM. Like the candle boy.

Now that's tiki...:tiki:
Let's see more!

Cool idea with the candles! Good work! Keep choppin!

Thanks guys!
McTiki- the eyes on the new one are looking interesting!
Captain - at least you broke the horse and not your tiki... ;]
Keylo - 'nother one coming up...
Amate - your fantastic outdoor pics have inspired me to take some tikis and a camera next time I leave the smoke!

I know it's all about the progress shots here so I'll try and oblige even though this guy was finished over a year ago-

After the sketching, beginning to rough him out-

refining the arms and lips-

the teeth-

at this point I must have got carried away carving and forgot to keep taking pics, so here's the first coat of wax-

phew! more later guys, thanks for looking...
G

Looking awesome so far, it already shows this guy it's going to have tons of personality and I love the last one great design, I like very much the rough lines on him, very cool guy

Mess, please tell me you didn't just rough that last one out using a box cutter. Please. Excellent!

Imagine real tools in this persons hands.

Mahalo

McTiki

Thanks Clarita!

Mctiki - I had a chisel and a gouge when I did him as well!
I do use the stanley knife alot though, you can do quite a bit with it. I'm really into the PNG stuff and alot of that was made just with sharpened stones, bone chisels and shells so any metal tools are a bonus when you think about it like that. Thanks for your encouragement.

OK here's a few shots of the finished guy-

do a little twirl for the ladies and gents-

A bit of Tiki ambience-

Mahalo,
G

Me Like! There is something old school about your work? Love the ATOMIC MESS great name.

Thanks Seek, it's a nickname someone gave me about 10 years ago...

A couple of years ago I bought some pen blanks so could try out different woods quickly and cheaply. I got a box of 30, 5 each of cherry, beech, oak, sapele, iroko and ash for a tenner (that would be something like $12 for most of you guys?). Anyway it turned out to be a good investment even though I've only used 5 or 6 of them two years later!

here's one in ash-

Tough wood to carve but finishes really well...

thanks for looking,

I wouldn't want to meet those guys in a dark ally.

I agree with Will carve those stick men are creepy. I like!

dude, that last one with the progress shots is killer...

Sweet
Like the step by step pics
Way kool

Thanks again PJ and hang10 your feedback is well appreciated, I'll be posting some more step by steps soon.

Will and Cy, don't worry, those guys are pretty small-

or are they?

;]

thanks for the encouragement!

got a new toy today guys-

I've seen some of the experts here using a hook knife, I guess this is the low rent version-

I'll let you know how it goes after I try it out, if i've got any fingers left to type with...

yeah man....

now yer cookin' with gas!

I'm really digging your style - very imaginative. I can't believe that you use that box cutter to carve with! you have VERY good control with it! Keep carving and posting!

Yikes. Save yourself some stiches and go with this...
https://warrencutlery.com/store/product-info.php?pid185.html

yeah, I need one of those too...

though my "fine detail" game is crap!

I like the #8 and #10 blades - the others are good too, everyone has their own preference. Good disposible blades that can be sharpened and are difficult to break.
https://warrencutlery.com/store/product-info.php?pid227.html

You officially have been shown the light.

yeah, what's kinda funny is that I have no fear of big chainsaws,

but little tiny knives scare the shit out of me...lol.

Aloha is right, the hook knife is much easier to control than the box cutter. I can barely control the box cutter when I cut boxes with it!!! The first carving I did I used an x-acto knife and a box cutter. Damn carving took FOREVER. Once you get used to the hook knife, things get faster and you can get some really nice detail with it as well.

Another alternative is to use a dremel. I carve all of my pendants and smaller carvings with a dremel and carving bits. I have used the hook knife and I like how it turns out, but for me the dremel is faster and easier. I give major props to the carvers you can wip out a pendant with a hook knife - there is a bit of a learning curve!

Either way you go Atomic and pjc5150, it's easier to control (and much safer) than the box cutter.

Have fun and keep posting!!

Hey PJ isn't a chainsaw just a whole load of tiny knives attached to a chain that's spinning really fast? ;]

Aloha thanks, I didn't know about that one. I'll see if I can find those in the UK.

The new blade on the box cutter is pretty vicious, I was weaing a glove on my left hand but I still managed to nick the thumb of my right with the new blade - the hand that was holding the knife - what a dumbass!

I think it's partly what you're used to Polynesiac, I've been using the straight blade with the box cutter for a couple of years and it works for me, the new blade is going to take some time to get used to...
I used a dremel type tool on some parts of the small guys but I rarely use it anymore for two reasons-

1. I hate wearing goggles and a respirator when I'm carving
2. I prefer the marks you get from a knife and chisels

at the end of the day I guess it doesn't matter what we use as long as we get results and stay in one piece...

Anyway enough of my yakking here's some pics:

au natural-

the whole thing-

close ups-

I used a dremel type thing, a couple of chisels and the trusty box cutter ;]
can't remember what wood this is...

Thanks for looking,

I agree, use whatever you're comfortable with, because the end result is what counts! This latest tiki is great! I love the chunky, witco-ish feel to them.

Totally agree ^^^ You have a very Witcoish style that you bring. I'm really digging it.

Very cool stuff Mess!

Mahalo

McTiki

Au Natural is Naturally Cool!

Thanks again guys!

Got a more recent piece coming up. I've done some PNG shield/gope board style stuff in the past (will post them when I get round to photographing them) and I painted them in parts, so I wanted to try it out on more 3d piece.

I usually buy bits of mahogany or other decent wood to carve but i was worried about messing up a nice bit of wood with the paint so I decided to use a bit of pine I found in the street. I've carved pine before and it's a pain in the arse but this plank seemed to be really hard which I've not experienced with pine before - really chippy and easy to splinter but also super tough to cut!

Anyhow I finished eventually so here goes-

I decided to try and cut most of the outline with him still attached to the plank, I wasn't sure if the wood was treated so I wanted to use a hacksaw to rough it out and this gave me something to hold-

sorry for the crappy pictures, no daylight in England in January!

it was hard to get the details without splintering bits off...

all done with chisels, gouges, hand drill and box cutter...

I got excited and forgot to keep documenting the steps again...

I'll try and take some better pics if it ever stops raining!

Thanks for looking,

That's really good Atomic Mess, great paint job and use of a found piece of wood!

Thanks Cy, you've got the paint thing down to a tee!

I went to the British Museum on Sunday, there's not much Oceanic art there but I took some pictures for reference,so here's a couple for you guys-

Cool dog carving from the Solomon Islands-

Nice Maori lintel-

Hi Guys,

here's another recent piece, around 22cm tall, mahogany.

Sketching out...

basic shapes done with a hand drill, chisel and hacksaw...

more work on the face...

more work on the arms and trying to open out the back without snapping it!

finishing up the eyes

and the back

I think I'll call her Flopsy, reminds me a bit of a rabbit (or maybe I spent too long on Babalu's thread?)

time for a rest...

cheers

[ Edited by: Atomic Mess 2012-05-11 06:11 ]

[ Edited by: Atomic Mess 2012-05-11 06:13 ]

Nice carve.
I like how deep you carve.
The finish works good for you too.

love the Atomic style.

Dude! That little guy is killer!

Keep em coming man!

Mahalo

McTiki

I'm really diggin' the original style bro....very cool stuff.

Yeah man! thats' the spirit. :tiki:

Will- I was trying to escape from the log or block in this case, as AlohaStation says on your thread-

On 2012-01-20 07:40, AlohaStation wrote:

The really difficult thing is allowing your creative vision to dictate how you use the wood not the shape of the wood. There are times when the shape may accent the overall design (I know I'm very guilty of that), but to create a carving that looks nothing like a log is challenging. Carve Deep!!!

Thanks to all of you, I'm learning alot here and everyone's work and comments are inspiring!

i love the face on the last one really nice work

Loosing the shape of the wood is my favorite mantra. It's kinda the difference between a wood carver & just a Tiki carver.

Yeah I'm definitely trying for that. The arms, legs, hands and feet are tough - I want to keep it primitive but not too squared off if that makes sense? Still can't do it so I'm totally happy...

Diggin the little squatting bird creature! Nice Work!

Thanks Jack,

looking forward to seeing your work Anthony!

here's a house post type thing I completed recently-

I did some sketches on paper and then on to the wood.

It's a thinnish piece so I didn't think in 3d too much before I started to carve...

I'm tired and it's time for a martini, more pics tomorrow,
cheers

Loose the utility knife and get one of these - you can thank me later.

https://warrencutlery.com/store/product-list.php?pg1-cid49.html