My carving

Hello,
I like your style of tiki's..
nice work..
Greetz

Thanks Jacko - I'm looking forward to seeing your work.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. He reminds me of a band member from the group KISS.

one of many KON-TIKIs

one of many non-tikis

I love the grains in your work!

Thanks Poobah. It's always fun to see the grain revealed as I carve. I picked up a couple of small palm logs while at the beach a couple of weeks back. Should be fun to try it. The next one is pine.

Just perfect head to toe.

makes me smile :)
Can you show a close-up of the hands?
Really nice work, as we have come to expect.

Too damn cool !

those eye hypnotize........THOSE EYES!!!!!.

great job man.....

Superb! Bravo, amate. So what finish did you go with on the 6 footer?

Thank you all for your encouraging responses!!!
Conga - Not everything turns out so good . . . but if I can get off a good one now and again, I'm happy with that. I'll try to post some additional photos this weekend. He has already been inducted into amate's spirit house and it's kind of dark and spooky in there. :D
Big T.- The hat is stained with several coats of red oak because I wanted it a bit darker than the rest. For the body, there were a few knots much darker than the surrounding wood that I wanted to blend in. After two coats of cherry stain, I realized I would not be able to get it dark enough so I added a coat of the red oak. That was dabbed off after about 15 minutes to get the shade I was trying for. Then two or three coats of tung oil followed by furniture wax applied with a worn Scotch-brite pad.

SWEET :)

How about some nice and moody pics of the spirit house...sounds like
we need to see it.

This one is just perfect , wich kind if wood ?

I had to stay up late last night to get these shots of the spirit house.

Now, this is the part that makes me a bit nervous.

close ups of the hands as requested.

and a couple more I did not include on the original post.

Thanks for lookin' in.

[ Edited by: amate 2011-06-12 06:07 ]

That scary, spooky dude looks like he could step right off his platform amate! Great details and pictures.

Amate, your work is astounding!!!

Very great PNG figure, lot of personality and reat skills on the execution (and I think I'm starting to know...). Détails are perfect, hands, feets, patern on the basis and eyes!

Cool pic on the spirit house... especially this with the eyes!

J.

shrunken tiki - he is 6 feet tall and carved out of pine.
Cy - this guy is a heavyweight and if he does step down off that platform...I might get my skinny butt kicked. Sometime I get carried away with the photos.
Loajia - He took me a long time to finish but was a lot of fun. This style of ancestor figure is my favorite and they make a statement in the spirit house. I prepped a 2 meter log last weekend and will probably do another one similar to this.

Thanks for lookin' in.

A wise man once said, "Every one you do is practice for the next". So, I made my second attempt at carving Mr. Ku.

fantastic stuff Amate,really dig this guy.How tall is he?cheers Watango

DUDE!

That is stunning.....

Love the headdress.

So what did you learn on this one - that will be done to the next?

Excellent! Very impressive. 8)

DAMN!!! Next level !!!!

Very nice carving Amate! So clean!

Thank you for sharing!

McTiki

He must have been right.
That's just about perfect.

Can't get any better.

Oh YEAH!
Great headdress, and pattern on the base!

On 2011-06-20 08:47, amate wrote:
A wise man once said, "Every one you do is practice for the next". So, I made my second attempt at carving Mr. Ku.

That sounds like Benzart! Am I right?! :)

Killer, man! The last couple have been really jaw dropping!

Thanks for all the positive responses.

Watango - He is 32 inches tall. Glad you looked in.

5150 - I'm very happy with the headdress. It is very close to the way I envisioned it. The stain on the body is golden pecan.

Aloha - I could write several paragraphs on the flaws I'd like to correct but I'll be brief. The focus on my first Ku was to get the crouch correct. On this one, I was trying for a more traditional face. I feel I'm heading in the right direction. For #3, I'll make the head smaller in proportion and work on the hands.

Savage Daddy. I appreciate the kind words. Glad to see you back in the game. It's been too quiet on here lately.

Tikigodz - thanks for looking! Now I need to teach him how to grill burgers. :wink:

McTiki - thanks bro. We need to see a new one from you!

Will - I think I still need lots of practice to hang with you guys. Thanks for your encouragement.

hiltiki - I thought this carve was a bit weak and almost did not post it. Thanks again.

4WD - I'm just a bit embarrassed. I must admit I've been studying your Ku technique. Hope you will take it as a compliment.

Big T. Well, I saw that comment on someone else thread and don't recall who made it. It really struck a chord with me though so I just gave credit to a "wise man".
Thanks for you support.

Hope I didn't miss anyone.

[ Edited by: amate 2011-06-23 15:11 ]

On 2011-06-23 15:08, amate wrote:
hiltiki - I thought this carve was a bit weak and almost did not post it. Thanks again.

You thought this one was a bit weak?! Are you kidding?? He's freakin awesome! :lol: I love all the color you're putting on too. Gonna have to try that. The headdress looks like it was a lot of work. He looks much larger than the 32" you said he was.

beautiful piece, definitely looks taller than 32".

fantastic work...please keep it up and keep posting more pics!

Ku #3 is 29" tall. Now it's on to a larger log.

Working the bugs out of another style.

Since I carved this guy anatomically correct and I have a 3 year old granddaughter, the grass skirt had to go.

another great piece, and quite a nice scene for the photo shoot!

diggin the jean shorts :)

lovin the pics!

Thanks guys...just trying to figure out how to work all the knobs on my camera. Happy Independence day to all.

On 2011-06-23 15:08, amate wrote:
4WD - I'm just a bit embarrassed. I must admit I've been studying your Ku technique. Hope you will take it as a compliment.

Don't be! I didn't invent the Ku, and neither did the guys I studied!
And, I saw something on yours that i want incorporate in my next one. :D

On 2011-07-02 06:23, amate wrote:

Working the bugs out of another style.

Good job and nice serie of pics for the Ku. Also a good start for the Marquisian and the Tekoteko.

Just one question, how to put a jean's short to a statue who have hands on his hips and his feet on a pedestal? :wink:

J.

what kind of wood is the ku???

4x4 - fair enough.

Laojia - thank you sir. I had to cut the jeans and re-stitch them in place. It wasn't a fun job but it had to be done.

pjc - Both of the recent Kus are hackberry.

[ Edited by: amate 2011-07-19 15:39 ]

U rock

thanks hang10. Been busy with other things but I hope to get back to it soon...at least finish up some of the stuff I have started.

On 2011-07-19 15:38, amate wrote:
4x4 - fair enough.

Laojia - thank you sir. I had to cut the jeans and re-stitch them in place. It wasn't a fun job but it had to be done.

pjc - Both of the recent Kus are hackberry.

[ Edited by: amate 2011-07-19 15:39 ]

Oh, you found yourself some hackberry. I missed that. How are you liking it?? I find it a lot better than the local pine!

Big T. This particular piece of hackberry had a lot of insect damage and a deep split up the back. That's why I used it to practice. The crack can easily be disguised when making the pig tails. The insect damage is very evident on the left arms. I have other pieces of hackberry that carved beautifully! I always watch for felled hackberry as I drive around. I have a 6 and a half footer that is seasoning. Hope it doesn't split!

I am using some of my better logs for the next 2 Ku.

and here is another experimental/practice piece.

I also started another PNG figure. He's five feet.

another practice piece with less than perfect wood.

I usually carve the face after the body is roughed out. I'm not sure how I got off track on this. It is my best piece of sycamore.

Finally finished a couple up.

Your finished last two pieces are so good.

Wow! Love all the new stuff.

I love this guy. Is this sycamore too? I like that color. Are there two tones there?

Always drawn to your carvings, great tribal feel to everything
you do. But...the last one is really sweet. Beautiful grain in
the wood.
Keep 'em coming...inspires an old chizzler like me.

Thanks Hiltiki - glad you looked in.

Big T. He is 16" and make of oak. Yes, I have been experimenting with layering stain but have not yet reached the effect I'm trying for. One of the major setbacks I have is using intoxicating beverages to relieve the tedium of sanding. I can't remeber what went on and in what sequence. By the way, those shell inlay eyes...what a great idea.

It's alway a pleasure to have have you stop by Conga. I believe both of us carve from the same place...wherever it is that inpsiration comes from. I have always admired your work and find an affinity for it. There's a couple of other guys on here that also seem to be able to read my mind...it's just that they are a step ahead so maybe I should say I am reading theirs.

and thanks to everyone else that has a look.