Little pup for a little miss, plus a wabbit ( Osmo finish )

[Lons]

Finally got around to finishing a couple of simple carvings I roughed out years ago, got a box full of others in various states as well.
This was all because my granddaughter makes a beeline for a puppy carving I made 20 years ago and I promised I would carve one for her.
She'll be pleased when she sees the pup but has announced she would like a cat as well and I'll have to do one as my missus nabbed the wabbit. :roll:

Carved in lime, 2 thinned coats of Osmo raw nibbed with Scotchbrite pad and a light coat of microcrystaline wax as I wanted to keep them as light in colour as possible, they'll darken enough over time.

 

[xy mosian]

Beautiful Lons. I am not suprised the Wabbit got nicked. Would you give me some idea of the scale please.
xy

 

[Lons]

Thanks, very kind to say that xy.

They're only small, the pup is around 110mm long and the rabbit about 150 long x 80 high. I've started roughing out the cat for her this afternoon but picked the hardest bit of lime I've ever cut. :shock:

I dug out some of my unfinished ones as well, looked at them a few times and put them back - too many to list, a walnut African warrior head, elm lion, owl, bear, horse etc. been doing that for years!

 

[xy mosian]

Thank you for the details Lons.
I am not alone with having one or two not quite finished then? What a relief.

I still need to follow a series of images myself, and often forget where the images are stored, or what they are called. An interupted carving can be around one, or two years.

If I may I would like to attempt a carving based on Wabbit, making my own drawings. An exercise which should help me. Who knows in a couple of years I may be able to post a similar image.
Thanks again for the prompt reply.
xy

 

[Lons]

The rabbit was from a pet a neighbour had many years ago and I made a few sketches though I'm not good at drawing tbh. I had roughed out the thing years ago and like you I forgot where the original sketches and images were kept so just made it up as I went along, the trouble with carving is if you keep looking there's always more you want to cut off :lol:

If you want to have a go at that rabbit I'm happy to take pics from different angles and email them to you if you pm me your address it's pretty simple though.

cheers
Bob

 

[Lons]

XY

Here is the lion I roughed out at least 10 years ago and I haven't the foggiest where my initial reference drawings are.
It's a bit bigger at 400 long x 200 high

 

[xy mosian]

The rabbit was from a pet a neighbour had many years ago and I made a few sketches though I'm not good at drawing tbh. I had roughed out the thing years ago and like you I forgot where the original sketches and images were kept so just made it up as I went along, the trouble with carving is if you keep looking there's always more you want to cut off :lol:

If you want to have a go at that rabbit I'm happy to take pics from different angles and email them to you if you pm me your address it's pretty simple though.

cheers
Bob

All that sounds very familiar. However that is a generous offer that I would like to take up. PM aboout to be sent.

As for the Lion, well at least you remember just what the intended outcome is. I cannot always claim the same for some of the odd lumps around my desk.

Thanks again xy

 

[Lons]

As for the Lion, well at least you remember just what the intended outcome is.

:lol: :lol: Well I think I intended it to be a lion, it could just as easily be any big cat. #-o

 

[xy mosian]

Lons,
The more I look at your abandoned 'cat' the more I see one. That is something I am only just managing. Perhaps I am becoming more 'arty'.
I don't recognise the wood it seems dark for Lime, but then there is no reason why it should be. Do you happen to recall what it is?
xy

 

[Lons]

It's a big lump of elm with quit a few burrs in it, the photos don't show it up well. Elm is ok to carve but can be a bit coarse and you need to be careful with fine detail.
That one hasn't had much chiselling done yet mostly off the bandsaw and handsaw cuts. It's sitting on my workshop at the minute daring me to start again.

Unlike the African warrior head in walnut which is much further advanced but I'm stuck. Happens a lot but I find that once I get back into a particular carving I get enthusiastic again for a while and it becomes a series of decreasing circles.

This one: Stands about 250mm high

 

[Bm101]

You know those paintings where the eyes follow you round the room? I could swear that last one is looking in a different direction in the second picture.
Spooky.

 

[Lons]

You know those paintings where the eyes follow you round the room? I could swear that last one is looking in a different direction in the second picture.
Spooky.

:lol: :lol: yebbut he doesn't have any eyeballs........yet!

 

[xy mosian]

It's sitting on my workshop at the minute daring me to start again.

I have one or two of those "I dare you start ups as well". In my case I think it is an underlying fear of messing up the work so far, that and "Now you've cut a horn off, what next?"
The African head shows great potential. Do you start with clay models etc., or dive straight in?
Elm is not a wood I have handled but if offerred I now know it can be carved.
xy

 

[Lons]

I doubt I could fashion a clay model to save my life XY, it's different somehow with wood as sometimes the grain patterns that appear lead to changes as you carve, easier to stick that horn back on if it's clay though.

I do occasionally make a sketch, often from a mix of different photos and just keep drawing lines like spine legs etc. as they get cut away.

I haven't bought a piece of carving wood for 35 years so if it gets spoiled it doesn't hurt too much. After Novembers' visit to Harrogate show I've cast an eye over my timber stock and realised to replace it would be an eye watering sum. :shock:

 

[xy mosian]

I hav'nt made a model either, although I am considering it as my latest enthusiasm is leading towards relief portraits. That will likely never happen but just maybe. I think a modelling clay practise run will either put me off completely or really fire me up.
My garage/workshop/shed has lots of reasonable timber which "will be useful one day" and I am slowly getting through it to save the good lady having to put it on the pyre. The last wood for carving I bought was some Bass, just to see what the fuss is about. It is easy to work but, as others have said is not as crisp as Lime and tends to bruise easily. This of course tends to make delicate fine work tricky.
All good fun of course.
xy