ClayB

Hi Gisela, Part of the reason it's hard to tell where the leather ends and the putty begins on Jan's pictures is his attention to detail. He'll spend weeks on one picture to get the leather stretched out to where he wants it, filling in the putty, etc. Figuring out just how much putty to ues can be difficult. It takes practice, and trial and error. I don't think there is anything wrong with taking some out, or adding more. You just have to work it over when you are done to try hide it. Some of that can be done with the hairing technique. More of it can be hidden with the paint. It's not a big disaster if you get some of the putty on the leather either. You may be able to rub/scrape some of it off once it's dry. If you cant get it all off, try using a scalpel and cut hair into it to blend it in. The stiffener and paint will blend it in even more. I consider myself really lucky to have gotten to know Jan and to have taken numerous classes from him. I'd have never gotten to where I am at this today without all his help. You're lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from Robb. I never got to meet him even though he only lived 150 miles away. I didn't know that until a few months before he died. I have gotten to be friends with his sister and brother in law and have had a chance to see a lot of his work. Both he and Jan are pretty amazing artists, and teachers. If there is anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask. It's fun to see what other people are doing with the extreme embossing techniques.

Hi Gisela, I guess I missed your introduction but wanted to welcome you. You have done some nice work. I am really impressed with the rooster. I've only seen sculptures like that done by a few people and you did a really nice job on it. I'd like to try more of that type of work sometime and may have some questions for you on how you came up with a pattern. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your work and I will looking forward to seeing more. The monthly challenges were something I started awhile ago and ran for a few months. Then things came up and I had to quit doing them. Clay Miller took over and ran them for a while after that, but he also got busy with all the things in his life and had to quit doing them too. I hope that someday something like the monthly challenges can get started again. The old challenge patterns should still be here on the forum and you could sure try the patterns and post pictures of your projects. Just because the month they were started in is over doesn't mean that people cant still participate in them.

Hi Gisela, It looks to me like you are doing a really nice job on the bear! You've shown some pretty good close up pictures, but it's still difficult to tell a few things from the photos. So I'm going to give you some general tips that maybe you've already done, but I cant see. On the third picture, where you put putty next to the nose as the putty dries, it can shrink away from the leather. Then you need to add more putty to fill in the gaps. Sometimes it takes several times to get a really smooth transition. When I'm trying to fill in these small gaps, I mix the putty a little wetter than the stuff you fill the back in with. That seems to make it easier to get it into the cracks. When the putty is still a little wet, I try to draw in hair on the putty with a scalpel. Once the putty is dry, it seems like the knife wants to grab at the putty and it makes it harder to cut the hair in it. One of the things that makes Jan's work look so good is that it's hard to tell where the leather ends and the putty begins. A lot of that is done with the paint, but getting the hair on the putty to blend in is pretty important too. Other than that, just make sure there are no spots where you dont have hair cut in on the leather. Those spots really show up once the stiffener is put on. Again, your bear looks really good so far. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.

Hi Tina, You did a great job on the details in all of this, makes it kind of...... creepy! I like most all the animals we have around here, but rattlesnakes I have just never gotten used to. The snake skin makes a great background for the carving. I also really like the viney border you used on the back. Another really neat notebook.

Hi Tina, These last couple of projects are so much fun. I had been wondering what ever happened with the little fishies. A person can look at your patterns for a long time and just keep seeing more things in them and your coloring is just awesome!!!

Seems like the "official" monthly challenge thing died awhile ago. This would have made a great pattern for one though. Lots of people are intimidated when it comes to carving faces, me included. It would be interesting to see the different approaches people would take in carving the facial features in a pattern like this, and it could make for some interesting discussion.

Jim sent me this tracing pattern and photocarve from a recent class he held and gave permission to share them, so here they are. I think this would have been a fun class to attend.

Harvey, it was Charley that was standing next to the toilet seat!!!!! A guy happens to wander into the ladies room one time by accident, and the bathroom jokes never end. I'll be looking forward to the BBQ with you Tina, and of course it wouldn't be a party without you there Tom!!! Randy, you couldn't have picked a better place to stay in the Hills. Custer is one of our favorite places to stay down there. A ride through Custer State Park and Needles would be a lot of fun on a bike. I'll let the other Clay give you directions to the store, but it's not hard to find. We'll be looking forward to seeing you too.

Since you mentioned North Dakota, I'll send you a link to some pictures of the part of the state I live in. I think the Badlands area and Roosevelt National Park is the prettiest place in North Dakota. We have an abundance of wildlife and pretty scenery. There is also a lot of history here (but I guess everywhere has history). North Dakota has several old forts and indian villages (restored or recreated). George Custer was based here before he decided to chase indians off into Montana. Lewis and Clark spent a couple winters here while they were exploring and mapping out new territory. Theodore Roosevelt had 2 cattle ranches here in the badlands before he moved back east and was elected president. We don't have a lot of people or big cities and i think that's a plus. Pictures from the badlands

Hi Tina, This looks great, as always. You always come up with such fun patterns and this one does seem to fit you. I'm with Kate on the Fiebings antique. I mix it with Tan Kote too. I like the way it thins it down. I think it makes it easier to use. I hope you find something that works for you. It's no fun when you find something you really like and then they quit making it. I've been stocking up on a few different products when I find someplace that has some left. I hope you don't write off the Eco Flow stuff altogether to quickly. I think that if you work with it a while, you might find that there are ways to make it work.

I dont think it gets much better than that. The figure carving, the floral carving, the coloring, it's all GREAT!!!!!

Hi Tina, I soooo wish you could be there too!!! I am pretty sure I could learn as much from you as I could teach you. But, if you can't make it, then I'll just have to figure out a way to get to Sweeden someday. Stacy has been talking about going back to Norway sometime and if she does, I'm gonna go with and we'll have to figure out a way to get together!

Hi Tom, I think you did a great job on this project. I'm impressed how you took what we offered you, but went ahead and did your own thing with it. It's got that TomSwede style that we've come to expect from you, and even though it's all black, the carving really stands out.

Last week I got a package in the mail from Crystal. In it was this swan carving and I have to tell you that the pictures of it dont do it justice. It's really hard to believe Crystal has only been at this for a little over a year. But then, Crystal also told me she was going to give this to a friend of her's for her birthday, so maybe she's not telling the truth about how long she's been carving either (just kidding). The carving and coloring and everything else about this picture are REALLY well done!!! Thanks Crystal for sending this to me. Stacy loves this peice too and it's going to have a special place in our house. We're running out of those special places to hang things lately, but sure is fun!!!

My question is what would you use a knife with 12-16 blades for? For me, the multi blade knife is used to do fine detail work. 16 blades would have to be close to an inch wide wouldn't it? A lot of times, my knife with 4 blades is too big to get into the areas that I need to make hair and I end up cutting individual hairs with a scalpel instead. When I first started doing this type work, I made up a knife with spacers between the blades and after doing a few dozen pictures, I've never found a use for the knife with the spacers between the blades. I've never seen where anyone else has used them either, in classes with Jan Schoonover or in Robb Barr's videos. It sounded like a good idea, but I've never found a need for it. I'll be interested in seeing what you've come up with, but I'm not sure it will be practical for the kinds of things I use mine for.

Kathy, I am counting on you being there. Hopefully for moral support, but I have a feeling it's so you can make fun of me when I mess up (or even if I don't) Finally, your chance for revenge! Regis, helping people like you that are really interested in learning is why I started doing lessons. It's not about money, it's about passing on my passion for carving leather. It would be really cool if you could somehow make the class in Rapid, but yeah, that's quite a trip. And Josh, of course I'll take pictures, if I haven't worn out my camera by then )

Bob Beard told me that when he and Robb Barr were making a lot of leather feathers, they would drill a hole in a wooden dowel and then epoxy X acto knife blades into the end of the dowel. He said they worked as good as the swivel knife. Jan Schoonover has someone adapt a swivel knife to hold X acto kniife blades and sells them to people that take his classes. I am pretty sure he'd sell them to anyone that wanted one. I dont think he has email and last I checked his website wasn't working anymore, but if you're interested, I could get you his phone number.

Hi Anne, What a great gift for your daughter. I bet she will treasure it. You've sure been putting out some nice work lately.

That's really cool! What a great gift. I hope when I grow up I can learn to use a swivel knife like that.

I wanna say thanks for the pictures too Johanna. For those of us that cant make it to the shows, the pictures and reports are the next best thing. I got a phone call from Monica Nibbe last night and one of the things she mentioned was that there were a lot of new/younger people entering the shows lately and the quality of thier work was really good. When I looked at the picture this morning, one of the first ones I saw was of KatieG's work and I knew just what Monica was talking about. Congrats Katie!! I also had an email from Silva. She mentioned that she really enjoyed her time with you (Jo) and Holly. I'm SOOOOO jelous!!! I've been a fan of her's since the first piece of her work I ever saw. To have her judge a piece of my work is such a thrill. She said she hopes to start participating here on the forum now that you showed her how to get back on. That should be a treat for everyone here. Thanks again for all you do to make this such a great place for all the rest of us.

Hi Kate, You've been busy. Those look really nice, but then everything you do always looks really nice. I especially like the one with the grapes and the celtic style one. There's something about the simple coloring on them that really makes them POP!

Congratulations David!!!! That's a beautiful seat and it's great to see it get the recognition it deserves.

Hidecrafter used to have what they called their Pro Crafter tool collection. They were a little better quality tool. The pebble background tools were in this line. The numbers on mine are PA003 (small) PA 004 (medium) and PA 005 (large). They are pretty popular so I would think they would still carry them. You might just have to give them a call.