ClayB

Johanna, There are probably some people here that don't know Billy and haven't seen his work. Any chance you could post some pictures of the masterpieces his tools sacrificed their lives for while he was beating them to death with "the assasin"?? Hi Billy It's great to have you here!!!

Crystal and Kate, glad you like the bear paw. It was just an experiment that actually turned out way better than expected. I am trying to duplicate it and do a lesson on it. You'd think the second (or third) one would be easier, not harder. If I can make another one turn out, I'll post the process. Freak, I'd take you up on your generous offer to fix the frame, but I happen to have another one just like it (minus the busted corners) in my basement. I do still have something here that I have been waiting to send you, but you wont send me your address! What are ya scared of? That I might post an invitation to everyone that there is going to be a free BBQ at Freak's house this weekend? I cant wait to see the rest of the pictures either, even if they are all of Roz's stuff. She has quite an imagination and it's amazing to see how she captures it on leather. Thanks Jo for keeping us updated.

Hi Kate, I dont know anything about backgammon, but that board sure looks good. I really like how you did the shading with the backgrounder. All your lines are so neat and clean, as usual. I cant wait to see what you do with this next.

Thanks for the congrats. Still, if I would have known my entries wouldn't be available for my friends that attended the show to see, I wouldn't have worked so hard to get them to the show. I got a phone call last week saying that the frame on the buffalo feathers picture was damaged during shipping too, so all in all, it has been a little bit of a disappointing experience. Well, for those of you that want to see them, here's pictures of my entries.

Hi Tina, That purse looks great, the fur sides add a lot to it. I think that barb pattern you carved on some of those purses is just the neatest pattern. I hope we get to see pictures of the rest of your winning entries from the show. Congrats!!!! I knew you would be a winner. Clay

Way to go Tina, I knew you'd do good!!!!! It's also cool that Billy finally got signed up on the forum. Now it really feels like the gang is all here.

Hi David, There is lots of fun stuff going on with that seat. I really like how the letters get larger in the center, and how you shaded them. Lots of tiny details too. Another great job!

Jim Downey, PO Box 30, Skull Valley, AZ 86338 sells lots of different colors of kangaroo lace. From the latest list I have from him: Basic colors: Black, Brown, Tan, Natural, Brandy, Chocolate, Whiskey, Chestnut Colors: Burgandy, Red, Purple, Yellow, Navy, Royal, Green, Light Blue, Pink, Jade, Aqua White and foils: White, Silver, Bronze, Pewter, Gold The basic and the colors come in sizez 3/32, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 in 54 yard spools, 5/16, 3/8 in 27 yard spools White and foils in sizes 3/32, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 in 54 yard spools. Prices start at $39 for a 54 yard roll of 3/32 basic color and go up to $126 for a 54 yard roll of 1/4 foil.

Hi Freak, Glad to see you back to doing some more really cool stuff! Everything about that notebook is great, but what I think I like best is how you did the outlines of the skulls in the wood background. That's a neat added touch. I hope you get settled into the new place and have some time to work on more leather projects. It's always fun when there is something new from you to see.

Montana leather sells Craftools and also carries Barry King's tools. They are completly different lines. This should take you to the catalog of Barry's tools. I don't have a lot of Barry's tools, but the ones I have don't have any numbers on them. Barry makes good tools. Like Marlon said, you can probably save some money ordering them directly from Barry.

Ranged events on the calendar are events that last more than one day.

That's a really good question. I have had the same problem a lot lately. I am wondering if the swivel knife is cutting to deep? I noticed it happening more for me since I got a couple blades from Bob Beard that are a lot sharper than what I used to use.

Regis, Have you checked out Siegel's website? It has a lot of info on all kinds of things like that. You might have to look around a bit to find exactly what you are looking for, but a lot of your questions might get answered there.

Hi Brent, I wont be there in person to say "hello" so I'll just do it here. "HELLO BRENT". I did send some entries for th show though. I hope they got there ok. I'm sure everyone that does make it to the show will have a great time.

The indian overall looks really nice. As for the eye, it looks to me like you beveled the bottom side of the eyeball. I think it would look more realistic if you would have lightly beveled or modeled the top side of that line. That would set the eye into the head instead of making it look like it is bulging out. Make sure you dont cut or bevel the eyes too deeply. Same goes for the lips and nose. The cut on the edge of the nose looks a slight bit deep. Other than that, it looks good. You got a lot of depth on the face muscles and the hair looks good too. Nice job!

Hi Crystal, This is just another thing that will take some practice. A few tips on using the hair blade. First, the leather should be pretty dry when you use it. Try using different amounts of pressure on the knife to see if you want deep cuts that really show up, or shallow cuts that just give a hint of hair. I was taught that summer coats of hair on things like a horse shouldn't even be haired as they look smooth and sleek without hairing. Second, use short strokes with the knife. I dont know what you are trying to hair, but most hair is going to be pretty short on animals other than manes and tails. Look at pictures of the animal you are carving and try to follow the hair direction. There will be a lot of direction changes. By making the hair in short strokes, it's easier to make the direction changes appear natural. You can also give hair texture with a lined tool like a beveler by just dragging it across the leather, but again, short strokes and pay attention to direction changes. You can also "draw" hair on an animal with a pointed modeling tool or a sewing awl or needle. If none of this helps, post a picture of what you have done so far and what you don't like and we can try and give you some ideas. Clay

Sign me up for the lessons too! You did a great job of turning that photo into a leather carving. I'd like to see more of what you have been doing.

Ok Ken, you have 2000 fans here telling you how they love your latest and you think I'm gonna jump in and say "geez Ken, you screwed up!". It's bad enough I have to keep checking over my shoulder in case Guido and Luigi are still looking for me, these badlands aren't big enough to hide me from all your fans!!!! As for what I didn't like, it looked to me like you cut and beveled in the eyebrow and lips on the first lady and that made them really pop out and look unnatural. I tried to sneak my comments into another post and hope you would see it. I think faces are really hard to do and I avoid them. They are another one of those things I'd like to work on sometime and figure out. Hopefully we can get some of the people that are good at them to do some tutorials on them in the future. If there were rules about having a plan from the beginning, I'd be in big trouble. I hardly ever know what I am doing till its done. Your "fix" turned out really nice and if you wouldn't have showed us all what you were doing, I bet everyone would have thought it was planned. Clay (hiding at the urologist's office today, nobody will think to look for me there, right???)

Hi Ken, I like the way that turned out. I wasn't really that fond of the way the first lady turned out, but really didn't want to say anything. This one looks good and I think the way you lace your vests, this will look like it was all planned from the beginning. Nice save!

I think a lot of us are really glad you found this craft Tina! You have so many new ideas and everything you do turns out so neat. This one is great just like all the others. Can't wait to see what you are going to work on next.

Hi Caroline, I really like the way that one turned out, the shape and the color! Thanks for taking the time to show us all how you do that. I'm with Froghunter, one more thing I want to try sometime, if I ever get that far down the list. Clay

Here is another example of inverted carving. Al Stohlman did a book on inverted leather carving that also taught how to do sihlouette (SP?) and rough out carving. This rose pattern is one of my favorites out of that book. Peter Main also does a lot of inverted carving. It eliminates the need for a lot of backgrounding and gives a really clean look to your carving.

I appreciate the offer and that is a pretty fair price for one of Bob's knives, but these days I just sign my paychecks over to the local Conoco station so I'll have to pass. I am sure someone here will take you up on the offer and they will end up with a really nice tool.

The other thing to remember is that you should vary the depths of your swivel knife cuts depending on what you are cutting. Study Paul Burnett's free lessons. They will help you understand this. Most cuts should fade out towards the end, just as when beveling these lines, your beveling should fade out. This will help give realistic depth to your carvings. Areas that you want a lot of depth, carve deeply. Areas that you want less depth, dont carve as deep or not at all. This is especially important in figure carving for things like muscle structure and facial features like lips and eyebrows. The more practice you do, the easier it will be to figure some of this out.

Hi Caroline, I also am interested in any info anyone has on air brushing. I have one that I have hardly ever used. I'd love to take a course sometime so that I would have at least some idea of what I could do with it. Thanks for sharing the info on the paints.