Carving question

[dikman]

V2! I got rid of the rear cactus, added extra leaves and redid some scrolls. The one above the cactus needs a bit of work still. I've decided to add an additional outline border and by bevelling the outside/inside of the two lines it should give me a pronounced border. I've also decided to go ahead with carving the back, as stated it's not necessary but it will give me a lot of practice at carving and if I start there any minor mistakes won't show. My intention is to use a background shader in all areas except inside the cactus, I'll leave that plain.

I still haven't worked out what colour it will be, I'm thinking chestnut but, of course, I don't have any of that dye.

 

[fredk]

Getting there. I'd still make the cactus cartouche longer with a bit more area between the cactus and the edge of the cartouche, especially at the top. When you cut the border its going to make the top of the cactus looked cramped. In art, things/people need a space to go 'into'; your cactus needs more space at the top above it for it to 'grow' into.

[dikman]

Yes, I can see that now that you've pointed it out. Or maybe I should get rid of it altogether and just put another, smaller, flower in there. Might look more balanced.

[dikman]

The more I looked at it the more I felt the cactus didn't fit, I felt I should either make it much bigger, to make it dominant, or get rid of it - so it's gone! A small flower and assorted leaves have replaced it, I still need to work on the scrolls a bit. I went out to get some Chestnut dye, but they didn't have any (do they even make it?) so I got some Russet, the colour sample in the shop looked good, unfortunately it's extremely faded, as I found out when I tried it at home! I'm wondering if I cut it 50:50 whether that will lighten it a bit?

Hmmm, does this pattern even work for a holster?

Edited May 23, 2022 by dikman

[chuck123wapati]

8 hours ago, dikman said:

The more I looked at it the more I felt the cactus didn't fit, I felt I should either make it much bigger, to make it dominant, or get rid of it - so it's gone! A small flower and assorted leaves have replaced it, I still need to work on the scrolls a bit. I went out to get some Chestnut dye, but they didn't have any (do they even make it?) so I got some Russet, the colour sample in the shop looked good, unfortunately it's extremely faded, as I found out when I tried it at home! I'm wondering if I cut it 50:50 whether that will lighten it a bit?

Hmmm, does this pattern even work for a holster?

yup i think it looks better also.

[fredk]

8 hours ago, dikman said:

The more I looked at it the more I felt the cactus didn't fit, I felt I should either make it much bigger, to make it dominant, or get rid of it - so it's gone! 

But . . . . but . . . . . hows anyone gonna knows whoms is 'Cactus Jack' !   

[fredk]

Chestnut dye can be got. Try your russet on a scrap piece first to see if you like it. It might be a bit too red

[tsunkasapa]

You can reduce your dye at any ratio you like. 1-1  1-2 etc. You can even add other colors. I do my oak leaves with a green-brown mix. Play around till you get the color you want.

[dikman]

6 hours ago, fredk said:

But . . . . but . . . . . hows anyone gonna knows whoms is 'Cactus Jack' !   

Yeah, I know, but it's your fault, you made me think about it!

I tried the russet and compared to a brown I have there's a subtle difference, which I like, but it's far too dark (as in very dark). I wanted to antique the carving but it probably won't show as it's so dark. I'll try thinning it today.

[dikman]

I made up some swatches and found the colour varies slightly between different pieces of veg tan. Anyhow, thinning it looks a bit better. I wanted to try and match the colour on the front of Packing Iron but this will have to do. Most of the other brown's/tans I have don't show a lot of difference between them - I didn't realise I had so many different browns!!