Help carve a butterfly

[DieselTech]

Guys & gals dont laugh to bad, but I'm trying to learn & teach myself figure/floral carving thru reading & videos. 

Can any of you professionals give me a couple pointers on carving a butterfly? I'm trying to do a coin purse for Christmas & would like to carve a butterfly on the back of it. 

Thanks any & all help/pointers will be greatly appreciated. 

[RockRash]

I'm absolutely no professional but that looks like a good start to me. I usually do a few practice pieces before I do the final project and that looks typical of one of my practice pieces. I would say just keep at it until your satisfied. 

[DieselTech]

34 minutes ago, RockRash said:

I'm absolutely no professional but that looks like a good start to me. I usually do a few practice pieces before I do the final project and that looks typical of one of my practice pieces. I would say just keep at it until your satisfied. 

Thanks RockRash I appreciate the comment & encouragement. 

I did swivel cut another 1 & the swivel cuts look better. I Also think a set of steep angle bevelers would help. I'll practice some more. Lmao I guess at least it somewhat resembles a butterfly. 

[RockRash]

2 hours ago, DieselTech said:

Thanks RockRash I appreciate the comment & encouragement. 

I did swivel cut another 1 & the swivel cuts look better. I Also think a set of steep angle bevelers would help. I'll practice some more. Lmao I guess at least it somewhat resembles a butterfly. 

I think it looks good just needs refinement. I'll be honest the the biggest improvement to my tooling was after I bought a set of Barry King bevelers. Practice with them and you will never go back to craft tool bevelers. They aren't labeled but I'll go out in the morning and tell you the numbers I use most. I started messing around with this about a year ago and the bevelers are by far my favorite tools. 

[DieselTech]

20 minutes ago, RockRash said:

I think it looks good just needs refinement. I'll be honest the the biggest improvement to my tooling was after I bought a set of Barry King bevelers. Practice with them and you will never go back to craft tool bevelers. They aren't labeled but I'll go out in the morning and tell you the numbers I use most. I started messing around with this about a year ago and the bevelers are by far my favorite tools. 

Yeah I started buying some Barry King tools here & there. I might buy his #2 starter set, think its 18 tools total. BK curved thumb print set I'm starting to like. 

I got mostly high end stamps, lmao probably more then I need. But I'm starting to find out the stamps got uses in other spots.

My 2nd butterfly looks better, I think. I'm doing a super shene resist on it. I'll post some follow up pics 2mrow. 

[RockRash]

4 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

Yeah I started buying some Barry King tools here & there. I might buy his #2 starter set, think its 18 tools total. BK curved thumb print set I'm starting to like. 

I got mostly high end stamps, lmao probably more then I need. But I'm starting to find out the stamps got uses in other spots.

My 2nd butterfly looks better, I think. I'm doing a super shene resist on it. I'll post some follow up pics 2mrow. 

It stopped raining so I went out and looked. I have 00, 0, 1, 2. The 00 and 1 are the ones I use the most. The 2 is nice for borders but I use a push beveler for that now.

[DieselTech]

19 minutes ago, RockRash said:

It stopped raining so I went out and looked. I have 00, 0, 1, 2. The 00 and 1 are the ones I use the most. The 2 is nice for borders but I use a push beveler for that now.

Are them the checkered Barry King bevelers? I see BK has lined bevelers too by that leather stamping. 

Thanks for letting me know your most common use size of bevelers. I appreciate it. 

[RockRash]

11 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

Are them the checkered Barry King bevelers? I see BK has lined bevelers too by that leather stamping. 

Thanks for letting me know your most common use size of bevelers. I appreciate it. 

Yes, they are checkered standerd bevelers. 

[DieselTech]

Well practice butterfly #2 with a super shene resist. I think it looks better. Lol too bad i cant merge parts for 1butterfly to the other or vice versa. 

I'm thinking for my 1st two figure carvings, they are not overly bad. 

[RockRash]

16 hours ago, DieselTech said:

Well practice butterfly #2 with a super shene resist. I think it looks better. Lol too bad i cant merge parts for 1butterfly to the other or vice versa. 

I'm thinking for my 1st two figure carvings, they are not overly bad. 

That looks great! Alot smoother and cleaner. Again not a expert but I think practicing a few times before the actual project makes a world of difference. I'd be very happy with what you have done there. 

PS: my wife was looking at my screen as I was typing and said you did a great job. 

[DieselTech]

2 minutes ago, RockRash said:

That looks great! Alot smoother and cleaner. Again not a expert but I think practicing a few times before the actual project makes a world of difference. I'd be very happy with what you have done there. 

PS: my wife was looking at my screen as I was typing and said you did a great job. 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I appreciate it. 

Yeah I've come to the conclusion the more practice the better the outcome. 

I got another idea I'm going to try on the butterfly next. 

Lol stay tuned & will see if its success or failure. If it's a failure I consider it a lesson learned. 

[Sheilajeanne]

Hi, insect expert here - used to teach kids about moths and butterflies, and also raised monarch butterflies at home!  If you compare your carving with the pattern, you will see you should have left a little space between the abdomen and the hind wings. Also, I'd make the line between the front wings and the hind wings more obvious. 

The segments of the abdomen should be slightly curved, to make it look rounder. And the body of the butterfly should have 3 well defined sections: head, thorax and abdomen. The pattern you're using is very good, it's very realistic. If you follow it more closely, your butterfly will look much more realistic!

Still very good for your first efforts at carving...

Maybe this picture of a monarch butterfly will help, as it shows some of the things I mentioned. One thing to note is the pattern of the veins in the butterfly's wings are never random. They always follow almost exactly the same pattern, and the pattern is different for each species. They are actual veins, and fluid flows along them when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, to expand the wings to their full size. 

 

[DieselTech]

10 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Hi, insect expert here - used to teach kids about moths and butterflies, and also raised monarch butterflies at home!  If you compare your carving with the pattern, you will see you should have left a little space between the abdomen and the hind wings. Also, I'd make the line between the front wings and the hind wings more obvious. 

The segments of the abdomen should be slightly curved, to make it look rounder. And the body of the butterfly should have 3 well defined sections: head, thorax and abdomen. The pattern you're using is very good, it's very realistic. If you follow it more closely, your butterfly will look much more realistic!

Still very good for your first efforts at carving...

Maybe this picture of a monarch butterfly will help, as it shows some of the things I mentioned. One thing to note is the pattern of the veins in the butterfly's wings are never random. They always follow almost exactly the same pattern, and the pattern is different for each species. They are actual veins, and fluid flows along them when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, to expand the wings to their full size. 

 

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I'm horrible at drawing too.

I think I just need more practice with the swivel knife. 

[chuck123wapati]

if i were to attempt a butterfly i would use a knife around the body and outline of the wings. Bevel between the wings and body and around the wings , maybe lifting the edges a bit. On the wings and body, I would use a stylus only to outline the colored areas and abdomen. then light coats of acrylics  to build up the colors.

[DieselTech]

16 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

if i were to attempt a butterfly i would use a knife around the body and outline of the wings. Bevel between the wings and body and around the wings , maybe lifting the edges a bit. On the wings and body, I would use a stylus only to outline the colored areas and abdomen. then light coats of acrylics  to build up the colors.

Thanks. So are you saying you would use a stylus for the veined/lined wing sections? 

Thanks I appreciate your input. 

[chuck123wapati]

13 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

Thanks. So are you saying you would use a stylus for the veined/lined wing sections? 

Thanks I appreciate your input. 

yes i think you would have much more control and they would look more light and fragile looking  if that makes sense

[DieselTech]

27 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

yes i think you would have much more control and they would look more light and fragile looking  if that makes sense

Yep sure does. I'll try & get around to tooling some more later today. We will see if they turn out. 

Thanks I really appreciate everything.

[chuck123wapati]

18 hours ago, DieselTech said:

Yep sure does. I'll try & get around to tooling some more later today. We will see if they turn out. 

Thanks I really appreciate everything.

a lifter and modeling tool would be a big help, do you have those?

[DieselTech]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

a lifter and modeling tool would be a big help, do you have those?

Yes I do. I got a set of petal lifters, including 1 hand lifter, & a set of modeling tools. 

Lol I've been buying lots of tools. 

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, DieselTech said:

Yes I do. I got a set of petal lifters, including 1 hand lifter, & a set of modeling tools. 

Lol I've been buying lots of tools. 

Good to have all the tools now its a matter then of practice and turning what you see in your mind as a butterfly into something someone else sees as a butterfly. Sorry I don't have butterflies to show that point only roses, both pieces are the same rose only different techniques and a different way of seeing the same thing. As you can also see I'm not great at tooling either. Tooling is about shading or what the light reflects to the eye. I use modeling tools as much as i do bevellers, they are much more subtle and easier to control and get good results when forming the slight variances that make the shadows and also the lifters are a must have imo to complete those shadows. You may want the object to appear to be setting on top of the leather, the fore wings over the back wings etc. and connected to a roundish body You can round your body with a  modeling tool for example much easier than with a beveller. You want your shadows to be fluid and show motion or form as it would naturally. I also take and study photos to get a better idea of what I want.

 

[chuck123wapati]

My last tip again with a visual reference, if you cant draw or tool a butterfly as perfectly as you want it to be then draw it imperfectly. Here is a deer I did on a bracer, I know I cant do justice to a life like deer without a lot of practice and any attempt would be wasted leather so I made him un-lifelike. Kinda Celtic but you get my point lol hope this helps. 

[DieselTech]

29 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

Good to have all the tools now its a matter then of practice and turning what you see in your mind as a butterfly into something someone else sees as a butterfly. Sorry I don't have butterflies to show that point only roses, both pieces are the same rose only different techniques and a different way of seeing the same thing. As you can also see I'm not great at tooling either. Tooling is about shading or what the light reflects to the eye. I use modeling tools as much as i do bevellers, they are much more subtle and easier to control and get good results when forming the slight variances that make the shadows and also the lifters are a must have imo to complete those shadows. You may want the object to appear to be setting on top of the leather, the fore wings over the back wings etc. and connected to a roundish body You can round your body with a  modeling tool for example much easier than with a beveller. You want your shadows to be fluid and show motion or form as it would naturally. I also take and study photos to get a better idea of what I want.

 

Them look great to me. I appreciate your time & knowledge. Great work.

[DieselTech]

22 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

My last tip again with a visual reference, if you cant draw or tool a butterfly as perfectly as you want it to be then draw it imperfectly. Here is a deer I did on a bracer, I know I cant do justice to a life like deer without a lot of practice and any attempt would be wasted leather so I made him un-lifelike. Kinda Celtic but you get my point lol hope this helps. 

Yeah I watched a good vid the other day with jim linnel. It was a older vid & he had a speech about people being too worried about their tooling not looking like someone's else's work. 

He went on to say it's not about that, it's about what you bring to the table & in a style of your own. 

Yeah I like celtic type stuff, your deer looks nordic to me. Looks great. 

Puukko's happen to be my favorite knife to make. Just love them. 

[chuck123wapati]

nordic or celtic? I have both dna's in me so who knows which ggggggggg grandaddy helped me lol.

he is spot on! Practice and you will get where you want to be. The closest I've made to a puukko is a small patch knife for my possibles bag but I agree they are simple and clean in looks and work really well.!!!

[Stetson912]

I might be late to the game here, im no expert and not very good at figure carving yet bit I found this that may help illustrate some of chuck and sheilajeans points.you can see not everything is cut as chuck mentioned. A stylus or spoon was probably used for the veins and you can see the 3 segments of the body also.