Bev478 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Hi everyone. I have a tooling job to do for a friend - basically reproducing her tattoo onto an A5 notebook cover. I have just got back into carving leather, & whilst I can muddle through some floral stuff, & have done a couple of animals (as long as they don't have fur ) I am pulling my hair out with this. I have tried a few practice pieces, but, in particular, getting the nose correct is driving me crazy! I don't know if it is the angle of the head but my attempts, so far, look much more.........pig snout like Is there anyone who could give me some pointers. I can't put off this job much longer but I have never really tried a human face before & am struggling Have attached a pic of the tattoo. Thanks in advance. Bev Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Hi Bev, I'm not much of a figure carver, and even when I painted in oils I never did well reproducing the human form. They always looked wierd to me and out of proportion. I can see from the picture why the nose would be hard to reproduce. If you try to tool the shadow on the bottom side of the nose it would be easy to make it look like a pig snout! I'm just guessing, but would it be possible to duplicate the shading by lightly dyeing that area, just like they did on the tatoo? From what I understand of tatoo work, doing that kind of shading can be really tough and it takes a skilled artist to pull it off well. Sorry that's not much help, Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bev478 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 HI Bob. You've got it exactly! If I were any sort of artist I would probably try to change the angle to a more favourable one I have been scouring the Figure Carving Finesse book, but am not improving any. I was just going to do my normal sunburst spray job on this, but may try out your idea with the shading - certainly trying to bevel that area is not working. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I had traced the pic onto the leather.............think I may let it dry out whilst I keep trying different things Bev Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Troy Burch Report post Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) If you could show a picture of your practice piece it would be easier to see what mistakes your making. Trying to tool the shading is probly the problem. Here's my first attempt at a face. Edited January 10, 2014 by Troy Burch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bev478 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Very nice, wish I had your talent, I may not be struggling as much! lol Knew the sensible thing was to post pics of what I tried, but.................pretty embarrassing efforts (even more so now you've posted your 1st effort ) so I'd put it off. Crappy pics as well - nearly midnight here so artificial light. 1st (double) pic was my 1st attempt a little while ago - realised I had a problem & put it off for a few weeks. The noses were what I did 2 days ago & were sort of a sketch & almost me scribbling over a couple with frustration (silly beveling under nostrils). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Troy Burch Report post Posted January 11, 2014 I don't think your that far off. If you take away the shading on the tattoo it would look snoutish also. I think you may be cutting to far under the nostrol, instead of beveling there use your modeling spoon to burnish a shading to create the 3d illusion, same for the bridge of the nose on the uncut side. I learned with Al Stolmans figure carving finesse book also, he has several faces with good instructions in there. That was my first attempt of trying to do a complete carving, I practiced a couple of days with scrap pieces much like you've done. Good luck Troy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
