Monthly Figure Carving Challenge

[Duke]

holy smokes! looks good clay!!!!

[Froghunter]

The colored pictures of the lion by Tina and Froghunter are great. I am not going to attempt to color mine. I did decide to try and make mine 3-D. Not sure if I am done yet, but here is where it's at right now.

WOW....looks Great!!! Darn good job!

Yeah...this is cool!

[Tina]

Hmmmm...Me like Clay:-)

A perfect candidate for this project. I'm so looking forward to see the result.

[Regis]

Clay,

Do you want completed entries posted in this thread or is there some other way to post them?

Here's how far along I am. Little more cleanup and start dying.

[ClayB]

Hi Regis,

Anything to do with this challenge can go here. I was hoping for some discussion on the pattern, the carving process, anything at all that might help anyone out. There was some discussion back when Tina first posted her project in the Critique my work section, and then some of my discussion with her went to PM's. I'll check with her and see if we can bring some of that back into this area. By talking about what we like and don't like, where we are having problems, etc., I think we can all learn more. If we just all post pictures of what we have done and tell each other "nice job", we aren't going to get the full benifit out of this that I was hoping for.

CLay

[Regis]

Hi Regis,

Anything to do with this challenge can go here. I was hoping for some discussion on the pattern, the carving process, anything at all that might help anyone out. ...................................................

CLay

Well, now that you mentioned it........ With 3 or more levels of hair showing depth is difficult for me. Not hard to show 1 or 2 but, on this figure, you come from the side of the nose down the face and neck trying to show that transition is tough. Also moving from fine hair to thick points that we see at the outer edge.

Regis

[ClayB]

There you go Regis, that's what I was hoping for. I thought about taking pictures and showing how I carved mine, but in a way, I think that would defeat the purpose because then it would be easier to just do it the same way. If you look at the uncolored picture Tina posted, she beveled fairly heavily around the side of the nose, the large wrinkle above the nose and below the jaw. When I carved it, I wanted a softer line in these areas so I used a pear shader to do the beveling instead of a traditional beveler. It gives a rounder impression, softer than the beveler. As I have said before, neither way is right or wrong, just different. I don't know how Tina did the hair on her's, but I drew mine on with the pointed end of my modeling tool. It can also be done with a hair blade, a multi blade knife, a sewing needle or awl, a pointed beveler, and probably several ways I have not seen before.

On Froghunter's and your picture, you both put in whiskers which I see I left out. While yours are just dots, and Froghunter cut in the whiskers, either way works. In both of yours, one tooth looks large and out of proportion to me, so I am guessing that is a problem that might need to be addressed in the pattern. I also see that when Tina drew out the pattern, she put in a line on the far side of the mouth that wasn't on her original picture. These are all the different kinds of things that I was hoping to see come out of this, different ways of handling the same pattern, none wrong or right.

[Regis]

I didn't notice the line wasn't there on the side of the mouth (Tina's). I tried NOT to look at finished ones. Whiskers....I'm debating about cutting or dying them...still not sure. I do like your idea of using pear shader. Still some life left in mine to cut so, we'll see. I "almost" made it a lynx!!

Edited January 27, 2008 by Regis

[Froghunter]

There you go Regis, that's what I was hoping for. I thought about taking pictures and showing how I carved mine, but in a way, I think that would defeat the purpose because then it would be easier to just do it the same way. If you look at the uncolored picture Tina posted, she beveled fairly heavily around the side of the nose, the large wrinkle above the nose and below the jaw. When I carved it, I wanted a softer line in these areas so I used a pear shader to do the beveling instead of a traditional beveler. It gives a rounder impression, softer than the beveler. As I have said before, neither way is right or wrong, just different. I don't know how Tina did the hair on her's, but I drew mine on with the pointed end of my modeling tool. It can also be done with a hair blade, a multi blade knife, a sewing needle or awl, a pointed beveler, and probably several ways I have not seen before.

On Froghunter's and your picture, you both put in whiskers which I see I left out. While yours are just dots, and Froghunter cut in the whiskers, either way works. In both of yours, one tooth looks large and out of proportion to me, so I am guessing that is a problem that might need to be addressed in the pattern. I also see that when Tina drew out the pattern, she put in a line on the far side of the mouth that wasn't on her original picture. These are all the different kinds of things that I was hoping to see come out of this, different ways of handling the same pattern, none wrong or right.

Clay, I agree about the tooth, it is out of proportion a smidge, I don't think it's that bad on the original, I think on mine it was me just not "following" the line close enough with my knife.

Since I carved mine from a pattern off the original, it wasn't until I was done that I noticed Tina's "lower lip" actually shows in her carving, and doesn't on the drawing, I tried to add one in, but not until I was done, and it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped.

I would love to critique your embossed version, however I have never embossed anything so I feel I would't have the knowledge. To my eye it looks great!

So anyone who can help me be a better carver, TELL ME WHAT I CAN CHANGE to make this carving better. That way on the next carving I will use those critiques to improve.

I do like your use of the pear shader. It gives a softer "Roll" to the snout, where mine shows a hard line. It really is an improvement IMHO on the original, and If I were to try this one again, I would "PLAY" a little more and not necessarily just carve THE design.

This was a lot of fun, and I think the critiques on those of us who do the challenge will, in the end, make us better at our craft. Some of us have only been carving a short time.

[Tina]

Hi all:-)

And Clay, it's OK for me if you want to post our PM's, no problems. That helped me a whole lot and I think it would help others too.

The line that's talked about (mouth)...I totally missed to copy that before I carved my lioness, but I did remeber to ad it on the drawing for this task. Just a screw up on my part

When I did this drawing, many times I ad stuff as I go along, for example the lines around the mouth and such...Thinking of how cats look like, how their hair is growing, the direction and length etc. I use to breed Burmese cats and had quite a few, now I just hope I remeber right. The hair I made with a dentist tool, a really pointy one.

Now to depth. I try think at least 4 "layers/steps", more if possible. It is after all many times a trick of the eye. Remebering how my cats looked when they where hissing, spitting and growling, the lines on their noses was rather defined and sharp with deep folds. I wish I had a good photo of that, but I can't help but share a few of my all time favourite European Burmese Boobs (looooong story behind the name, lets just say, an Aussie got the last word *S*)