The King Gets His Colors

Well, here he is in all of his majesty.  The regal old monarch is full of attitude, but his eyes reflect the kindness with which he uses to rule his subjects.  I think I captured exactly what I was going for in this piece.  The crown was probably the funnest part to make.  It's made out of a piece of copper flashing cut out and soldered together.  The studded jewels are the heads off of some round brads that were soldered into place as well.  I set it on his head in a dapper, slightly-ascue fashion that I think gives this piece some real character.

There are many more photographs on the Carvings Gallery Page if you care to stop in and have a better look.  I would love to know what you think, so please leave a comment or send me an email.  Thanks for dropping by.

My Weeks Work

I spent some time out in my shop this week and here's a picture of the fruits of my labors:

Starting at the top and going clockwise, the woods are black walnut, ash, cocobolo, Hawaiian toon, spalted maple, mahogany, flame figured box elder, and Osage orange.  The blades are and assortment of detail, all-purpose, and rough-out styles.  All eight of them turned out beautifully and all are available for purchase on the Knife Gallery Page if you see something that sparks your interest.

A King is Born

I finished up the carving portion of the torso for the King last night.  I still need to give the fur around the neck some texture with my Dremel to top it off.  I'll try to get that accomplished over this busy weekend.  I also need to give the king a crown and some bling to make him look royal.

I'd love to know what you think so far, so pleas leave a comment or drop me an email.  Thanks for looking.

The King's Head

As most of you know, I have an ongoing theme of Medieval Busts that I have been carving for the last two years or so.  When I was remodeling the Carvings Gallery Page last week, I realized that I had omitted the most important figure from the court.  The King!  Well, I just had to do something about that.  I went out in my shop and found that the piece of Quaking Aspen (Populus Temuloides) that I have had drying since last year was ready to go.  This is a fantastic wood for those of us out here in the mountains of the far west.  It carves very much like basswood and I can get a whole pickup truck load for about the same price as I can have a two-foot-square box of Minnesota basswood shipped to me.  I carved “The Sheriff” out of aspen and he turned out great, so I thought I would give it a try for my King.

Here is what I have done so far.

I really wanted to give him a strong, majestic jaw line and I believe I achieved my goal.  This smiling old monarch should look great standing next to his frowning, uptight queen.  It still needs a little sanding and some woodburning to highlight the deepest recesses and provide a boarder for when he gets painted.  I hope to get started on the torso portion of the bust tonight, and I promise to make regular posts of the progress I’m making, so check back soon.