I’ve mentioned, ad nauseum, being involved in several projects, and most of those had a deadline of either christmas or The Girlfriend’s birthday, which means that most of them are done now, so I can devote a little more attention to other things. Among these have been installing three new sets of lights – actually four, but one was more for my use – and doing some custom-framed mirrors. But I’m going to show off one of them here, because what else is a blog for? Current events? Philosophical insights? Random humor? Pfagh!
Anyway, this one was started some years ago, and I never got back to it, partially because of work spaces as well as keeping it a secret, partially because I was semi-convinced that I’d screw it up, because it was a far more detailed undertaking than any previous efforts. I’d done some soapstone carvings before, so this was simply an extension of those, and soapstone isn’t hard to work with, slightly more resistant than wood, but not a lot. That makes it easier, and in some respects harder, because it’s easy to make mistakes and/or break a piece. Once I got into the nitty-gritty, though, it went smoother than expected and I managed not to commit any major screwups. I know, right?
It’s simpler to just show this as a video, so…
That’s probably a little larger than life size, but not a lot. Rough work done with a flex-shaft motor tool (a “Dremel,” only it’s not made by Dremel,) and the remainder done entirely with an Xacto knife and #11 blade (well, and sandpaper.) I had a complete set of woodcarving tools in hand and they probably would’ve worked fine, but I have decades of experience with Xactos and so I stuck with what was familiar. I’m pleased with it, and so is she. Probably more than pleased, to be honest…
The vertical lines across the white piece, by the way, are natural striations, possibly weak areas though they presented no problems – they’re even faintly visible in the previous work, done from the same master block. I’m considering whether or not to coat these in clear acrylic, which will darken the turtle but make the egg almost translucent while bringing out more of the natural color variations in both. I’m not sure if the slick, wet look will work, though, and it would be a bear to remove if she doesn’t like it.
One serious flaw: the nostrils are definitely not aligned in the same plane as the eyes, but I generally distract people before they look too closely. Often by ‘accidentally’ stomping on their foot. Think about that before you decide to replay the video…
A further project might show up here as well, once that’s completed to my satisfaction, and I have another carving to get back into that’s for both The Girlfriend and I. But this was the detailed one, and as I said, what’s a blog for?