ScottR Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Cody Bear...that is actually what we call him... got a bit a refinement this weekend. He is getting closer to being free of the log one thin sliver at a time.....patience Grasshopper. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Actually, I think Rudy, the Boxer next door, may have found his way into the ash log for a bit. I'm pretty sure Cody will soon be back and put Rudy back in his own yard, where he belongs. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 I think I've chased the boxer back home....still hear him barking though. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 Some of the details are getting closer to actual size. Some of his features are formed by bone structure and many are formed by his fur. It's tricky deciding which to use. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 His eyes are a bit buggy still. They will likely be one of the last things finished. SR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 12, 2017 Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 not sure how I missed this last update. quite the talent you have there SR. So at this point- how much left do you have to do? and what kind of finish will you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2017 3 hours ago, Mr Natural said: how much left do you have to do? and what kind of finish will you use? Cheers Scott! I'd guess this is a quarter to a third done. His head still has some refinement and probably get tweaked throughout the entire carve. The body will mostly be shaped to get it proportionate, but won't get too much detailing, because, frankly you can't see the details on the real dog. If he's got his butt on the ground, he pretty much looks like a head on a haystack. I normally sand these to a high polish and finish with Danish oil and paste wax. I drill out the pupil of the eyes and scoop out the iris area and then fill all that with epoxy. The drilled depth makes a deep dark pupil, and the concave scoop creates a nice iris with some depth and then I'll shape and polish the surface of the epoxy to create a shiny cornea. I may decide to dye the iris and pupil, since Cody's eyes are so dark. Elsewhere the ash is almost a perfect match for the color of his fur. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 After more refinement on his head, it was time to block out his shape by taking out more of not Cody wood. This is not that different from hogging out the bulk of a control cavity with Forstner bits prior to final routing with a template. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 Ol' Blues Lizard is still hanging out and jamming to the blues with me. It looks like I caught him in the midst of a color change and skin shed at the same time. I'm not sure I've seen him in both those conditions at the same time. This last shot is just before he jumped up into the bushes. A few hours later he was back with new skin, new color and ready to hunt up some lady lizards. He did his mating dance there but I was out of focus every time he preformed. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 I'm working on finding Cody's front legs... SR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 looking good Scott- so- question for you- how often do you have to sharpen your chisels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 5 minutes ago, Mr Natural said: looking good Scott- so- question for you- how often do you have to sharpen your chisels? I touch them up on the strop every twenty to thirty minutes or so. And they get a few strokes on a stone every hour or two. This would be for a gouge I'm using steadily. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Been doing some traveling this past week, but still had a little time to work on getting Cody out of the log. He got a little refinement around the muzzle and eyes....the eyes are not so bugged out now. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 And I got more work done freeing his legs. Poor little guy has a bad case of toenail fungus. His proportions are still rather puppy like. Getting them closer to adult reality will be one of the last things to happen. Funny how that works. SR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 looking good Scott- keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2017 Work in progress, and the shop shows it. I think he wants to go out and play....too bad his legs aren't done yet. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2017 I needed to get a better feel for how much his head would shrink with sanding, so I did some sanding. Not enough. The boy's a fathead. I'm going to have to shrink it up some more. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 I had family in town over a long weekend and did not get a whole lot of time in this piece of ash. What I did get done involved slimming the front legs and feet and shrinking the head some. Can you see the weight loss or do these pictures make Cody look fat? Â SR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 I got a whole day to work on Cody this weekend. I had a college graduation and celebratory dinner to attend in San Antonio. I love San Antone and the food was great, but the trip up and back from Houston eats the hell out of a day. This past week I discovered a blues player from Britain, that is exceptional on guitar and has an amazing voice, by the name of Aynsley Lister. Any of you Brits heard of this guy? He got a lot of air time in my garage this weekend. So, for the bulk of you watching, () any changes I made in the 10 hours or so I got in this weekend are probably going to appear to be quite subtle. To Cody and me however, they are rather substantial. They went a long way towards pulling Cody out of the ash log, instead of some other dog that looks sort of like him. SR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 I almost hate seeing him sanded. The carving marks and gouges were like fur almost. Still- he is looking good- So- his right ear- in previous pics those areas were light- but now that his ear is sanded- they appear orangish- are you treating those areas with something? or is that coming from the wood itself? I am assuming this is the fungus you referred to on his toes previously? Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 10 hours ago, Mr Natural said: I almost hate seeing him sanded. The carving marks and gouges were like fur almost. Still- he is looking good- So- his right ear- in previous pics those areas were light- but now that his ear is sanded- they appear orangish- are you treating those areas with something? or is that coming from the wood itself? I am assuming this is the fungus you referred to on his toes previously?  To sand or not to sand; that is the question I come up against every time. I always want to see how the wood looks all polished up.  And you are correct, the tool marks do a good job of imitating fur, particularly this fur. I can always go back and put some in if I don't like the finished look. And there stands a good chance of ending up with both polished areas and areas with the tool marks still or partially visible. The ears and toes....most of the damn thing really are riddled with beetle larvae holes which are mostly filled with what I've been calling bug dirt and is pretty much just packed wood dust. In the areas around the toes and ears there are so many tunnels there is really very little intact wood between them. There's a high risk of losing chunks or ear and toe in the carving process. So I sealed those with as much thin CA as I could get them to soak up. That is the color change. Sanded flush the color is closer to being nuetral again. And oiled it will probably show up as darker spots. Oh well. You take what the wood gives, as we all know. There are places where the tunnels are open clear through, and they will likely stay that way. The dog has a lot of character, so the carving should too. SR  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2017 I spent a couple of days carving away at the parts that were not Cody. I didn't get them all, but I'm getting closer to finding my dog. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ScottR Posted June 6, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Changes are getting even more subtle, if that is possible. Poor baby sprang a leak in his ear. He is going to have to stay out of the wind, or get used to the constant whistling sound. The natural curves of the growth rings are messing with my sense of symmetry in his nose. I have to squint to kind of blur them out whilst trying to gauge if his nose is straight and centered. SR Â 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 well- that hole sucks- but- you could slap an ear stud in that hole and make him a hipster- tell people he has a dermal piercing. . or maybe just some dust/.glue like the other bug holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 That whole is officially designated "character". The odd thing is it is actually two different holes from the back that meet in front to form a third. SR Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.