I came across this book cover while surfing around the web and thought it would really make a great caricature carving. I really like the shape of the mask as it gives a real sense of evil and danger. I’ll probably change a few things but will stick to the pose shown.
After some other chores, I finally made it into the shop and get started roughing out this hombre. I decided to do him as a bust as I thought the lower part of the figure wouldn’t really add that much interest to the piece and also, busts seem to be in demand more than full figures at the moment.
With the base in the photo, which might not be the final one, he stands just about 15″ tall. As I’ve said before…larger figures draw more attention than smaller ones and I want mine to stand out and above any others they might have to compete with. The next step will be the addition of the arms and the mask. I’m going to try something new with the mask by making it out of cloth but treating it in such a way that it will be the most interesting part of this figure. At least I hope so. I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting ways of doing things so if this idea works it has all kinds of possibilities and if it works out I’ll tell you how I did it.
Clearly, to me anyway, this is going to be one of the best I’ve completed so far. I just hope the paint job turns out as well as the carving did. I modified my original idea in how to do the scarf ad while it appears a little shiny now it will be a lot flatter once finished.
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To make the scarf I had originally thought of using a nylon piece of cloth soaked with super glue. But that glue sets much too fast to really allow any forming. So I soaked the cloth in Mod Podge and formed it using clothes pins. Took several applications to get the exact shape I was after as I waned it to hang natural. I think it looks pretty good and should even look better once it’s locked in place.
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I decided to go ahead and use the base I had on hand but I cut and added an additional piece to the bottom to make it more massive and stable. He is held in place with a 3/8″ dowel painted flat black.
So, he’s now headed to the paint table to get some color. Will use dark colors to maintain the sinister look.
Here he is….getting ready to clean out the next Stage that happens by. By the look of him I doubt if he’ll have any trouble convincing the occupants to fork it over.
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This has been a real blast to carve and the scarf turned out really well. As I mentioned earlier I kept the colors as dark as possible to carry the mood of this nasty outlaw. If you zoom in on his eyes I added a little red at the corners as he probably has trouble sleeping, worrying about some law dog hot on his trail or maybe he just drinks a little too much Red- eye.
He took a First at the 2011 Dayton Woodcarving show and was immediately destined to relocate to Canada.
Comments welcome!
