Originally published in 2012
Here is the newest piece just off the carving bench. Stands a little over 12″ tall with the base. Should be pretty colorful once painted. I gave him some hammered brass earrings which I’ve painted gold. Still have to add some wire ties to his shell choker which should finish the piece but will do that once it’s painted.
Finished this fella a couple days ago but lost the front view photos. Retook them this morning so here he is in all his proud glory. He had sat on my workbench for a week staring at me while I couldn’t figure out just what to do with the blanket. There was so much area there that it had to have some kind of design to bust up all that surface. Well, while flipping through my reference material I came across a photo of a painting by John Moyers which solved that problem. (See below) Some might call this copying. I don’t! I consider it taking advantage of the information that is available.
I penciled on the lines for the design and then lightly burned the breaks. I applied the paint pretty straight from the bottle on the wet surface to get the strongest color. I think those strong colors really bring out the softness of his face. Even the hat was painted straight but that too appears soft compared to the flag. The gold choker also amplifies the richness of the whole piece. Just my opinion.
I painted the hair a dark gray before dry brushing on the white. Instead of using Moroccan Red on the braid wraps I used straight Red Iron Oxide as I wanted a clear definition between those two red colors. The hat is Midnight Blue, shaded with black. I think the skin tones could be a little darker but overall everything seems to work so I’ll leave it as it is. As I mentioned earlier the earrings are pounded brass painted gold.
The piece stands just over 15″ with the base so it will be pretty impressive setting on the display stand or the Judges table.
Comments welcome.
