Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Bluebird, bluebird, burning bright. . .


This is the flank of the bluebird after woodburning and before painting. Each of the the feather groups is different and required different techniques in carving, stoning, and burning.
Working on the face area requires a delicate touch and a good woodburner. The hummingbirds I've done were a lot smaller than the bluebird and took a lot less time to burn. This guy took 3 days of 1 hour sessions- probably 5-6 hours all together. I used a fan to pull the smoke away from me, but my eyes still tire after a short while.
This is the finished, burned bird, front view. Some of you have asked for the name of the book I mainly used for this carving. It is:
Carving Award Winning Songbirds, by Lori Corbett. The book is very well done, her directions are easy to follow and she gives lots of information on how to make your own variation on her bluebird. It is a great reference book on carving and finishing birds as well as giving specific plans and instructions for the Cedar Waxwing, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, and Mountain Bluebird.





Here is the back view of the finished burn. Someone asked me how tedious this was and I said that it was like threading a needle- except- try to thread 120 needles in an hour.
Lori Corbett has a neat forum where people talk about her book, and she has a website where you can order the book directly from her. http://www.whisperingeagle.com.
Check it out!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm going to be painting today. Yippee! Painting is fun and easy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It took me a while to figure out how blogging works. Beautiful blue bird! I wish I had your artistic talent.