Thursday, September 24, 2009

Formation

This is getting exciting. Seeing her come to life is so satisfying. So far no major goofs, though the head is still a little off and that left hand looks kinda impossible to fix. Nothing is impossible though- so I will do my best to fix it all up.

I have made a lot of refinements this week. The problemmatic left foot is looking much better. Hubby thinks a foot cannot do that move, but mine can, so hers can too.
The left arm is slimmer, and so is her waist. They may have to get slimmer yet to remain in proportion to the left thigh. Gotta watch it or she will look anorexic.

I like the looks of the back. The buttocks are rounded and there is more of a waist now. The grain of the butternut is going to look super when it is sanded and oiled. I can't wait. The right breast has been brought much more to the front as it would be with the turned body.

Left foot has a lot more form to it now, ankle slimmed and foot better defined. Left hand. . . gotta have it curved around the knee- will have to shorten leg in order to find some wood. Right arm also thinner and more graceful. Second photo shows yet another void- this one under her chin. I wasn't sure if I could make a hole there, but it worked out fine. Now I'll be able to refine the areas around there- chin/hand interface. Notice that the face is much different now- much nicer expression. I think the mellow look is better and what I am after.

She is still mighty rough looking, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It won't be long before I can start to refine muscles and other finer details. Unfortunately the butternut will not tolerate very fine details so the image will have to be slightly blurred. Next time I will use a better wood- like walnut.

3 comments:

  1. Donna,
    I'm really enjoying your Naiad blog. I made my one and only carved wooden figure about 3 years ago, and it was quite an experience. It's a 14" high statue of a monk at prayer. You quickly find out that there is a big difference between wood and clay. Ya can't just push the shape into the correct form or add some clay. Once that wood chip comes off...that's it.

    Pappajohn
    John M. Casteline

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  2. I'm enjoying this, too. She is really coming to life!

    Julie Rose
    follow your heart woodworking

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  3. Thanks John and Julie- it is so nice to know that someone is getting something out of the blog besides me. It is a help to me to post my progress. It is like seeing it through other eyes when I take the photos and then write the text. Just on my own it is hard to 'see' what I'm doing sometimes. Donna

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