Onion man

Here is a piece that I've had in the workshop for a couple of years in a blocked out form, and come the new year I resolved to finish before starting a new project. The design is mine derived from a photo in a pensioners magazine.

Wood: Lime (Tilia x europea)

Height: 12 cms

Finish: Linseed oil and Rennaissance wax

He reminds me of guys I have seen carting long strings of large white onions hanging from the handlebars of bicycles in France and Belgium, seen when I have been out doing geological fieldwork, with the odd good lunch of local bread, wine and salad thrown in. Happy days indeed.

The right eye is supposed to be winking. I have a trick or two to learn here!

This is my first attempt at caricaturing an ear, in an attempt to placate a carving friend who always inspects ear details. He, like me is a geologist, it must be something we've done in life....

Birch wood spirit

First in class at the Sussex Woodcraft Society www.sussexwoodcraft.co.uk 2012 Annual show.

Wood: Silver birch (Betula pendula)

Height: 25 cms

Finish: Linseed oil and Rennaissance  wax

This was carved in wet Silver Birch, the tree having been cut 2 months before work commenced. Drying checks (cracks) were avoided by flattening and grooving the back of the log with a chainsaw to equalize the shrinkage stress between front and back (heartwood and sap wood).
Carving emphasis was placed on framing the image by a surround of deep cuts to create shadows, all done with a scarey sharp knife.
Rennaissance wax was developed for the British Museum to preserve all it's antiquities. It dries hard and is resistant to finger marking.

Smokey Joe

In my younger days we had a local tramp we called Smokey Joe. He would get about the Kent countryside on a tyre-less bicycle with his worldly belongings hanging from the handlebars. It made our day to see him and this little caricature brings back fond childhood memories.

I used an article by Donald Mertz published in the magazine Woodcarving Illustrated Spring 2010 www.woodcarvingillustrated.com for the pattern and carving tips. The author is a member of the Caricature Carvers of America.

Wood: Lime (Tilia x europea)

Height: 12.5cms

Finish: Linseed oil, oil paint and Renaissance wax

Renaissance wax is a micro-crystalline wax polish used extensively by the British Museum for preservation of art forms. It is hard enough to not show finger marks.

Characteristic features are in the detail e.g. broken shoes, trouser patch, knee and elbow tears, broken shoulder seams.
This was my first experience of creating shadow by deep undercuts. The knee and elbow tears are deeply under cut with a detail knife to create depth and shadow, quite tricky needing good light and a sharp blade!