Thread: L''ecorche..

Originally Posted by underfoot

This piece was made as an anatomy study for some carving students..
it's made from 700 year old huon pine...stands about 500mm high..
..(still my favorite wood to work..ever)

I can see why... stunning work! Thanks for putting this up. Its an inspiration to see.

Beautiful piece. Where can we see it ?

An exceptional piece.
This shows what can be achieved when a good carver and a good timber come together.
I love the Huon carvings I've been seeing lately. Must get me some. It makes my Camphor Laurel look like junk.

Absolutely stunning perfection, easy to see why it's your favorite but you have done many beautiful pieces.
May I ask what finish did you use on this?

Beautiful work.

I bet the model's face was a picture when you said, 'Just slip your clothes off. And that big flap of skin just there on your right hand side. Oh and stop bleeding all over the shed floor'

Philip.

thanks for the feedback folks...always appreciated

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Where can we see it ?

..in my shed at the moment..I have a carving workshop coming up soon and some students may use it for a model..

Originally Posted by Hermit

It makes my Camphor Laurel look like junk.

...don't get rid of your CL in a hurry Hermit....its up there with my favorites as well..

Originally Posted by Robthechisel

May I ask what finish did you use on this?

I usually finish the figure completely before I start exposing the musculature...I usually sand to 400 then put 2 coats of Feast Watson 'proof seal' sanding between coats with a 3m foam backed abrasive (superfine)...then I wax over that with ubeaut tradional wax..
The musculature is done with a combination of burrs and scrapers made from modified hacksaw blades....
when carved, I mask off the finished part and sandblast...then seal (as above) then spray lacquer the musculature (2 coats) then sandblast again for the final finish..

I have some wip pics on my phone that I will try to post if I can figure it out...

..here's a couple of WIPs...picsImageUploadedByTapatalk1370852577.813463.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370852610.806353.jpg

Thanks for posting the extra pics. It's very interesting to see the process.
I think that after carving the 'smooth' full shape, and doing such a good job of it, I would have had trouble bringing myself to take to it with a chisel again to carve the musculature.

Originally Posted by underfoot

...don't get rid of your CL in a hurry Hermit....its up there with my favorites as well..

It's nice to work with and pretty forgiving for a beginner like me, but can sometimes look a bit dirty when done. It doesn't have that smooth-looking, almost creamy texture of Huon, either.

Wow, stunning piece.
Too bad your carving class is so far (it couldn't be more )

Btw, the accents on the "e" should be "é" instead of "è" (écorché")

Originally Posted by copeau

Btw, the accents on the "e" should be "é" instead of "è" (écorché")

...óòps..

Thanks for explaining the process so well and the extra pics, the line between the skin and musculature is so perfect, it almost looks like you had carved the musculature separately then slotted it in perfectly. I have been sanding to 600 then the same sealer and foam back sanding as well but then I use danish oil but probably makes it a bit too shiny. I'll get some Ubeaut wax and try that.

She's lovely!

It would be nice to attend a carving class - the tyranny of that nullarbor.

Because you are kind of OK at this sort of thing...what would be the go with using a different timber, as Rob sorta mentioned, for the innards? CL?? I keep thinking of that weird German guy that used to be on SBS with his cadavers and the treatment of the huon here looks kind of preserved (formaldehyde) against the luster of the skin. Then again, it could look a bit macabre if it moves toward the real too much???

Also...all this sanding business..when you think you're near the end...you have so much further to go. Well that's my experience.

Nice work
Carry on

and another thing - is there Huon and huon?

I have been using some that resembled oregon in it's toughness and not at all enjoyable. Every now and then there'd be a sweet spot. But for the most part it was laborious. Dud tree?

Beautiful form. Far more warmth than the torso models in the Anatomy lab where I worked.