Thread: My 1st woodcarving - RED ROSE

Originally Posted by SPIRIT

could try and have a clear finish on the next one , we all love to see the grain on a nice bit of carved timber

Hey SPIRIT,First off I've gotta point out that I adore your avatar. Dogs are the BEST things that ever happened to us humans.


YES indeed, I completely and wholeheartedly agree with you on the painting and here's why I did what I did.
I work on many different types of wood and have been experimenting with getting the nicest finishes possible. I've noticed some woods have a lot of natural oils in them so I take longer to let them dry or they don't cure properly. I've also successfully added colour where the characteristics of the wood not only show through...... they POP very nicely.


This basswood was very easy to carve which was perfect for a first detailed carving BUT I find the wood to be too lightweight and too porous for my needs and a friend , who is a seasoned bird carver, told me to use a sealer/primer on it.


(Picture)
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Well I could have choked him. J/K! Lol
Here is what happened when I added that.


Common sense should have kicked in here but it didn't so I spent two days trying to sand that stuff off.
All it did was make a right mess of my carving so that none of the grain showed through. It also made it impossible for me to put any type of clear finish on it which is why this is done with mixed mediums. It HAD to be.


Later I realized that most bird carvers use this because they want to prime and seal the wood so there is a uniform consistency in colour. With all the colour detail in the feathers, they need an undercoat of some kind.
I, however, didn't need to do this and it was , by far, my biggest regret.


My colouring technique is to add tints of colour to my finish to allow the natural grain to show through BUT I've gotta admit that basswood doesn't always have the most interesting grain patterns. I left at least 1/2 of this project where the bare would could be seen.
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It just doesn't have any wow factor in it to be popped which is why I'm looking forward to this next rose that I'm doing in maple. I actually talked the customer into using it. I've used a lot of maple and quite like it's characteristics and know for certain that it' has grain appeal; especially spalted maple.


That was a very good point and I'm glad you mentioned it.
You should see a big difference in my next project.


Thank you for the constructive criticism. I will run with it.