As you can see from the picture at the left I completed the bust and mounted it on a glued up base made from Mahogany which I gave a tung oil finish to. The carving itself has only been sprayer with Deft as a sealer. The carving itself was given several once overs to ensure it had good clean cuts and turned out pretty good for an experiment. It took second in a two horse race and was beat by a natural carving with far more detail.
Overall I am displeased with my presentation/composition of the piece, I know I could have done better but was under a deadline. Other critiques I would make are that the mustache is lifeless, the sweater needs more detail, and too much wood was taken from the inner cheekbone area near the sides of the nose.
You might say I am being overly critical of this work, but I believe that to be our best we must be able to objectively and fairly critique our own work. Overall I would grade this carving a B-, not my best effort.
Having said all this I can take away a couple of things from this experience, I had fun and I gained experience on a large bust using mallet and gouges.
Hope today is a good one!!! (I know tomorrow we are slated to recieve a12" of snow...)
I think that you are being waaaaay too critical of your own work. It may not be your best but I'd still give you a B+ :-)
ReplyDeleteCarvin' Tom