Here's the St Michael I Mentioned, Complete with Theologically Significant Rock.
The woodworking is now complete. I will leave it for a day or two to think about some touch ups, and then I'll give it a couple of coats of lacquer. I think I am about 20-25 hours into this thing, I still need to frame it. I could do a fast frame in plain wood, but I have a more elaborate frame in mind as well, which would add another five or so hours to the build. I'm keeping this, so selling it is not an issue, which is good, because no one would cough up a grand or so for this
8 comments:
Oh I love it. I'm really impressed with the shading you did for a painterly effect. It's wonderful, and what does it look like in real life as opposed to a photo. Can you remind of the process you use? Is it like a puzzle?
You really have the process down, it is unbelievable you made this in that short amount of time!
I suppose you could say it was like a puzzle. After prepping the wood, I transposed the image onto the board, and began cutting the pieces out- just a few at a time- on my scroll saw, which is the saw you use to make puzzles (a jigsaw is a variation on the scroll saw) I then shape the pieces- usually only a little, and then colour them. For some of the pieces I would sand down through the dyes afterwards to lighten the dye and give that piece a highlight effect. Then I would glue the pieces down to another board, and start the process again. I think there are between 220-250 separate pieces here. As I said, I may do a few more touchups here and there, but I think I will spray on the lacquer on Monday, and then it will be time to get to work on a frame.
It's wonderful. Please share a photo of it framed and up? Framing is important, I look forward to seeing what you choose. A darker stain to make the image stand out? I'm assuming these are stains.
They're actually dyes. A dye is a little more intense, and penetrates a little bit deeper than stains.
Really, dyes? I've never heard of that used on wood.
How did you know how to use shading? I'm guessing you have a background in art, or are at least very familiar with techniques of painting. I envy your hobby, because I know how rewarding it is to get lost in a creative endeavor.
It is a real joy. To work on something like this, it is surely a great contemplative time.
They aren't used all that often, and they can be a little tricky, but the colours are a bit more intense and they can be mixed more easily than oil stains. They also penetrate deeper into the wood and tend to not obscure the grain as much as the oil stains, which are really little more than a thin paint.
At any rate, thanks for the compliments. I'm thinking of a few other of these that I might do. I did a Madonna of the Streets a while back, but the colours turned out a little more muted than I would have liked.
Thanks for sharing it. It is wonderful. Please share anything else you do.
I have shared some of my other things, You can find links in the sidebar for my woodworking and such.
I'll post a few pictures of some other stuff a little later.
I didn't mention: I am not formally trained in art, but my mother was an artist and she taught me the basics. The rest I more or less made up as I went along.
Post a Comment