Ned’s Head…cont’d
Here’s the painted version of Ned. I like the way that he turned out, especially that two day growth of beard. I can almost picture him on that railroad pump car already.
To date I’ve used a piece of wire for any cigarette that I’ve added to a caricature. In this one, I just carved it quickly out of a piece of basswood. The “stogey” is short enough that it has some strength and I can’t imagine it breaking easily.
As usual, the hat is separate from the head. I simply carve the head and then saw off a top portion on an angle. The carved hat sits on this flat portion with a bit of fitting. It will be epoxied in place for the final version.
I’m not sure if I went too far with the 5 o’clock shadow. I wanted him to look like he’s been out-and-about for some time. The shadow is a wash of Payne’s Grey over the skin colour. That is a great hint that I picked up from Lynn Doughty’s site.
One of the things that I’m trying to do a better job on is the eye placement. When I look back at my carving of Zeke, although I like the way that he turned out, I see now that the eyes are not set far enough back into the head. A very good carving judge, Neil Cox, gave me that feedback and advice at the last Pickering Carving Show and I found it very valuable.
tributesinwood 