tributesinwood

Wood Carvings by Mark Sheridan

Archive for the tag “caricature carvings”

23 Feb 2014

Fergus the Basset Hound

Work has begun on Fergus, the Basset Hound modelled after my earlier carving of Hobo ( with Ned ).

I have the head roughed in with his big ears flowing in the wind.  Remember that the idea here is to have Fergus enjoying a stiff breeze off of the end of a pier.

The head is being carved separately from the body as I want the head turned a bit to the side rather than have the head and body in a single straight line.  I think that this will look a lot nicer once the little dog is standing on the pier.

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And speaking of the pier…I have it underway as well.  If you refer back to my concept drawing, you’ll notice that I’ve oriented the pier slats differently.  Again, once I started roughing out the carving, the side to side slats just looked nicer to me and would give any viewer of the carving more to look at once the individual slats are detailed in with all of the irregularities of an aged pier.

I like those ropes around the pier supports.

Thanks for dropping by to see this project underway.

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23 Feb 2014
2 Comments

George Proud Feather

George Proud Feather is starting to take shape.  The torso of the bust will be deerskin with bead work and you can see the start of the beadwork on the front of the jacket, here.

I also added in the bear collar, a neckerchief and a medallion that will have three feathers draped from it.

Not sure what emblem will be on the medallion…I’ll have to think about that.  Right now I can picture a native Canadian emblem of some fashion.

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Below, is the start to the head.  The plan is to have braided hair wrapped in deerskin decorated with more beadwork.  I’m looking forward to that carving.

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Posted in George Proud Feather and tagged , ,
19 Feb 2014

A Couple of New Projects

I started a new project just a little while ago…a bust.  I tried to complete a bust some time ago when I began my 1812 figure of “Corporal Duncan Sowerby”, but got so carried away with the carving that I ended up carving a complete caricature.

This time, I’m going to stick with the bust and have cut out the beginnings of what will become “George Proud Feather”.  I liked the bear collar that Lynne Doughty used on a recent bust and would like to combine that with a photo that I recently saw on the web of a Cheyenne tribesman.  I’m picturing something that will include a deerskin jacket with lots of bead-work.

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My second project is as a result of a few e-mail conversations with a new friend who would like to see a caricature likeness of her favourite buddy, Fergus.  Having seen my caricature of Hobo, she sent me a few photos of Fergus along with a personality description that I’d like to think would be a good description of the life in my little carving!  Fergus likes the water and wind, so we’re starting into creating something along the lines of the sketch below.

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I’ve begun the pier supports and the rope and I’ll include an update on both of these carvings later again this week.

Enjoy the development of these two projects…and if you have ideas that will improve either, please weigh in.

Thanks, Mark.

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07 Feb 2014
4 Comments

Hamilton Woodcarving Show 2014

The Canadian Carving Show was held again this year in Hamilton, Ontario at the War Heritage Museum adjacent to the International Airport.  Again, my daughter, Emily, and I were able to get together for a day to take in the show and also enjoy a visit to our favourite Indian restaurant and a bit of a shopping spree at IKEA.  A lot of fun.

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We attended together on Saturday, and I returned on Sunday to take in more of the show.  The event was very well attended in  spite of some extreme snow and ice conditions that hampered travel that weekend.  Being a combination of wood-working and wood-carving, the show attracted in a lot of suppliers and craftspeople with common interests.  There were some very good deals to be had on supplies and equipment as well as some excellent demonstrations to take in.

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The museum was also available to all wood show participants, and Emily and I made good use of that.  95% of the aircraft, of which only a few are shown in the photo below, are airworthy.  I believe that the Lancaster, shown here, is one of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world.  I know that I’ve seen this Lanc fly overhead several times when I’ve visited my hometown of Niagara Falls.

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I’m not exactly sure how many carvers brought carvings to the show…but, there were a lot of beautifully crafted items in all categories.  I wish that I had recorded the individual’s name, but, one craftsman brought a cello that he had made.

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Corporal Duncan Sowerby was awarded 2nd in Open Caricatures and proudly stood next to many exceptional carvings in the caricatures category.  I also got a chance to talk with a number of caricature carvers who brought great carvings.  A couple of photos of some of the carvings are included below, but several more are on the Flickr Site that you can link to at the side of this page.

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Although I’ve been very proud of my “Hobo and Ned” carving, I can tell you that Emily’s and my jaw dropped when we saw that the judges awarded it 1st in Open Caricatures, 1st in Open, and, 1st Best in Show.  What a thrill and what a memory.

Be sure to attend this outstanding event next year.

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Posted in Hamilton Wood Carving Show, Hobo Ned and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
12 Jan 2014
8 Comments

Hobo and Ned are on the Rail!

Yes…I can hardly believe it either…this project has come to a close!

I’m very pleased with the way this carving has turned out and I sure did enjoy every minute of the carving and painting.  I’m headed to the Hamilton Carving Show at the end of this month and am really looking forward to showing it to other carvers.  The Hamilton Show is a Canadian woodcarving competition and is combined with an equally outstanding woodworking show as well as a top-notch Heritage Warplane Museum.

If you are within travelling distance, this show is well worth attending.  My daughter is also joining me and I’m looking forward to spending the day with her.

Enjoy the photos!  There are more on the Flickr Photo link at the side of this page.

Mark

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Posted in Hobo Ned and tagged , , , , ,
02 Jan 2014
6 Comments

Setting the Scene

Happy New Year!  Just think…a whole new year for imagining new projects.

Well, I’m ( finally ) at the point where everything is as finished as it’s going to be and I’m starting to place and position things together for the final gluing.

I’m a bit torn on whether to use the oak base beneath the rail base or not…I’m leaning heavily toward the oak base ( today ) as it seems to finish the carving off.

I’d appreciate any comments and your point of view on the base.

Mark.

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Posted in Hobo Ned and tagged , , ,
15 Dec 2013
2 Comments

Ned’s Hobo Bindle

Do you know what a bindle is?  I didn’t until a few weeks ago.

As it turns out, a bindle is the sack or “bundle” that a hobo, in the day, would carry on a stick that he would have found along the way.  The bindle was no more than about a square yard of material, usually cotton, tied on it’s four corners around the end of the stick.  Inside the bindle would be all of the necessities of light travel.

Ned’s bindle is made of basswood and has ample creases and folds along with the four cornered knot.  The biggest challenge was painting it…I painted it four times until I got something that made me happy.  I think that the checked fabric really lends itself to all of the folds and accentuates them by being stretched in the right places on the fabric and disappearing behind the folds at other places.  I added a bit of “dirt” with some browns and yellows and then topped it off with a clear urethane.

I like to think that Ned’s bindle contains a harmonica that he plays well, a good whittling jack-knife, some apple pie that a kind farmer’s wife left out for him and a few treats for his little dog, Hobo.

I’m still working on the walking stick and plan to give it a paint job shortly.

Hope you enjoy Ned’s new accessory.

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Posted in Hobo Ned and tagged , , , ,
01 Dec 2013
2 Comments

Progress on “Hobo” the Dog and His Railroad

The carving is finished on Hobo and short of a few touch ups on the paint, he should be just about ready to join Ned on his high speed rail pump-car.  Hobo’s eyes are squinted and his ears are pinned back nicely from the wind in his face.

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I did my best to give Hobo that Basset-Hound-look of having a little more skin than necessary for his frame.  It was interesting carving the folds around his eyes and jowels, and a few extra folds at his ankles.  I added in the red “neckerchief” to give him a little extra character…although, he’s quite a character even without it.

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I’m going to go back and just touch up his toe-nails a bit more as well as the area around his mouth just to accentuate his smile.  Other than that, he should be ready for the rail.

The base is turning out pretty nicely, as well.  I ended up using some oak to make the rails while the ties and base are basswood.  The crushed stone is a polymer that I had in the garage left over from some patio block work that I did earlier this year.  I just put a white glue base down and sprinkled the polymer over it.  The polymer is also activated/glued with water…so, I sprayed a coat of water over it after everything dried and it ended up rock hard.  Hope you like it so far.

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Posted in Hobo Ned and tagged , , , , , ,
18 Nov 2013

Ottawa Carving Show

I attended the Ottawa Carving Show this past weekend hosted by the Outaouais Carving Club.  Again, this show was well attended and approximately 180 carvings were entered in all classes.  The event attracts many competitors from Eastern Ontario and Quebec who bring along outstanding carvings.  A very friendly gathering with an opportunity to meet some really nice people.

I entered my two bark carvings along with Cpl. Duncan Sowerby.  Registration was Friday evening so I made the quick trip to Ottawa and again on Sunday afternoon to spend some time taking in the show.  The club always puts on a great prize presentation at the end of the show on Sunday and has a lot of fun with the process.  You would never guess by their light-heartedness that so much gruelling work had gone in to making the event such a success.

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I was very happy to take away a 1st Place in Class and 3rd Best in Division for the “Castle Cottonwood” and a 2nd Place in Class for the “Cottonwood Mill”.  But what really knocked my socks off was a 1st in Class, 2nd in Division and a 2nd Best in Show for the Corporal.  He seemed to be standing a little taller…I know that I was!

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Be sure to check out the Outaouais Club’s website ( I’ve included it in the links to the right of this page ) and plan to attend this event next year.  I’ll upload all of the photos that I took at the event on the Tributesinwood Flickr Photos link soon.

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02 Nov 2013
2 Comments

Ties, Captains and Bones

I’ve painted the ties with a combination of different acrylic browns…asphaltum, burnt umber, raw umber, chocolate…with a few washes of Payne’s Grey through the centre section of the ties to give it some darkness as if years of locomotive oil and debris have landed on it.  Once I get the clear coat on it, the different shades will really come out.

I applied some white glue to the ballast sections and then sprinkled on some “crushed stone.”  Ok, the crushed stone is not quite that.  I’ve done some patio block work around the house and I had a bag of the filler that you use between the blocks to set them.  This is actually a polymer filler that looks about the same size as limestone screenings that are often used for leveling patio blocks.  Anyways, the interesting thing about the polymer is that it sets fairly hard with water.  So, once the white glue dries the first layer of “stones” in place, a misting of water sets the upper layers.  I found that I did need to add a dab of white glue to any upper larger “rocks” to keep them in place.  It’s looking pretty good so far as you can see by that smiling man in the photo.

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By the way, Captain America and Bones collected quite a loot on Hallowe’en…

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Posted in Hobo Ned and tagged , , , , ,

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