Loon Commission Compeleted...well, Almost

I suppose with Facebook it has been hard to post as many pictures to my blog as I have to Facebook but here is an update nonetheless. 

The work is complete but this is the most updated picture I have been able to upload.  I have added a log in the background and more grass since then and signed it with my pyrocreation. 

I hope that Anna will be very pleased with the outcome and I will have one satisfied commission client.  I would not have burned a Loon otherwise.  Commissions force me to excersise, to branch out and burn something special. 

I was approached on Etsy by a kind member of my community who announced that a church in my area was hosting a Pre-Independance Day festival in which I could open a booth and sell some of my work.  I was excited and hope someday to do that, however, the cost was $50 dollars a booth and I hardly have enough to sell for it to be worth my while.  However, the thought appealed to me and I hope that one day I will be able to attend. 

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Loon Commission update

I found the perfect piece of basswood for the Loon I have been commissioned to do and have started working on it already.  Birds are always exciting and I'm loving the way it is turning out so far.  The picture says it all. 

I would normally start with the beak and eyes but since I have my line drawer hooked into the machine I decided to work on the feathering first.  The shading detail done with the ronded skew will be done later. 

I hope to invest in more pen tips in the very near future but I'm still working to pay off my workhorse.  The two tips I have are fairly versatile so they'll work for a long while yet.  I'm so excited to see the detail I'm able to accomplish with my Optima pens and burner.  It is truly the best. 

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Loon Commission and Lion update

       I am proud to announce that I have recently been commissioned to burn a Common Loon portrait.  Birds are always exciting to do and I love commissions because they encourage me to burn a variety of subjects in a variety of styles.  It's like being forced to exercise. 

       Since the temperature outdoors is always rocketing up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit I find alot of time to burn the Lion portrait.  I expect it to be done soon after my birthday at the end of the week.  While I would love to swim and burn away my summer I must find a "real" job, as my family puts it.  So that is what I am also doing.  I am employed with the job of...job hunting.  When I do land myself a small career my art will be put to the side.  But that does not mean that I will not be burning every spare moment I have. 

       Facebook has caused my freqent blog posts to become less frequent but I assure you that I will continue to post as often as I can.  And I hope to keep all of my followers fed with good pictures of steady progress on my latest burnings.  I'd hate to be an artist who simply has nothing to show after a month's time. 

      

       I wish I knew how to land a publisher for prints because as I've stated before I want to create burnings on large pieces of basswood that I can create giclee prints of.  I don't have a high quality camera to take my own photographs of the work so unless I can borrow a relatives camera I will need to find a publisher who can scan the work.  I hope it all works out.  So I will be very busy this summer. 

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Lion Portrait

        I've never done very well with felines and canines but I've never given up trying.  After much consideration one basswood round seemed to be asking for an African lion and I believe that will be my next project.  He is already laid out on the wood and I hope to begin burning today, however I caught a cold over Memorial weekend so the past too days I didn't feel like working much, especially over a smoking iron when my nose is and eyes were already irritated. 

        I love working with bark on wood slabs however I feel that once I clear out the last few I have I will only use them for custom orders.  I hope to find a publisher to make giclee prints of my work so that I wont have to burn anything more than twice.  I want to work more with basswood slabs for large pieces such as the cowboy at the cross that I hope to start at the end of the summer. 

        My biggest setback with my work is the perspective.  I feel that I have no talent for unique angles, settings, or portrayals of subjects.  I hope that within a short time I can work some uniqeness into my protrayal of wildlife, people, and whatever else I burn.  Thanks for coming, don't forget to drop a comment and feel free to ask any questions.  Also, take a look at my facebook page!

Blue Angels Tribute

When I finally decided (with the help of FB friends) to do a tribute to Blue Angel number 6 I realized this piece of wood wanted two jets.

My next question was, which two?  6 and another?  Should I even do 6? 

I hope this will be my last burning on oak ever as it is so horrenously horrible to burn on.  The subject I picked tends to give the viewer's eye a feeling of cold hard steel and sharp angles which applied well to the wood in my opinion.  Some of the edges are rough but overall it turned out nicely.


I'm sure some of my Facebook followers and you reader have been wondering why I leave many of my works in an unfinished state.  Do you ever wonder if they are available for sale?  Why yes, actually I do this because my works are often open for personalization and customization.  For instance, if I had sealed this piece already the purchaser would not be able to request that I burn a name or date along the bottom.  My pieces remain in a semi-uncomplete state for this reason. 

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Project Update:  I had a slight complication with the deer feet but I will be working with them and soon tackling the gun rack project.  I hope to find the right piece of wood for it very soon. 

Special Updates

           I know it has been a wait but I am finally ready to reveal the portrait that I have been working on for a month.  And that is only because the portrait has already been given to the intended recipient.  The purpose of my hiding the portrait is because that recipient happened upon my blog as I suspected he might.  Knowing he might come back some week or year I didn't want to ruin the surprise, because the portrait was a portrait of him. 

   It took a bit of guts to do, because humans are a challenge to portray and also because when you give something like this to someone you risk offending them, or ruining their image of you or themselves...depending on how the portrait turned out.  And I know I'm my worst critique- so I'll spare you on what I could have done better. 
           I'm proud to say though that I believe Dr. Seebacher was delighted by his musical cufflinks and the portrait.  My only hope is that the portrait is either kept safe in a musical hall or office or carried with him whereever he goes.  To those of you who know only a little about orchestras and their conductors, this portrait is the embodiment of a good performance.  Good conductors are quite dynamic people, in their expressions and all, so this portrait titled "Make Music With Me" intended to capture the emotion in his face when we finally "Make Music With Me Not In Spite of Me" as he often told us.  The expression is one that only we performers could see and it's one that always made me feel all good inside- because I knew that we'd made him happy. 

         Now, the only thing I am displeased with is the photographs of the art.  I don't believe I got a single one that well enough captured the portrait in it's lifelikness. 

 I loved the way the trophy plate turned out and hope to offer more on my works in the future.   They are fairly expensive but really do make a piece look completed.

Everyone has asked me how long it took me to do this portrait and at best my calculations were somewhere between 30 and 36 hours of burn time.  The Halo portrait now in my Special Edition page is my second work with my new iron.  I feel that with just a little time I will imprive greatly and be able to burn many portraits, although I can't wait to get back to my favorite subject, ...horses.   

I will also mention that a taxidermy project is underway.  I am rehydrating a doe hide and preparing to pickle it along with a buckhide and four feet. 

With the four feet I hope to create a rack and burn a wildlife scene above it.  This will be an exciting pyrography project as I will be on the hunt for the right piece of wood, and I may even go exotic. 

Thanks for coming, please comment, follow on facebook and come back soon.

         

Special Edition almost Complete

               I have yet to highlight important areas of the face but this portrait is almost completed. The focal quality of these pictures here are poor and can probably be better seen on Facebook.  But even there it doesn't appear as good as it does in person. 

              I will be moving on to the light bove his head which I may end up coloring if a very slow burn doesn't bring out the yellows and soft oranges that a fire of this nature has. 

              At the moment my focus is off of woodburning and turned towards and upcoming Concert with a guest artist from Russia, Yuri Rozum.  However, with a few more days I should have all areas of this piece tweaked, calligraphy burned on the left and or bottom and the entire piece sealed and ready to hang. 

              Thanks for coming by!