Finally finished this guy up after a long time on the bench. Sugar pine body and basswood head
Mallard Hen Portrait
Close-up shot of my latest mallard hen with wet on wet paint blending.
A break from Mallards
Here's one of the first wood ducks I've done in a few years. After so many mallards this year, this was a ton of fun to paint.
Antique wood duck with carved eyes
Here's a wood duck I've been carving. It's got an antique, east coast style to it. I've done carved eyes in this bird to maintain a classic feel. It's the first decoy I've done with carved eyes. I used a nice piece of old-growth red cedar from Tom Kelly for this one.
A pintail hen with a twist
Here's a pintail hen I did in September for trading competition held at the Columbia Flyway show in Vancouver, WA. In this contest, all the birds are thown into the pool, tested for self righting, and then judged for first second and third as normal. However, after the contest, the winner gets their selection of birds to keep, then second place gets their choice, and so on. I came in 4th place out of 12 or so entries. But this particular contest is about creativity and having some fun.
It was my first hen pintail, and I was pretty pleased with how it came out. As for the twist, it's a miniature. Also my first (non-caricature) miniature decoy. I've included a quarter for size reference.
Mallard in the rain
Here's a mallard I put outside so I could look at it from a distance for a few days. This time a year it's pretty rainy here and and I thought it looked good all wet.
A Barrow's Goldeneye
Here's a barrow's goldeneye I carved a few months back.
Some carvings from June
Here are a few shots of some in-process birds I've got going.
First is a low-head mallard I'm carving out of a gorgeous piece of red cedar that Tom Newell gave me. I'll be sad when this is done becuase it's such a beautiful piece of wood to work on.
Next is a pintail carved out of Oregon sugar pine with a basswood head. The tail is not carved in this picture yet, but I'll insert a flexible piece of plastic becuase this is designed as a gunning bird. This is the prototype from a new pattern I drew and I'm pretty happy with the results. This won't be the last I carve from this pattern.
Finally, here is a pair of mallards, also from new patterns I developed recently. I'll be doing another (abbreviated) photo journal of another drake just like the one in the photo here. no really fancy carving on the back becuase they are going to someone who will hunt them hard. Just a little detail on the back to add some interest, and a small undercut on the edges of the primary feathers.
Some birds headed to Westlake
I haven't posted in some time, mostly becuase I've been working on competition birds, and I don't like posting them while I am competeing them. The good news is that I'm doing ok in the competitions. I won second best in show for gunning birds with my low head mallard at the Core Sound contest in December. In February I headed down to San Diego for the PSWA show. I ended up placing in the best of marsh, but my standard head mallard didn't make it any further. Then it sold so that bird is done competing.
I'm headed to Westlake, OH tomorrow for the ODCCA show. I've got some birds to compete in the pool and the IWCA tank, but here are few birds I'm bringing just to display and sell. One of these is going into the Firday night swim and sell, sponsored by the decoycarvingforum.com, and other will be displayed in Dwane Ong and Tom Matus' room 123. Stop by and check them out if you are at the show.
3rd Best of Division at the 2011 Columbia Flyway show
My mallard won the third best of division for the IWCA working decoy contest at the 2011 Columbia Flyway Show on September 10th, 2011. This is a picture taken during the judging of the "best of puddle ducks" portion of the competition. That pintail in the background is also one of mine. It won a blue ribbon as best in pintails.
