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.

redCedarLowHead Mallard.JPG

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.

sugarPinePintail.JPG

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. 

sugarPineMallardPair.JPG

My Wigeon Rig is Coming Along

Here's a rig of wigeon and a single pintail I've got in progress. These four (3 drakes and 1 hen) are all sealed up and ready to paint. I've also got another low head hen and high head drake wigeon in the works, but they aren't really worth taking a picture of right now. One of the drakes is carved from basswood that I've had for a while now. The others are white cedar I bought from Dwane Ong.

Here's a pintail I've been casually working on as well. I'm still putting the finishing  touches on the carving. It's carved of white cedar but I've inlet a piece or hard maple for the tail.

I've also another hen and drake wigeon in the works, but they aren't really worth taking a picture of right now.