It seems like too much time has lapsed since my last post. No excuses but man, this piece just didn't seem to flow like the others. Work got in the way some of the time, but this piece turned out to be a tad more challenging than I imagined.
"Boston Buddies" is carved for a young lady from MA who is a "fan extraordinaire" of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Patriots. For me, matching the idea for the piece to the person receiving is one of the best parts of carving the piece.
The idea to put these two mascots together made sense . Albeit, as a result of creating a "themed" piece my carvings of late have become more complex. And, in some cases, somewhat more frustrating. Seeing that I managed to cut out two pieces from one block of tupelo wood, I thought for sure these small characters would be an easy work-up!
With the templates cut out, I was ready to make fast work of them! ....... Little did I know what was to come.
I had to "fit" the drawings just so and then make sure I take my time on the band saw or I may end up cutting off too much of one or the other piece.
So far so good! Now for the tricky part.
Aha! Just made it!
"Wally the Green Monster" is first.
A ruff burr will make quick work of "Wally."
There, "Wally" is just about ready for his "finish" with the fine burrs.
Now for "Pat the Patriot!" (Piece of cake right?)
Roughing "Pat" out was reasonably easy. But, the more I handled him and really studied him the more I realized his head just wasn't right!
(After rechecking more photos of "Pat the Patriot" I noticed there is much more to his attire than a front photo will show. His hat, gloves and boots have much more too them.)
His head was soon giving me a headache! ...at least I wasn't going to go through what he was about to endure.
It was decision time!
There's no way his original head was going to work...
....OFF WITH HIS HEAD!
Below you can see the "new" head and how much larger it will be due mainly to his hat.
A hole was cut into the neck and his new head will be inserted into the neck.
"Pat's" new head was fitted, cemented and held in place with rubber bands.
At last, the "Boston Buddies" are smoothed out and their base prepared.
The base combines the 50 yard line and home plate for their respective sports.
Below, all three pieces are sealed with clear wood stain. "Wally" and "Pat" will be standing on the soon to be painted "fields" and the rest of the base is stained dark mahogany.
After an overnight of drying they are ready to come alive with color.
(Another concern was noticed when applying the clear finish to the bottom of the base. Some of the stain was not yet dry because I hadn't rubbed off all of the excess stain. After applying the clear it remained tacky for nearly two days. Lesson learned!)
Below, the breakfast nook has become my "paint studio."
I'm not much of an artist when it comes to painting the pieces. It's more like I manage to get the colors in the right places... but with lots of corrective "touch-ups!" "Pat the Patriot" wore my patience thin. However, painting "Pat the Patriot" provided this amateur with some much needed brush and stroke practice that was never expected.
Finally, here are the "Boston Buddies!"
