... one of the oldest breeds,...

The Arabian is my next quickie project,.. just a little something to clear my mind before my first commission piece.

Originating on the Arabian Peninsula this horse has a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage making it one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world,.. it is also one of the oldest breeds, dating back 4,500 years.  This breed developed in a desert climate and was prized by nomadic people, often being brought inside the family tent for shelter and protection from theft, developing the trait and ability to form a cooperative relationship with humans making it good-natured and quick to learn animal. They are now found worldwide, including the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, continental Europe, South America, and of course its land of origin, the Middle East.

sB

Wood Working Tools (planer,.. and nicks, bumps and gouges)

I think I am done,.. for the most part (been at it for five days now).
There are a few finishing touches, but otherwise I think this will be how the final product will look.

For obvious reasons I will only post closeups for now, but I will post a full frame picture as soon as it is presented at the end of next week.

MEANWHILE,...
I finished the last principle piece,.. the hand-held wood planer.  Oddly the very first item I researched and drew on the  practice sketch was this type of wood planer and now it is the last part of the final project,.. hmm, (I am not sure on the significance of that - or even if it has one),...

... and that is that.


Now I also added some nicks, scratches, gouges and wear-n-tear to the wood panels/framing.

 















.





... all that is left is the note, (I have a special text in mind),..................... sB

Wood Working Tools (T-bevel/string/chisel)

Nineteen, ... yes at least 19 principle pieces in this project. It is taking me forever,.. (approaching 100 hours on it so far, this includes the rough draft and experimentation on techniques).  I have just one last principle piece left, but otherwise I am liking what I see.   I have gone back and corrected many shadows and reflections.

In all honesty, I am somewhat proud of it so far,... (I think I am approaching an acceptable skill level where I can be more proud of offering my work as a gift).

Here are the new additions,....

(a little rope, an awl and a chisel)

                                                              (a tin of assorted drill bits)

 

                 
                                                                                                               (and a vintage t-bevel)























I also tweaked the note in the center by adding a few tears and curls to make it look worn, and will add the text I have written to it soon. 





























For those who do not know,  I tend to be obsessive about my work when I am in front of it, (heck , even when I am away from it), I constantly imagine corrections and different techniques or methods of attaining a particular look for a texture. In this project there are an immense amount of different textures, so I obviously and literally dreamed of this project and have spend quite a few hours (to my wife's dismay) realizing those dreams .  All this to say I have gone back and made corrections on this project constantly,...  and here are a few examples.

I moved the shadow from the wood scribe, added realism to the note and tweaked the mallet as well.

 

                                                                                        (yeah,..  that mallet still needs work)
  





 .... (on the left) wrong direction for the shadow,...

















                             

                                                                                                 .... better shadow (on the right).

 sB

Wood Working Tools (hand drill)

....

Wood Working Tools,... (mallet/watch)

Well, I am still moving forward, but I am less than happy with my work,... let me explain.  The mallet is not too bad except for (a) the joint of the handle to the head and (b) the angle of the mallet in general,... however I can certainly fix the joint but the general angle will be tricky.  Meanwhile the location is exact to my vision.

The watch is fine (still needs some minor work but fine),.. the chain is acceptable considering its relative size to the entire piece ,.. but my problem is the hook, there I think the angle is not quite right.
 

 Here is a larger section,....

,... and here is half of the entire piece.





































Meanwhile I will continue working on it and still feel confident I can do it right and complete it by the projected due date (which is about a dozen days away).


sB

Wood Working Tools - (hand drills/pliers)

.... progress,...

Wood Working Tools - (scribe/nails)

Gloomy rainy Monday which blew my sinus' up all day,... not feeling well, not feeling well at all, however I still managed to get some work in on this current project.  I need to keep moving on it to have it completed in time.

... wood mortise style marking scribe gauge tool,...

... and I
also got
a handful
of nails
drawn,...


















Here is a closeup of the nails,...

As well as these corners on  the framed box.

 sB...

Wood Working Tools,.... (saw)

My experience with the 'frisket' technique so far is promising.

... and so on.

Wood working,..

... and it begins,..

A collection of wood working tools,...

On to my next project. Yet another gift (if I can pull it off).

 























What you are seeing is Frisket film cut-outs so I can draw the complete background without affecting the areas where the tools will be.  I suspect this does not make much sense yet, but bare with me, it will soon.

My plan is to present this on January 4th of this coming year.




sB

Josie,...

The final product presented as a house warming gift to a dear friend.

sB

My friends, best Friend,... (progression)

My wife and I have a dear friend who is moving into her new house and we would very much like for this to be her home. A house warming present is traditional here, so we thought what better than something that would evoke warm emotions.

This is her best friend Josie,.. Josie is still very much amongst us but as all things living, she is aging and just turned 11 (I am hoping Josie likes her new home as well).  Josie still has a lot of spirit and will be with us a long time.

Here is the progression of this latest project.  Sketching was easy but the original photography was more cropped and only part of a paw and one ear was visible.  I added some more blanket, completed the left paw and added the left ear, (Josie's left, not our left).

... this little fold was
oddly inspirational to
complete this project.

Josie is black and brown furred, and the black fur is complimented by dark nails, a dark nose and dark brown eyes.





I started with the idea and attitude that to succeed in making this a piece to evoke any emotions, was a two parter.   The face was the first key. I had to capture the eyes, nose and chin whiskers. When you have a loving pet/friend like Josie you are often physically close to them and consciously or unconsciously you notice all these minute details. I knew that if I could capture those details,.. I was on the right track.

1                                                                                      2

The technique was new to me but not difficult,... I simply drew and blended, drew and blended with darker and darker (harder) mediums.


3                                                                                      4

 




You might think I should have stopped and kept her lighter so you could see the direction of the fur, but Josie's black is pitch black and if I kept it too light she simply looked old.


5                                                                                      6

At this point it was just perfecting the eyes. I felt I achieved a good representation of her right eye immediately but her left eye was more difficult since it was on the shadow side.  I think by darkening the outer part of the eye and lightening the other side of the jaw, made it come together nicely.



Finally the second key to success was the surroundings,..
I have not often bothered with surroundings. My projects typically are too close to have any or are simply floating.  However adding surroundings, allows for shadows (and reflections in some cases).  This in turn adds a level of realism which compliments any success I might of had with the main subject.

I started with the ear,...

and moved onto the blanket which was the second key. Getting the folds and pattern anywhere near a realistic look was instrumental to seeing Josie in this piece.

In the end, I believe I succeeded with Josie's eyes and nose, the paws and ears are acceptable but the bedding around her leaves to be desired (except for a few favorite folds).  All in all - I am pleased with the outcome and more importantly my friend is also. She was thankful and I still owe her tremendously for all she was done for us. 





This was a first for me,.. mostly charcoal with some graphite and the different techniques in blending them (individually and/or together).  It was drawn on an 11" x 14"  100lbs white smooth paper, using
General's Charcoal pencils, 557-HB, 2B and 4B, some delicate parts were done with various sized mechanical pencils and Dixon Ticonderoga Black #2 HB. As usual my erasers of choice are a Sanford Design kneaded eraser 1224 and Sanford Magic Rub vinyl eraser #1960 as well as various blending tools (stumbs, tortillons, spongits and cloths).


..... sB