Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

This is a small block of yellow cedar which is one of the most stable pieces of wood for carving. I've had it at this stage for quite a number of years and haven't finished the work. I have quite a number of pieces that I did when I was in the workforce and they were placed aside because some aspect needed to be done before going any further.
I thought I might spend some time on these half finished pieces. You can see that the size of this piece is quite small.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

This is a tool for doing some detail work which I will use to burn lines into the carving.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

The device is held as a pencil and it is heated to suit the wood leaving a burned line depending on the particular choice of burned shape.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

This photo shows the top side of the back of the bear which has a dried miniature crack which I will deal with using the placement of the "fur". I will put the point of the blade into the crack and use it as a starting point for the "fur".



Notice the marks made by the burning tool. I will place the tip into the crack and run short lines from that area and then do the same on the opposite side of the crack which will leave the area with the opening un-noticeable.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

This photo will show at the very top where the crack has been covered to blend into the detailing.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

Coming along. The first post looks almost cuddly!

Doug

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

Looking good so far.
But I do like the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

No Wabi-Sabi: It's been waiting for detailing for 20 years! I have several half-finished pieces of work of the same kind that need more detailing but the detailing is a single stroke at a time (in this case) which takes a lot of time...not to mention the odd one that has "flown" off the shelf" to its "reparable" doom.........:eek: :crying:

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

A bit more "burning".

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

:wave:

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

Coming along.

Doug

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

That detailing job would drive me NUTS!!!! The carving itself if lovely, all soft lines and cuddly looking. I'm glad you got back go work on it!

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

As a quick reply, I should say that I did doze off once or twice and burned myself before I got too far along. It is a bit of tedium with just enough detail to keep the direction of the fur over the muscles which is something that needs to be kept concentrated on!!

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

A bit more dabbling.

Re: Grizzly carving in yellow cedar
 

LOL! I've fallen asleep sculpting, but I have while writing or editing. At least this is wood and you're not likely to smash your work by falling asleep on it! Keep up the good work!