Carving in the rain

    I took a chance this morning and started carving outside under overcast skies.  I was able to carve for about 30 minutes before the rain started.  Packed everything up, came back into the house, ran a few errands, walked a few miles on the treadmill, had a little lunch, and - guess what?  The skies cleared and I went back out.   

    I had a good carving session today.  The wings are getting thinner, so I have to be more careful about how much wood I take off.  I am mindful of what the final shape of the wings and body will be, and have to approach it more slowly, the closer I get.  I have to remember to leave enough thickness to be able to define the primary and secondary flight feathers, as well as the coverts.  Some feather groups in certain location (base of the wings, alula, etc.) stand out from the body, so I have to keep in mind where these are and leave a little extra wood in those locations for final shaping.

    I spent time today on the legs, which are harder to define than I thought they would be.  I think I am getting close, though; as the legs get thinner, the relationship between their contours and that of the belly is becoming clearer and it also becomes easier to get my carving bits into the spaces around the extended legs.  Speaking of the legs - I have a meeting of my local carving group on Tuesday, and I might prepare for that meeting by making blanks for the claws, and carving them to shape while chatting with my carving friends.  After the claws are carved to shape, I will insert wires into the bases of the claws, twist the wires together to create the shapes of the feet, and start adding epoxy clay to create the pads and scales.

    I find that I can only hold the power carving tool for a little more than an hour, before I have to take a break.  My fingers get sore, and I develop a tingling feeling that takes a while to go away.  During a carving break this afternoon, I did some planting of perennial seedlings I have been growing in little peat pots, to add some colorful ground cover out front in between the tulips, daisies, sedums, and whatever else I have planted out there over the years.

    Below are a few photos of the carving after today's work.  It almost seems like little has changed, but the layer of sawdust on the picnic table and on me indicates that wood has certainly been removed!  The first two pictures show how the thicknesses of the left and right wings are almost the same, and that the shape of the flanks and tail have been refined some.

    The next two photos show the underside, with the newly thinned legs protruding from the plumage of the belly.  The feathers on the legs and belly will help define the legs even more, because of the differences in feather type and orientation between the legs and body.

    The last photo shows the top side of the carving from above.  This is the view that prompted me to do the carving in the first place, and it is a very dynamic pose.  The primaries near the wing tips are in the process of being tucked in under the secondaries in anticipation of hitting the water.  This is indicated by the curved line or ridge on the top of the wing, where the secondaries and their coverts on top, and the primaries are sliding underneath them.  I can't wait to start drawing in the feather groups, as soon as the shape, thickness, and curvature of the wings are finalized.  The osprey has a small crest, and I have left room on the head profile to add the feathers comprising the crest, giving a little drama to the head.  Once I have made the feet, I will drill a hole in the ends of the leg stumps, and put the feet in place whenever I take these progress photos. The extended feet and claws will add an additional element of drama, for sure.

    After the feather groups are drawn in, they will be shaped with smaller carving bits to give either fluffiness or stiffness (I am learning how to do both effects), and the shafts and barbs of the primaries and secondaries will be defined using my woodturning tool.  That work can be done inside the house using my Tornado 1000 dust-collecting carving hood, the same one I used for defining the feathers on the Archaeopteryx carving.  The burning can be done there, too, because the hood will trap any smoke produced by my wood burner.  Still lots of carving to do before I get to that point, though.

    Maybe four hours total today, for a total of about 22 hours.