I have made some good progress on my osprey carving. I have been using my power carving tools over the last day or two, working outside on the picnic bench in the sun and fresh air. Well, as much fresh air and sun as I can get through my N95 respirator, safety glasses, and ear protectors.
I think gluing the wings to the body was a good idea, since I have found over the last two days of carving that I need the perspective of the whole bird to determine if I am shaping the parts correctly. I started yesterday doing general shaping on the body and wings, but today I focused on only the left wing. Why? I wanted to see more progress, more quickly. I figured that working on one wing would give me a sense of accomplishment and would provide a template of sorts for working on the other side.
In the dive photos I have collected, it seems like the wings curve up and away from the body initially, go through an arc between the shoulder and wrist, and then go almost straight back as the primaries are being tucked in under the secondaries and their coverts. I have decided to give a little upsweep to the tips of the primaries, like I did on the outward wing of the Archaeopteryx carving, but make this more pronounced. It will add a little more life and dynamism to the carving.
There is a lot of wood to remove to reveal the wing curvature as I envision it. The wing blanks were two 3/4" select pine boards glued together, resulting in a flat shape 1.5" thick. This thickness allows me to carve in the curvature, but the final wing thickness will be only about 1/4", meaning that I have to remove 1.25" of wood here and there along the wing from the tip and bottom of the wing blank to achieve the shape I want. The wing thickness will be less along the leading edge and much less for the trailing primary and secondary wing feathers. Lots of sawdust, which I am tracking into the house when I come inside for a bathroom break or a snack.
Below are some photos I took this afternoon, at the end of my work period. I spent about 5 hours yesterday, and four more today, for about 9 hours of carving already. Adding to that total the drawing of the patterns, the cutting and gluing of the wing and body blanks, and putting the whole thing together, I maybe have 15 hours of work into this project already. I plan to keep track of the hours, which I have never done on a carving or ship model. Not sure why, just curious. "How long did that take to carve?" is a common question at carving shows, so I will be ready.
In the first photo, the difference between the thickness ion the partially shaped left wing tip and the blocky, full-thickness right wing tip is clear. On both wings, the curved dip across the center of the wing will eventually define the edge of the wing coverts. Also, the long primary flight feathers will fold under the secondary flight feathers as the wing closes, and I have started to represent this by carving the upper surface of the primaries at the end of the wing on a lower plane than that of the secondaries, closer to the body.
In the next photo, the curve of the wing from the body to the wrist can be seen in two dimensions - the outline of the wing from above that I cut with the saber saw, and the curvature of the wing as seen from the front of the bird. I did some shaping on the outstretched legs and head, but will leave the detail in this area until later.
The third photo below, taken from above, shows the general feather shape on the left wing, and the initial shaping I did on the tail. The little flare of the left wingtip can even be seen. The osprey's wings, when folded, extend well beyond the tail, unlike many birds. An osprey's wings are large and specialized for heavy-duty powered flight, allowing them to hover before diving (which most hawks can't do) and take off from the water with the added weight of a fish after a successful dive. Sometimes an osprey is completely submerged after grabbing its prey, and must return to the surface, shake off the excess water, and lift itself up into the air from a complete, water-soaked stop. Not an easy task. According to some of the videos I have watched, sometimes ospreys drown if the fish they catch is too heavy. Apparently, the curved claws and other foot adaptations that are so good at catching and holding onto prey are not so good at letting the prey go in an emergency situation in the water.
The last photo, below, shows the underside of the carving, with the crudely shaped (at this point) extended legs. The legs are incomplete at this point, and consist only of the thigh (which is hidden by the body contour feathers) and the shin down to the ankle (the visible part). The non-feathered and scaly foot, consisting of the tarsus and claws that I will make out of epoxy clay over a wire frame, will extend past the end of the beak. At the very end of the dive, just before the bird strikes the water, the claws are right in front of the osprey's head, and it is almost as if the osprey is using the extended and flared claws as a sighting mechanism in conjunction with its binocular vision, looking through and past the claws towards the intended target, usually an unsuspecting fish.
As usual, with these carvings and with my ship models, the research and the facts I learn about the subject of my work are fascinating and enriching. I found myself getting inpatient today as I carved, because the progress was slow with all the wood I had to remove, but I have to resist the urge to hurry and to focus on getting the details right.
More to come. Oh yes - I mentioned in my last post that I might mount this carving on a vertical base that would be hung on a wall. I changed my mind about this, because the back of the bird would not be readily visible. Using a mirror in the wall mount to show the underside seems a little gimmicky. So, for now I am back to a base that will allow the carving to be viewed from any angle. The carving will most likely be supported by a clear Plexiglas dowel, or something similar. A real pro would carve a base that looked like the surface of a pond, and have one of the diving osprey's claws just touching the water. Hidden inside the lower leg and the claw that touches the water would be a stiff brass rod that would support the full weight of the carving. The bird would seem magically suspended at the point of contact with the water. Hmmm. Still time to think about this. After all, I did something similar with the Archaeopteryx carving, since the bird is in a running pose with only one leg touching the ground.
Fifteen hours in, and counting.
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