More feather detailing … and an accident

      I spent about four hours today completing the detailing of the body and wing soft feathers.  It was leisurely work, with a few breaks, and the result was good, I think.  The next step will be to fire up the wood burning tool and begin detailing the “hard” feathers, the primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers.  I can use the wood urning tool to define the edges of these feathers, and undercut the areas of overlap to provide a little more three-dimensional look. 

     Before I start burning, I will have to draw in the shafts of these feathers, which will be relieved as part of the burning process.  This is done by burning to mostly parallel lines to define the shaft, then burning the wood on the outside of these lines to lower the feather surface and effectively raise the shaft.  The barbs of the feathers can then be burned in by repeated smooth strokes of the burning pen from the shaft edge to the feather edge, very close together.

     I will also burn the feathers of the head, following the example in the “carving a half-size osprey” work book, including the feathers of the crest.  I probably won’t get to this until Wednesday, since I am at UNE tomorrow facilitating small groups for the first-year medical students.

     Oh, yes - the accident.   Today What I feared might happen actually did.  While moving the carving around, trying to get the carving bit into the nooks and crannies of the carving, I broke the tip off the beak.  I had thought I would do the beak last, but my curiosity got the best of me and I thinned it down the other day.  Bad idea.  The hook of the beak crosses the grain, making it weak, and it snapped off sometime this afternoon.  I didn’t notice until I was putting my tools away.  I sanded the area of the break smooth and flat, cut a small piece of pine from a spare piece of wood, and glued it in place.  After the glue dries thoroughly, probably on Wednesday, I will re-shape the beak and restore the deadly-looking hook.  It will be stronger than it would have been, since I glued the little block on with the grain going in the direction of the beak tip, providing maximal strength.  Also, the original beak tip lay in the midline, where there was a glued seam between two of the layers comprising the body and head of the bird.  The new piece is solid, and lies over the midline and this seam, and will make for a stronger beak.

     I realize I didn’t take any photos today, so I will just include one from my osprey reference photos.  Four hours today makes the running total 84 hours, and counting.