Post #168318 by Aaron's Akua on Mon, Jun 27, 2005 12:54 PM

Hey Rodeo - I'm a "newbie" too. The sketch looks tight only because I printed a paper template on a large scale plotter, then transfered it to the log.

Hewie, I was out there running an angle grinder off my car battery that day and no one seemed to notice. Strange...

Ben, I've had the same concern, so I was going to leave some extra wood on those shins & feet, then carve them down a bit & add some detail. Maybe even toenails. I wanted to start with the basic sketch just to wrap my mind around it. So I sketched it out on the side of the log like you & Polynesiac suggested. It definitely helps. Now I'm just going to dive in. I know the headpiece looks a bit thin compared to your style, but I'm basing the whole thing on an "authentic" carving that I found on the web. Compare my sketch with the pic below and you'll see how it will match. I just want to rough the whole thing down the way it needs to go, then start to elaborate and add some of my own styling to it. The lines I've laid down so far are just to be used for basic guidelines.

Here's the original Hawaiian carving that I used for this Lono design.

It's a great website with descriptions of the gods and lots of other artifacts & info on the ancient Hawaiians:

*Name: Lono
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, LONO was a god of peace, sports, agriculture, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices.

In the esoteric tradition LONO represented the mental consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "conscious mind." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this LONO figure the hair is piled high on top and does not extend all the way to the ground. This symbolizes imagination and abstract thinking, which is not necessarily based on direct physical experience.

Name: Ku
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KU was a god of war, virility, masculinity, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices.

In the esoteric tradition KU represented the body consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "subconscious." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KU figure the hair is short on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolized memory thinking, which is based on direct physical experience.

Kanaloa

Name: Kanaloa
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KANALOA was a god of the ocean, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices. In legend he was a companion to KANE, the creator god. As such he also had the ability to cause freshwater springs to gush forth from solid rock when he struck it with his staff.

In the esoteric tradition KANALOA represented a state of total confidence, or what in modern terms could be called "inner authority." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KANALOA figure the hair is piled high on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolizes the integration of imagination and memory, or the integration of body, mind and spirit.*

Kanaloa's cool! I'll have to carve this guy someday.

All of these can be found at a website called Hawaiian Hall.

Mahalo guys - love the dialog!

Aaron