swap piece update!!

fred flintstone inspired moai work in progress . . . .

Homer Simpson?

DOH!

Inspired by Grog?

D'oh!

i thought about that, but no, i just wanted to do a moai with a big upperbite and i thought it was more flinstone-ish. he's the moai that sits on the outer edge of the field and goes, "heeyuck!"

GrogMoai!

Lookin good too!

Keep goin!

Mahalo

McTiki

Homer-moai begun very well.

Benjamin.

Looks like he is Pouting Bigtime about something! Cool lookin Moai drake, maybe ready for one of the upcoming TV Commercial spots.
You going to the bigWoodworking/construction tools and supply convention this weekend at the LV Convention center?
Automach is supposed to have a showing there and maybe they will have their big Recip carver there. Get one if you can. ( A blue or grey(depending on model) box with a chuck sticking out of it with a heavy duty flexshaft attached to it---Excellent systems. No telling who else will be there, I know I would LOVE to go.

ben, i don't know anything about this show. can you give me some more info? or a link? thanks.

thanks for all the encouragement with this piece. i thought it was kind of dorky for awhile. it's starting to sand out nice. the jade has some great colors.

lots of sanding going on. he's a smooth guy so far.

I really like that profile, PD. Makes me smile when I see it. You've been on a good run lately, keep it up.
Buzzy

thanks a lot buzzy!

here is the latest . . . worked for awhile today. still working with the 120 grit. then it's on to the fine stuff and then the finer stuff. woohoo!

i need some music to listen to.

Nice expression on the face. How did you get the eye to gleam like that?

JP

heh, thanks. just luck of the flash.

first shot at bone. it's a little more forgiving than jade. stinky, though.

the dog was staring at me the whole time. he thought i bought it for him. silly dog.

pDrake, REally NICE Lines on that hook, Really Sweet, I Likes it a Lots. I can see you were having a good time finishing this one. Must have felt great to see such results without having to go thru SO Many gritz of paper and stuff. Most Excellent.
What kind of muzik you like?

heh, thanks ben.

lounge
rockabilly
reggae
blues
rock
oldies
beatles
classical
funk
world

pretty much anything.

first earring ready for the details.

still working on sanding the flinstone moai.

Nice earring so far, pdrake. It's very symetrical and that's tough to do. It 's also bone? Don't let your dog get it!

thanks. yes, it's bone. it's actually antique ivory.

On 2007-01-29 20:37, pdrake wrote:
thanks. yes, it's bone. it's actually antique ivory.

That latest hook is very nice, very clean & crisp; Always a good look.

Grog-Moai is a character too.

Does antique ivory avoid the legal restrictions surrounding materials such as ivory/whalebone etc..? G

Have you got yourself a grinding wheel yet??

TamaTheTerrible :wink:

as far as my research has shown ivory harvested before the ban is legal. these pieces are from an estate during the 20s where the person made dominoes. most of them were glued to a piece of ebony and looked like they were destined for such a piece. the glue came apart quite easily and smelled of musty, dusty glue.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2007-01-29 21:17 ]

latest hook. siberian jade finding. i think i sanded down my fingernails more than it.

damn perry! great stuff!

Sweet! Nice contours going there. No need for a manicurist now, huh? :)

What happened to the earrings?

thanks, gap, dav!

the earrings are up next. #2 is being sanded tonight.

What's up Drake?! I see you survived the superbowl weekend. Did you ever finish the whale tail guy? Also, on another hook you did a couple back, it looks like you used a jade inlay. I noticed on the new one you used some sort metal. Doin' a little blacksmithin', are you? What is that?
Anyway, cool stuff. post that whaley guy if you're done.

Take care,
Buzzy

thanks buzzy. the whale is still sitting there waiting to get finished.

that's not metal, it's jade. bad photo i guess. a new camera is on the list, but down a few items.

superbowl was quite a task. i worked sunday morning from 7am-2pm. i designed the parties for the mgm and the bellagio. had to make sure my babies went off without a hitch.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2007-02-08 20:46 ]

[ Edited by: pdrake 2007-02-08 20:46 ]

AHHHHH! I see it now. I feel stupid. I'll blame my laptop...Keep your camera.
We did a superbowl party, got 4 props stolen and somebody ripped the heads off all of the Colts. Poor Peyton! Get to do a jungle party tomorrow...
Buzzy

ivory moai almost done!

[ Edited by: pdrake 2007-02-13 18:12 ]

Cool Moai, lots of character.
This threads getting pretty hard to keep up with these days, phew!

Great stuff. Keep it up.

Tama :)

PDrake, This is by FAR your BEST Moai. You were Right On when you said it was Fabulous, Congrats! :) :) :)

I like the curvey distorted style of said Moai. Very unique. Nice work, brudduh!

Beautiful Piece! I really dig your artist take on the Moai. Great work!!!

wow wow wow wow!

thanks sooo much you guys. i can't tell you how much that means to me. i'm having "artist angst" right now. i don't know how many know, but i'm an artist by day also. it's a loveless job that only pleases the clients and the sales people that deal with them. i work behind the scenes and don't get a lot of recognition. it seems that some of my work here has fallen by the wayside because of the astounding amount and level of work that is being posted these days. it really helps me to step up my efforts when i see what others are doing.

well, enough about my issues. thanks again for the props.

here's the latest pic of this guy. i'm really, really happy with him so far. it's based on the famous picture from thor's book cover and i felt i could glom onto the "famous" part because, well, i live in vegas. (and sam g. put a worm in my head. thanks sam.)

600 grit so far and a few more hundred to go.

Wow, I am amazed at how far you have come in such a short time, beautiful stuff!!!

Congrats on all the new stuff!

Amy

On 2007-02-14 22:14, pdrake wrote:
i don't know how many know, but i'm an artist by day also. it's a loveless job that only pleases the clients and the sales people that deal with them. i work behind the scenes...

Never knew... What sort of work do you do? Im guessing there'd be some wacky jobs coming your way in Vegas..?

T3 :)

thanks queen k!

yep, some are pretty wacky. right now two projects i'm working on are sculpting a 10 foot 1942 lockheed electra a12 from foam (the plane from casa blanca) and michael jordan's birthday cake. a $15,000 birthday cake.

well, i'm done with this guy. i'm going to put a hole in his head and call it a day.

mmmm, chewey . . .

Looks yummy Drake! Look out for people trying to eat them, though. Pull them right off the fridge in junk food binge.
Hey, maybe ladies pendants with matching hair clips...All hot pink of course!
You get the hole drilled in that other guy? In that last picture, that different colored part of the `stone really stands out. Is that just the lighting or did the sanding make difference in the two tones more apparent? Seems like it was more muted in past pictures.
Post a couple more angles when he's all done please...
Buzzy

On 2007-02-19 20:19, pdrake wrote:
well, i'm done with this guy. i'm going to put a hole in his head and call it a day.

Good one mate; chalk it up... Check PM as to your enquiry.

Tama :)

Excellent work, love the slightly motled look of No3. If your going to make a batch of them might be interested in a couple.
Regards
Flynny

Hey Perry, your castings look good! (That's a great looking Moai anyways)
Did you use tint to get the speckled look, or flick on some paint later?

I know you are an artist as a profession, but what is it that you do (if I may be so bold)?

thanks!

dave, i work at mgm mirage events as a designer. i design props, decor and other elements that make it into the events. sometimes i actually build them. sometimes i build a prototype and that goes to the production studio and the production artists build the rest. (the ballrooms at our properties are huge so there are always more than one piece. usually.) i also do a lot of visualization for the clients using 3d software.

mostly i sit at my desk and try to look busy.

the tint was added to the resin by dipping a toothpick into the tint before stirring the resin. i guess it didn't totally mix thus causing a mottled appearance. it's okay, looks like big red chewing gum. i'll probably make some more pink ones.

well, i bought the cheapie blue weecher. let me tell you, you get what you pay for. it died the first week when i put the slightest bit of torque on it. shelled out a few more dollars and got the better, silver one. it came today and i was able to start engraving the taiaha earrings. man, this ivory is like butter and it takes a polish like silk.

(plus, the little mastadon moais earrings there.)

wow, i highly reccommend this weecher. zoooom!!

Excellent looking stuff there PDrake. I just worry about the Ivory and I know I shouldn't.
I have the silver Wecheer and it is Pretty good but will bog down. Too bad there are "No Replacable parts for it. It was a good intro into the Micro Motors though.