The Change Jingler - Now Old Man and the Tea.

[whitetails4ever]

My Dad 'Jingles' His change...I still need to carve a Coffee Cup in his hand. My wife laughs everytime she looks at this. This is my first attempt at a caricature, though I have carved a couple things in wood over the years. Please be honest in your critique of my work. I welcome any constructive criticism to help with my development moving forward.

(Edit: Changed Name from "The Change Jingler" to "The Old Man and the Tea" because the carving idea changed)
Look for new name for future posts.

[Whittling]

From what I can see of your work, you've a lot of latent talent. I don't know what your dad looks like so I can't speak to the likeness of the caricature, but the face is wonderfully expressive, the detail around the clothing, buttons, belt, even belt loops is exceptionally good. I hope you will post more of him when he's done. Maybe a few from different angles.

Are you going to oil or paint him? Oiling him will bring out highlights that are not as noticable now while still leaving the wood to show. Painting can add a lot too but it also covers up a lot. Your call...

Either way it is a very well done piece... all the more so for being your first. You can be very satisfied with that.

How long did it take you? What's it carved out of? What tools/techniques did you use?

[whitetails4ever]

In art, I have always been kind of a "jack of all trades" and "master of none". (haha) I will definitely post some better quality "before painting" and "after painting" pictures. I know the photo I put on here is not too good. I took it with my phone for convenience.

I planned on using Lynn Doughty's instruction video for a painting guide. I like how he barely puts any color at all on the face, but it makes a realistic skin tone without hiding the wood. I guess the clothing will just be painted with a thin coat of acrylic paint; more like a thin wash.
I roughed the carving out on a band saw from 3" stock last Saturday and carved the basic head with details that night. On Sunday I carved the major body parts into shape and then spent a couple hours after work midweek, slowly refining what I had carved by taking off tiny little wood shavings until I was reasonable happy with the outcome. I actually think it might have turned out better if I had not decided to make it "my dad". By the time I noticed it looked similar to him, I had to carve away some clothing details and add others I had not planned on. I almost ran out of wood before reaching a style that more closely resembled him.
Thanks very much for your kind words. Check back....l will try to get more pictures of it as it evolves over the weekend.

Thanks!

[Claude]

Very nice carving!

Claude

[whitetails4ever]

Thanks Claude. I can't wait to get it painted tonight. Hopefully I can get pics put up on Sunday.

[Smitty]

Very nicely done. Be sure and post finished pics.