Xavier in part. . .s

Xavier has developmental issues. I am one week away from the final class and there are many things that still need to be done before he can walk, talk and do the basics. And that doesn’t include having clothes.

You can see wood putty (yellow tinge) on his face and kneecaps. I had to do knee surgery on him, His kneecap got shredded. . . .might had had something to do with the Mafia and his not paying his bill at the Hofbrauhaus.

By looking at his feet we can see a definate problem with Bunions. . .. and I am sure he suffers from Gout. This will lead to some interesting dance steps as he tries to impress the ladies with the "turn of his leg",pun intended. Monkey Arms. . .at this time Xavier has one arm whitled but not sanded and no hand attached. The other arm does have a hand attached but is only in rough cut stage. Plenty to do here for my homework. The joint for the wrist is interesting. In theory I know how to do it. I watched Teacher Geack (pronounced Jack) do the completed one. Now. . . .can I do the same good job on the other hand. . .. a true test. The legs are attached in an interesting fashion. Since these will be under pants they don't have to have a formal joint. So they are attached with eyelets. Yes I did them myself. No teacher help here. The head is now attached to the upper torso. Again, I did do this myself. I liked the results. I want so badly to put the hair on him, but I have to wait till after he is sealed and painted. sigh. There is still plenty to do before next Saturday, last class. And at the last class we will string Xavier and make him walk. . . . ."It's Alive!!!!!!!" Dr. Frankenstein I am not. but I can try.

Jaci, Geack is going to hold another class in the fall, I hope you can do it. It is well worth the money and time. And his studio is a DREAM for people like you and me. This video is just a quick view of part of the studio. You get to see the puppets he already has done. A real bear that has been remade to work in a commercial and so much more. And of course tools and materials. Makes me laugh to see Jerry stand in awe during our visit to this studio. This is the CastIron Carousel Puppet studio.

Wood chips and gouges

Xavier still finding his way out of the block!




Body image problems, just like a girl.

Right Hand preparing to be the Snuff hand.




Gouging out the knee, glad the doctor doesn't do it this way.

Playing with Knives

It has been many MANY months since I have put my art work on this blog. A dry spell had me in it’s chains.

In February I watched an Etsy video that introduced a puppet maker. Not your ordinary one by any means. The best part is that he was located in Portland. After exploring his website I saw he was conducting wood carving classes to learn to make a Marionette Puppet. WOW, and they were dark and eclectic puppets, just my style. So I signed up.

Now you will see my, hopefully, weekly progress.
Tools
An F clamp
A beginners wood carving knife
A Kevlar glove.
Pencil
A BIG eraser (in my case)



The Teacher is Geack, pronounced Jack sorta.
Here is his website.

WE began the first two lessons with creating and drawing a character.

I stared with Nelly. This is who I eventually would like to make. But soon decided that I wanted to learn to do old men first with their wrinkles and such. So I switched to Xavier.
He has a bit of a beer belly and lots of loose skin on his face. Bald with long grey hair to put in a pony tail. The character’s personality comes from someone I met in Germany over 10 years ago. But the physical look is going for my cousin Warren. No he doesn’t have a nose like Xavier. I am sure he will appreciate my attempts, if not I’ll just hit him with Xavier’s wooden leg.



Actually shaving off wood from a block is fun. Cutting out chunks is hard. I will have to strengthen my hands more. This takes a lot more Umpf than a needle and thread.
Here are my first cuts. Not so pretty. You have to get a 45degree angle to take out wedges. I seem to go shallow.


Then I practiced a bit more and got a better bite out of the wood. The eye is much better here.


Then on my own I tried a small face. Can you see him? He is very rough.



Today is lesson 3 and we should come home with the head to carve. This is getting exciting.

Xavier likes Snuff so he will have a nose that can appreciate snuff. Weird I know. But this guy really does exist in Germany. He likes Beer, Women and Snuff. And he is a lot older than me.