I need some opinions

[Wolf Kiessling]

This piece is in the detail carving phase with the face is pretty much finished. Of course, clean up on the piece hasn't begun yet. In any event, the expression I put on his face is a fairly strong deviation of what I normally do. What I would like from you kind folks, if you care to respond, is your opinion regarding the facial expression. Don't bother commenting on the quality of the work because, at this stage, that is a moot point. Besides, as I mentioned, I haven't even begun to think about clean up yet. I would really like to know, however, how you feel about the expression - do you like it, don't like it, is it interesting or dumb, whatever pops into your mind. If I get enough response, it will probably have a strong bearing on how I finish the bust. I have a couple of directions I can go in and also need to determine whether or not to put it into competition. The tentative title is "Saturday Night - Shined, Showered and Shaved".

Thank you in advance for your input.

[Martin Shupe]

(1) I like it. Makes me think of him standing in front of the door, waiting for his date to open it. Or perhaps looking in the mirror before going out to pick up his date.

(2) Put it into the competition.

(3) Post another pic when it is finished.

[Jim Becker]

I like it very much, especially relative to the title--looks like it's bang-on. I'm sure you'll tone down the creases above the nose, so I won't comment on them... :p

[Stan Smith]

Real nice, Wolf. I'm a subsciriber to Chip Chats as I'm sure you are. Your work is perfectly acceptable for competition. I think the expression is very appropriate for the title. You've captured it very well, IMHO. I used to do some painting and drawing before I started woodworking.

Stan

[Chris Padilla]

I like it, Wolf. Perhaps you could turn the creases above the nose into a light unibrow?? :D

I think, perhaps, that this bust is you in your youth?? ;)

[Rob Littleton]

Dude, awesome......

what talent....

Im with the others about the creases above the nose but Im also with the others about not mentioning them :-)

Nice work man. You rock......

[Dave Hammelef]

Ok, a different response.

Dont like pic 1 end of mouth looks like it curls up.

Like pics 2 and 3 very much. The issue in one may be shadows hard to tell from the pics.

[Tyler Howell]

Wolf, Ease up a little. I haven't commented on Nessie yet. Being an art critic requires thought. Very Nice. I think I met him on one of my many trips to OKC. ;)

[Steve King]

Wolf,
The first thing I thought, Looks like Jerry Jones after his face lift. It just looks too tight. With him wearing a cowboy hat and the bolo, I think he should look more weathered. I like what Martin said; looks like you are welcome and come on in.
IMHO, you asked
Steve

[Wolf Kiessling]

Ok, a different response.

Dont like pic 1 end of mouth looks like it curls up.

Like pics 2 and 3 very much. The issue in one may be shadows hard to tell from the pics.

Nice catch, Dave. I wasn't actually looking for detail criticism, just gut reaction, however, I'm glad you pointed that out. I missed it completely, that is an error and I will definitely correct it. Thanks a bunch.

[Wolf Kiessling]

Wolf, Ease up a little. I haven't commented on Nessie yet. Being an art critic requires thought. Very Nice. I think I met him on one of my many trips to OKC. ;)

Take it easy, Tyler :D Don't be a critic on this :p I'm just looking for a reaction to the facial expression. Looking at the responses I have already received, I pretty much have my direction decided.Both this piece and Nessie are a long way from completion. They'll get finished eventually :cool:

[Tom Sweeney]

I really really like the overall look- If I could say 2 things though.
The first pic bothers me a bit also for some reason - the turned up lip is one thing, but I didn't notice that the first time I looked. It just seems a bit too tight & the area from the bottom of the nose down seems too recessed to me. Is there a way to kind of loosen his expression.

I do think there is something about it that works with the title - like maybe he's trying too hard to make a good impression??? Sort of how everyone looks when they're dressed up & getting a picture taken. It works perfect looking at it from that angle

The head on picture looks great.

As I have said a number of times there is no possible way I could do what you do - but these are my impressions so take it with a grain of salt.

[Wolf Kiessling]

I think, perhaps, that this bust is you in your youth?? ;)

Nah, not at all........Here's what I figured I looked like at about 25...

[Mark Singer]

Wolf,
Is that you??? Like a self portrait?? Great as always!!!

[Chris Padilla]

Wolf,

What woods do you like to carve with? What is the bust above in? How about the first pics, too?

[Wolf Kiessling]

Wolf,
Is that you??? Like a self portrait?? Great as always!!!

To be completely truthful, Mark, it's only kind of a self portrait. I don't have any pix of myself at that age (the ex-wife has all of those) so I used a lot of imagination. Besides that, I made myself look a little better than I actually did, particularly the nose. I've had my nose flattened so many times I couldn't see replicating that on the bust :p
(I was pretty rowdy in my younger years) Usually I do portraits of other people and those I try to keep as realistic as possible.

[Wolf Kiessling]

Wolf,

What woods do you like to carve with? What is the bust above in? How about the first pics, too?

The sailor bust is aspen.

The cowboy bust is basswood.

When I carve very detailed items, I like to use basswood. This I have to buy. I used to have split residence (Texas and Colorado) and I had access to free aspen in Colorado so I used a lot of that. I like it almost as much as basswood. Now that I reside in Oklahoma, I have access to quite a bit of catalpa and I like that also. Not as well as basswood and aspen, but I like the cost - free.

For stylized carvings, or anything with little or no detail, just smooth, flowing curves and lines, I like a hard wood which I mostly power carve. My very favorite among those is mesquite.

[Chris Padilla]

Wow...I'm from Colorado and I've never really heard of anyone do anything with aspen other than oogling them in the fall (never thought that was a big deal...the east in the fall kick CO's butt all day long for color). Pretty cool. I may have to have my Dad pick up a few logs and dry them and see. The can get pretty big, too.

[Wolf Kiessling]

Wow...I'm from Colorado and I've never really heard of anyone do anything with aspen other than oogling them in the fall (never thought that was a big deal...the east in the fall kick CO's butt all day long for color). Pretty cool. I may have to have my Dad pick up a few logs and dry them and see. The can get pretty big, too.

You are absolutely right in your observations. Most people in CO use aspen for firewood. I have seen some really cool cabinets made from aspen planks and you hear of more and more people getting into the making of rustic furniture from peeled aspen logs. The only really commercial application I have heard of for the use of aspen, and this may not even be correct, is match sticks.

You're also right about the CO leaf peeping. I am not really sure how that got started as it is nothing much to look at. Mainly yellow leaves mixed in with the blue spruces. I think the forest service and maybe the state authorities got together and started the hype. We worked for the forest service for a while and one time had to attend one of these motivational deals that was supposed to hype us up and in turn hype up the tourists. Oh well.....

[Chris Padilla]

I lived in Chicago for 2.5 years and had the opportunity to do lots of travelling in IL, IN, and WI. In WI, US-8 was one of the largest palette-of-color drives I have ever seen in my life in the fall. It was quite breath taking! I then thought, somewhat depressed, CO has nothing on these trees...for fall color! :)