February 7, 2012

Angry Birds Chain Red Bird

I assume that if you are reading this article, you know all in regards to the dissimilar kinds of wood carving that subsist today. The following is intended for those who want to carve realistic bird feathers. It is a summary of a specific aspect of wood carving wild birds. It is intended to provide potential wild bird carvers with pointers to hone their carving skills. Following these guidelines I may ascertain you of constructing realistic feather detail in each bird you carve. I trust my counsel will move your carving capacity from the usual to the extraordinary. It will aid you create realistic feather detail.

It is likewise assumed that you have learned how to rough out a bird, and have prepared the bird to carve the feather detail. The primary step you have to take is to make sure that you have a roughed out bird carving, free from any tool marks and sanded to 600 grid with very fine good quality sandpaper. No shortcuts may be tolerated. Every tool mark, and each bump in the wood will have to be annihilated before beginning the detail feather carving process.

The golden rule for carving realistic feathers is not to carve too deep. It is better to have less detail than deep carving marks resembling fish scales rather than soft feathers. When I introductory started detailing bird feathers, my birds had the fish scale look to them. I outlined each feather too prominently, rather of a gradual transition from one feather to the next. Some feathers, for example the soft feathers on the birds chest and belly, are very soft with one feather flowing into the next. To achieve this is requiring little effort said than done.

To achieve realistic carved feather detail, a bird’s feathers may be classified as stiff or soft feathers. We will address carving the stiff feathers first.

Carving stiff feathers, such as the necessary feathers of the wingand the tail, is achieved by **rolling** in the outline of the feather. Rolling is the procedure of using a round object such as the back end of a drill bit with a very sharp edge. I roll the bit along the pencil outline of the feather, compressing the wood, rather than carving the wood. Consequently creating a depression on the outside of the feather. As you proceed rolling the feathers of the wing or tail with this tool, you are creating the illusion of the feathers being stacked one upon the other. Cutting this feather separation line with a carving knife, you normally end with to deep a cut resulting in the **fish scale look**.

On completion of the rolling process, the rolled area must be sanded with fine sandpaper to remove any deep indentations caused by using too much pressure for the duration of the rolling process.

Mark feather quills with a #2 pencil on those feathers where the quill may be seen. The next step is burning in feather details with the help of a pyrographic pen with a very fine tip. Burn the outline of each quill with the rheostat of the pyrographic setting that will cause a slight browning of the wood. Do not burn dark deep lines, the deeper you burn the wider the lines and the less professional the result. After burning the quills, the heat is lowered and the feather barbs are burned in. Look at a flight feather of a real bird and note that the barbs are not straight but more or less curved. Using a low heat setting enables you to place the barb lines closer together. It will likewise prevent you from burning too deep and therefore loose your effort to fabricate that real feather look.

Soft feathers are blended into one another. A gradual transition is invented by carving a shoal depression amongst feathers, using a ball shaped carving bit in a rotary type carving tool. It is crucial to use a pink or blue Arkansas stone rather than a diamond or ruby carving bit to give you a softer look. The result is a less pronounced groove amongst feathers. The next step is to remove the sharp edges of this groove with a flame shaped stone and sandpaper. The intention is to achieve hardly visible edges among feathers. Once you have formulated this soft effect you are ready to carve the detail into person feathers. To achieve this use a cylindrical white or blue stone in the rotary carving tool. Start at the tail coverts and carry on to the head. By carving from the tail to the head of the bird, the feather overlay will be correct. Now blend the overlaying feathers into the lower ones. This gives you finish control over the desired softness.

The final step in creating soft feathers is to use the pyrographic tool and burn in the exposed quills, duplicating the procedure for the stiff feather quills. Next use the burning tool to emphasize a few of the barbs invented by the cylindrical stone. Burn only a few of the barbs from their base to with regards to a third of their length. Some burning marks will have to be shorter than others, therefore creating a realistic soft effect.