Wild Fire Artistry...first two plaques done

[Hooked]

Gatekeeper ,
What kind of work do you do?  Thanks for the suggestion!  I am always afraid to put that finish on because I am sure I will want to change something after I do.  

I have thought about even adding some color with soft pastels, but I feel like it takes away from the fact that it is woodburned.

I have thought about staining part of the wood to frame the pic and writing at the bottom, but haven't tried it yet.

Chip

[elkken]

Exceptional art work .... and presentation

[metsastaja]

Whats the next project?

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Hooked:
Gatekeeper ,
What kind of work do you do?  Thanks for the suggestion!  I am always afraid to put that finish on because I am sure I will want to change something after I do.  

I have thought about even adding some color with soft pastels, but I feel like it takes away from the fact that it is woodburned.

I have thought about staining part of the wood to frame the pic and writing at the bottom, but haven't tried it yet.

Chip

Pastels are my medium of choice although I have been ignoring my artsy side for some time now. Maybe one of these days I will find time to get back into drawing and painting.

I agree that you don't want to take away from the wood burning effect so you would want to use the "less is more" approach. Use the color sparingly and make the colors transparent and earth tones to keep the wood burn look.

The color would be used to draw and hold the viewer's attention to an area. Example: In the first picture, if the hunter's jacket had a hint of color, it would frame the man's face and make the antlers really standout. Just hints of color I'm not talking about painting the whole jacket just a wash of color over some of the highlights and if the bow and the arrow had color in them it would show the importants of his choice of weapon by making them really come forward.

In the second one I would again frame the hunters face by adding color to the jacket and then add color to the antlers because this is obviously what he (the hunter) was trying to bring attention to in the photo and it may also help to darken the back log to help push it back and bring the antlers forward.

I'm not sure pastels would do your work justice because they are not transparent but watercolors or a thin Gauch paint might be the ticket. To get a feel for adding color you could do a color photocopy of the wood burnt picture and then use colored pencils on the photocopy to explore the whole color issue. Again, let me stress I am not criticizing your work I think they look great! I am only bouncing ideas in your direction.

I look forward to see your future work.

[Bucksnort101]

Amazing work. Even more amazing when it is done by hand and not with a carving machine.

[Hooked]

Metsastaja,

Sheesh!  Whats up with that handle?  Is that your indian name or something?

next project is a bighorn sheep!  I love doing the deer, but am excited to something a little different.  One after that is even a bigger change.  Man with his lab and a pile of pheasant in front of them!  Definitely didn't charge enough for that one, LOL!

Here are the intial pics of the sheep,  all I have done so far is alittle carving...