“Dark Angel”
carving
This is a carving I have been working on for a long time. The
wood is black walnut, and the size is approximately 9” high by
12” wide. It is less than perfect, but I am progressing.
Walnut is not an easy wood to carve.
Here is an early picture when I was still
searching for the right look.
I have just about figured out the feathers,
and at this point I thought I wanted her to have a foot.
Here I have completed the wings, and I am
experimenting with the background to see what kind of a look I
want there. I still haven’t decided about leaving the foot on
her. It doesn’t look right to me.
I have removed the foot and decided on the
background. I need to repair the area where the foot was
removed. I also decided what to do with her hair.
I have removed the foot and replaced it with
folds in her dress. I decided that the bottom, or foreground
should be a different texture than the background.
I used VanDyke brown analine dye on the foreground and
background to cut back on the light sapwood in the lower part of
the carving.
The finish is a dark BriWax on the
background, and tan Kiwi shoe wax on the angel herself. Several
coats of wax will be required on this piece to bring up a good
gloss.
