A little more progress.

Today was a busy day. I jumped around from project to project and it seemed like I got little done. Sometimes I have days like that.  But things did get done - even if it was a little bit all over.

The router was busy through the day and as soon as the base of the Town Crier sign was carved I grabbed it off the machine and fastened the head to it. The banner and panel with the lettering will be ready later. It looked cool already and I couldn't resist spending a little time adding the rough form for his hat. That lead to plunking on his ears. I then decided his powdered wig needed to be tucked behind them before they hardened. Things might need some adjusting and it is only possible when the sculpting epoxy is soft. It was a fun way to wrap up my workday in the shop before I headed into the house for supper.

As I put down my tools I decided he just had to have one more small detail. It couldn't wait. The tongue needed a little texture to make it believable. Then it was time to go in the house and make some supper.

I can hardly wait to put more attention to the sign.  It's way more fun than actually working. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Blending old ways with new

I love working with my hands with old fashioned tools. But I also love modern technology and the very latest tools. They are not mutually exclusive but instead can be used together to make some pretty cool stuff. In our shop we blend both the old and new to create our art. I used to draw with pen and paper. Now I still start my sketches that way in my sketchbook but my drawings are finished with a digital pen and tablet. The images are only on the screen until I print them out. In the shop we have tall cabinets full of every hand tool imaginable. But in the back room is a massive state of the art four axis CNC router that does amazing things.

By embracing both old and new ways I can produce work faster and easier than ever before. The new ways allow me to do things I could previously only imagine. 

The Town Crier Whiskey piece I am working on now is a wonderful example of how old and new are blended seamlessly to produce our work. The first sketch was done in ink in my sketchbook, then the final drawing was done at my desk, with manual input but digital output. Doing so allowed me to manipulate my image and adjust things as I went - something I couldn't do without redrawing from scratch again and again previously.

I designed the lettering and background of the sign as a routing file on the computer using powerful software. The rough draft of the town crier was done as a digital sculpt, then sent to the CNC router to be carved out of Precision Board high density urethane - all automatically. It was pure magic as I watched the machine reveal my digital sculpt from the block. What was previously only and idea suddenly was real.

Once the machine had done it's work, it was time to begin the hand sculpting. Once again we blend the old with the new. While I used old fashioned tools, nothing more than a sharpened stick and my fingers, my medium was a modern epoxy sculpting medium called Abracadabra Sculpt. It hardens in about three hours. With the routed form as an armature it was quick and easy to build up the features and add details. I've learned these kinds of sculpts are best done in stages so I don't mess up what I've managed to accomplish. Tomorrow I'll do some more, working at the piece in bits and pieces until it is complete. The sculpt is still rough but it is showing a lot of character already.

In the next few days I'll be showing how this art piece will come together with every trick and tool in my arsonel, both old and new. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Coming up with new ideas

I often get asked just where or how I manage to come up with the things we do. It is easy really although sometimes I have to think about it longer than I like. First I really SEE what is around me - constantly. But just seeing isn't enough. I have to somehow trap those ideas inside my brain for future reference. If I can manage it I'll whip off a quick sketch in one of the sketchbooks I always keep handy to capture an idea. That's the best for it already translates what I see to my style, and helps me remember it forever. Sketching also gives me practice drawing. I need to do that regularly for practicing is the only way to get good. If I don't have time to do a sketch I'll snap a picture with the small camera always in a small pouch strapped to my belt. But I have a whole lot of photographic images on file (tens of thousands) and can't always remember just where they are. Failing that I try and just remember - but after 58 years of collecting ideas my head is starting to get pretty full and this doesn't always work. I have a theory that everytime I push something new in something old falls out. Somehow the thing I lose is never something I won't need later.

I was working on a sign design for one of the last show pieces for inside the Fox and Hounds Pub this past while. I had discussed some ideas with the owner but nothing I was drawing was working. I filled a bunch of pages in my sketchbook to no avail. This morning for an extra shot of inspiration I typed 'pub signs' into google to see if anything would spark my imagination. One sign of hundreds there caught my eye. I did a quick scribble in my book. What I saw on that web page wasn't what I wanted but it sparked an idea...

The sketch I had drawn was far too much of a cartoon and lacked the character I desired. Fortunately I knew where I would look next for inspiration. I simply swivelled by chair around and looked on my bulletin board in my studio. Up in the top left corner was a pencil drawing I had done more than twenty years ago. Back then I had been paging through an old National Geographic Magazine and had come across a picture of a grizzled old man. I liked him and had drawn this characature of him. I had no use for the piece at the time but I knew that some day I would. Today was that day at last.

The drawing was not usable in it's current form. I had to cut and paste, and modify things quite a bit. I ended up redrawing him entirely, adding an open mouth and a hand with a bell. He got a powdered wig, a tri-cornered hat and a ruffled shirt to bring him back to merry olde England. Adding a barrel head as background and a scroll with the whiskey label tied things nicely into the pub decor. Suddenly I had an idea I liked. Looking at him kinda makes you want to plug your ears as you smile. :)

Now I'll present him to the owners of the pub and see if they agree.

-grampa dan