3/30

Working night shift this week... that means, painting every morning... with no interuptions..

The drake Scoter is complete... here are some shots of the finish bird...

Also a photo of the drake and the Razorbill together... 2/3rd of the rig done... now onto the hen.. that will take several day to complete, but there is light at the end of the tunnel...

I will have to set up the back drop and the tripod to take some better shots...

3/29

Well the weekend is over and I had 14 people make a Redhead hen...

Here are some shots... one of everyone working.. one of my great nephew holding the finished bird and one of the bird that I carved duing the class...

Fun project, well everyone left the building with a finished bird and a happy look on their face... and we got done early... that is a plus...

I'm glad that I have good students and just about all have carved with me before.. that way I don't have to retain them...

Now back to the rig...

3/24

Well another night of painting... no photos tonight, the Scoter drake just look like a black bird... will add photos after I get the body done...
I have a seminar this weekend.. we are carving a hen Redhead... 13 people signed up for this.. most have carved with me before... should be fun..

3/22

Painting tonight... that will be the theme for the next couple of weeks... lots of feather strokes... Going to make a regular hunting decoy off of the pattern for the drake with very few feathers... just for fun... here is a couple of shots of the drake .. with some more feather done...

3/21

Painting tonight... working on the drake Scoter... Here are a couple of shot of the start of this bird... I'll keep painting so maybe I can be done ahead of the day that I leave for worlds...

This is tough with the black on black... lots of little color and brushstrokes that may never be seen, but I know they are there... Painting dark and mysterious colors in nooks and crannies of this bird...

Already starting to think about the hen...

3/19

It is late... and I just finished the Razorbill..."I think"..

we will look at it in the natural light.. considering that it will be judged in that light...

now onto the drake Scoter.... will try and get some of the area done tommorow...

have a plan of attack... also starting to think how to present all three birds together...

3/17

Got back to painting a little tonight... I think the Razorbills will needs a couple more hours of working... some blending, some lining, some shading... working with white on white and black on black is not the easiest painting that I have ever done... but with this bird

I think it is helping to figure out the other two.. they should not take as long.. less techniques to figure out...and try...

3/12

Here are some shots of the Razorbill in the first painting stages.. Need more refining and will mix up some base dark and build from there... just have to keep telling myself that painting is fun.. don't think about this being for the world carving competition...

3/8

Well the DU banquet is over for another year... we laughed, we snarled, we openly wept... what a contest... what a night... We had 80 decoys...

Here is a photo of my Ringed Teal that took to "Peoples Choice Award", if I heard once I heard it 100 times.. What the hell is that duck... it don't look like no Mallard... maybe it's one of them made up ducks...

Also a photo of my great nephew Ben's Dowithcher... here won third in juniors.. and a HM in shorebirds... good contest.. Rob Ender won the gunners..

I got two more decoys for the book...

3/3

Here are some shot of birds that I made for DU...

Made a gunning Dovekie... some mini Swans... a Scaup.. and a Three-toed Woodpecker..

Shop has been busy with DU coming and some big project are getting done.. Herb and his Swan.. Harley and his Eagle... The rig is home and getting sealed with paint and texture paint is being applied