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awsum55
612 posts
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in over 1 year
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Keeping an eye on things
An oldie, from da udder place
I went to look through some of the wood a friend of mine brought over. There was this one piece that was just the base of a branch and I asked him why he brought it to me. He told me he thought I would come up with something to make with it.
I went to look through some of the wood a friend of mine brought over. There was this one piece that was just the base of a branch and I asked him why he brought it to me. He told me he thought I would come up with something to make with it.
I was feeling less creative than normal and I had no ideas at all, so I looked through the wood again and this time I thought I saw something and it gave me an idea. I thought this looked like an eye, of an alligator or crocodile maybe. I looked for some swipe on the internet and came up with this picture and I knew what I had to do.
I drilled out the branch that was mostly rotten anyway and got out my wood burning pen. The wood was very soft in some places and very hard in others which made it difficult to get uniform lines.
I got a piece of plexiglass I had laying around. I used my heat gun to shape the plexi and change the texture.
It wasn't working for me so I tried again, but I didn't let the plexi get so hot that it started to bubble like the first time. I used a tennis ball and my hands to press the plexi up against the inside lip to follow the contour perfectly.
I got out my airbrush and some glitter and tried to duplicate what the eye looked like. I used water soluble dyes to color the piece.
The colors changed dramatically when I used varnish and became much darker. I lost a little of the detail, but it made the surface look more realistic.
It took me a few tries to get it right, at first I used gold paint for the stripe around the pupil and I didn't like it.
Then I thought about using glow powder in the eye like when their eyes light up at night if you shine a light at them. I had to remember to paint in reverse on the backside so everything looked correct on the front side.
I wanted to mount it, but didn't want it to be too heavy. I made up a panel and cut it and sanded the edges to make it look worn. I was going to stain it grey to make it look weathered, but changed my mind. My hands were killing me while doing this project (still no answer from my doctor), but I couldn't stop because it was so much fun.
I made a plaque to describe the piece and sent a pic of it hanging on the wall to a friend of mine.
He called me and said "Nice job, but that's not an alligator". He said "That's a walleye"! I knew I had to change the plaque because that was much funnier than what I had. So here is the finished piece.
I gave it to the friend that brought me the wood and challenged me to make something out of it. He has a game room with a pool table in his basement with road signs and stuff all over the walls where it will fit right in. I was so excited to give it to him that I forgot to sign it or get a picture of it glowing in the dark. I'll have to get it back so I can sign it and then get pictures of it hanging in the game room.
.................. John D....................
13 Comments
Magnificant.....!!
...woodicted
Wow! Great project!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
A cool and wonderful piece of art. I could see where that would fit nicely in a game room.
Main Street to the Mountains
i love it GR8 JOB ❤😍😎👍
*TONY ** Reinholds* ALWAYS REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN
Awesome awsum! (Sorry - I couldn't resist)
The paint work is impressive.
The paint work is impressive.
You did good with both of those plaques. Both are interesting and unique. Great imagination and design to come up with it. Love it.
Ron
John, that is a work of art. Very nice work on it. I'll bet you could make a whole alligator if given a long piece of wood!!
Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day
Very, very clever, and imaginative. Great job! Bet that creates a lot of conversation around the pool table.
i remember this one john. hilarious !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Thanks to all for the nice comments, I had a lot of fun with this one.
.................. John D....................
Impressed by it there, still impressed by it here ;)
Super imaginative. I would not want to be in that game room with the lights out.
Thanks, I wish I made 2. LOL
.................. John D....................
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