Bat

Hi there everyone, it's been a while. Hope everyone is alright, both forums have gone awfully quiet those past few weeks.

Got really messed up in trying to find new material and got so involved that I only started a new project yesterday. 3 weeks without project; it seems that lasted forever.

Sara gave me an idea with her name-change to her darker alter-ego, and as it happens, the metal/mineral that I found recently has the perfect color to try and portray a bat.

Still don't know what it is, but.......

Lets get started and find out later.....

Rough as I broke it out of the seam/vain in the granite, and windowed down to the metal/mineral.


Color-play of the surface


And stage one as the front-wing comes to bear fruit.


Next; get the shoulder right and then the wing underneath. Should have some update by late weekend if things go my way.

Thanks for looking,

Gave up fairly quickly today as I'm still unsure as to how to create the head. Want it turned slightly to the left (as seen in picture to utilize all the material), and needs to fit perfectly as this piece should be carved in the round. Will try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, redid and undercut the front-wing a bit more plus defined the shoulder.


Thanks for bearing with me, Kurt

Hope everyone has had a reasonable week.

For me its now time to give you an idea what I'm up to with my bat.

I knew that heads and faces are problematic, but this thing is driving me nuts. One week, and all I got is a basic half head. Never realized how much a single scratch can change the whole overall appearance. Now to top it off, it looks like that I don't have enough thickness to complete the head in the round (I miss-judged it by about a millimeter). That in turn means that I will have the back either unfinished flat or, I do all the naughty bits, minus a small part of the head.

Here we go, stage 2 and 2.5


Thanks for looking and have a great week, Kurt

So now that the carving back and front is finally done and I know that I can realize what I planed for; here is some roundabout on the head.



And done for now


Till here for now, the back of the bat will be revealed once completely done up and once I can take pictures that can convey as to why I'm on cloud 9 right now

Its taken a bit more than 4 weeks from finding the material till wearing it today, but I think it was well worth it.
So here finally the back and everything else:

The back


Shadow and color play (first row outdoor in shadow and lower shots indoor)


Roundabout shots in the sun


Best closeup's. My picture taking is not the best, but you get the idea, plus this material drives me nuts with all those reflections.


And finally, worn by my usual victim


Final words to be said: This piece could be smoother, some lines could be cleaned up, the back could be straightened, etc...... BUT, I belief its exactly those things plus the natural faults within the material, that gives this piece a character that I could not have given it intentionally. The back in particular has, because of them, the illusion of portraying movement. As you can see in the serial pictures above, the back seems to look slightly different with every single change of angle. I have to admit, this was not planed at all, but while sanding I realized what I had done and left it alone while correcting other things. This might be seen or taken as fault, but I dare to promise that it looks fantastic when at hand and the shadows move across the back as a whole.

I also had doubts about suitability of giving it (how did Sara call it ?) "A full moon over Kansas", but looking at it now, it seems rather natural than overly sensual.


Thanks for again for all the support along the way, its great to be here, Kurt