How I Do It

When starting a piece like this one I need good drawings. I took front and side view photos of myself posing as all three characters. Using the front view drawings I positioned them in the most natural and dramatic pose as I could. As a posse these brave men would proceed with caution expecting trouble to come from any direction.

The next thing to consider is the size. I prefer lifesize so this will take alot of glueing up of material to get the block the size I need.

When the pose and size is decided then my drawing can start.

I start with a front view drawing. My drawing is the exact size of the carving. It will be used for measurements while roughing out the piece. This is where the faces are changed for the look I want. When the front view is completed it now time to draw the side view of all three characters separately. This is where you have to be careful to keep the side views the same size as the front view. When the side views are done its now time to determine the depth of the piece. My main concern here is the gun barrel not interfering with the hat brims. By laying the side view of the character on the right on top of the side view of the middle character you can adjust the depth to a comfortable position. Now the depth has been established.

When you know the depth of the piece you now know how many layers to glue up and where they have to be positioned. Using 2 inch kiln dried lumber I begin to glue up the layers. I rerip the boards according to the end grain. The idea here is to eliminate any stress caused by the grain wanting to warp the wood. Its called confusing the grain. If you eliminate the cup in the end grain you take the stress out. If you rip the boards even smaller and confuse the grain more there is no stress.

When the layer is glued and sanded flat then I will band saw the layer to the size and shape I need. This will eliminate alot of roughing out later. You will find that you can glue up these layers in the basic shape you need saving material and cost.

This next step requires a lot of bar clamps and glue. The block was actually glued up in sections. The top six layers in this photo were glued up first. That way I could totally surround the smaller layers with bar clamps. When gluing the layers together the last thing you want is to trap a lot of glue in the middle of the layers. I apply the glue with a paint brush being careful not to use to much glue. Remember there will be very little stress left in the wood. When using the bar clamps its best to start clamping in the middle of the layer and work to the ends. This will cause the glue to squeeze out instead of causing a puddle inside the layer. When all the sections are done you can attach them as bigger layers.

Now that the block is glued together I have to get it to a position to be comfortable for carving. Its best to look eye to eye with the piece. That way there is less chance of distortion. Notice how my layers of wood are only where I need them. I also have all sorts of reference points. Hat brims, the angle of the arm and gun are already there. Also my overall profile has been defined.

Using my side view drawings its now time to find my depths and angles.

While I am finding my depths it helps to start roughing out where things are. The face, the hand and the gun are found along the way.

Its really starting to take shape now. Its almost all roughed out.

When its roughed out its time to go back in and define it more. I will sometimes go over a piece in waves. This way the carving has been carved evenly.

This is where I am doing a lot of undercuts and blending of the characters. The colour difference here was just a different setting on my camera. Nothing to do with the carving.

More undercuts and the start of detailing start bringing it to the depth of realizm I'm looking for.

At this point the piece has been detailed and textured. The leather of the coats, creases in the hand and faces, whiskers, and skin pores and I'm there.

When I started this carving it weighed approx. 150 lbs. It lost about 70 lbs. in the process of carving. I took about 6 or 7 more pounds off it by undercutting the bottom. Finishing at roughly 73 lbs. Easier to hang on a wall.

The finished carving. I'm very proud of the way it turned out. Just as dramatic as I planned it.

This view shows the amount of depth I needed. The guy on the left looks almost behind the the guy in the middle. Very cool effect.