halfeye's going back to carving, painting done now, a little finish work left

[burchett.donald]

Awesome Rich...   The eye's just brought that eagle alive, gave it a soul so to speak. Wonderful job Sir
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Don

[IdahoMatt]

Damn Rich.  That's looking great.  I can't wait to see more.

[DC]

That's real nice, I envy your abilities. I have a question. When I first looked at the head I thought the beak was too short. Our eagles here on Vancouver Island have a larger/longer beak. I did a Google search for eagle images and it looks like the beak length varies from parrot like to Jimmy Durante length schnoz. Does anyone know if this is a local variation or a sub species or???
Don

[half eye]

Thanks don, Idaho DC I believe that the variance in beaks has to do with age. The younger birds are not as deep so they look longer overall ....the older mature birds have heavier beaks in depth and they tend to look shorter....I'm sure that JW can answer you more succinctly. Another thing besides age is that southern birds are smaller than Northern birds so body size can make the beak look different because we see them in relation to the body/head size. That's my take on it anyway.
rich

[half eye]

Here are some close up shots to show how the head feather groups are being defined and the way they will stand off of the body....well the start of it anyway.
rich

[JW_Halverson]

Remember, many of those photos can be from captive birds and there will be HUGE variations depending on when the beak was last coped.  Coping  involves cutting back the beak and reshaping.  In captivity, most raptors do not seem to wear down their beaks like they do in the wild.  Not to say that the birds in the wild will also have variable sized beaks, depending on what stratum they are "wiping" their beaks off after eating. 

Rich, this is just amazing, I am seriously loving this sculpture!

[half eye]

Here is the pics from todays work....I stone textured the entire head, added a second layer of saw dust to the pin feathers, and coated the head with lacquer sanding sealer. The stoning leaves very fine rough spots that have to go and the sanding sealer makes those hard and brittle. I then painted on 2 coats of gesso to highlite all the rough spots and places that needed more work.

When that dried, I took all the roughness out of the feathers by "sanding" with a little deal I make. It's a cutting wheel mandrel with scotch-brite pads and it really gets rid of the "burrs" without ruining the texturing. When that's done I recoat with gesso and then do any necessary additional stoning. As of this evening I have the base color coats on the head but no finished feather paint or any parts for that matter....just base coats.....thats where it stands as of now.
rich

[half eye]

next set.

[YosemiteBen]

simply awemazing wood work!

[lesken2011]

Masterful, Rich. Masterful!!

[Badly Bent]

That eagle is coming alive right before our eyes. I like the photos Rich and the fact that your taking them from many different angles. I have to say he looks very real and authentic even when viewed from the different angles. Keep up with the post, this is fascinating to watch coming together.

[half eye]

Today is being spent on working on body feathers and final defining of the wings. First I draw on the feathers, then define each one with a ruby carver, the sand each one into a convex profile and then they get woodburned. I usually do not burn untill all are carved but thought I would do some to give you the idea. From now on it will be mostly just like this untill I reach the tail and the upper and lower coverts and actual tail feathers....if your arent tired of this I will post @ evening so you can see how the body is progressing.

In the wood burn photo the feathers on the lower edge are actually part of the wing and not the cape and so thats why they are "on top" of the cape feathers. Also you can see where the head feathers are reshaped and angled and retextured.

Yosemite, Ken, B2....thank you for the nice comments.
rich

[half eye]

next set

[half eye]

Here is the chest and upper belly....as far as I got today.

[lostarrow]

Haven't had time to come on much lately , Rich, but I'm still following! Quick question , how do you deal with variation in wood movement between different pieces of wood. The feet and the body for example? I know I'm jumping ahead here , so if the answer is forthcoming , feel free to tell me to be patient!