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Infestation - carving is under way
Posted by Dave Bull on April 5, 2013 [Permalink]
Among all the excitement with the recent auction action, we haven't had much chance to talk about the regular work going on here, so let's have a look at the current carving work:
What has that scene got to do with carving?
It's what I see from my window!
Now that spring is finally here, the river is back up to a normal level, and there is greenery bursting out everywhere. The rainy season isn't far off, but until it arrives, we're going to enjoy our best time of year ...
Getting a bit closer to the block, here's the view:
And the progress so far - Metroids everywhere!
And if the aspect ratio of these photos is any guide ... I think you can tell what will be up on YouTube in a few weeks from now ... :-)
Added by: Anita on April 5, 2013, 5:25 am
Things are certainly bustling at your place! I notice that you're spending a great deal of time carving so it''s good to see that you have this wonderful spring pageant to watch from your window. That tree looks like one that appeared in a photo back when your employees were just becoming acclimated and you invited them to share lunch at your picnic spot beside the river. Is it the same? And, Is that some kind of weir or a natural seasonal waterfall?
Added by: Dave on April 5, 2013, 8:47 am
This is a different tree ... As it happens, my home is situated on the riverbank right between two weirs. (The river is pretty tightly controlled in its descent from the hills down to the main valley.)
I touched on these (and included photos) in this post on the Woodblock RoundTable last year.
In today's photo we are looking at the one on the 'left' (seen from my place). The 'picnic tree' is situated a short way downstream of the one on the 'right'.
On my 'to do' list is a page on the website that has a map of the local area, keyed to photos and video of the various interesting places and things. I of course don't have time these days to play around like that, so I don't know if it will ever happen ... :-(
Added by: Maria on April 5, 2013, 12:06 pm
Wow! Spring indeed...
I noticed that on the part of the block you are NOT carving, you are leaving the glued hanshita "whole" without separating the backing from the thinner tracing paper. Is this for a reason?
Added by: Dave on April 6, 2013, 12:35 am
Actually, the backing sheet has been completely removed. What you are seeing here is the difference between untouched hanshita, and the parts that I have peeled back with a moistened fingertip.
I don't peel off the excess layers of paper until just before carving any particular area. The gampi paper I am using is poorly sized (not by me), and this gives the problem that as my hand slides back and forth over the surface as I carve, the paper gets kind of 'feathery' and the lines become slightly blurred.
I can minimize this somewhat by spraying with a fixatif, but it's basically simpler just to work on the image a bit at a time, exposing it as I go ...
Added by: Anita on April 6, 2013, 6:03 pm
Thank you for the link to the post last summer. That was a time when I was ill a good bit and missed things; obviously I missed some pretty interesting things here!
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