Carving the Caricature Bust

Part 3 Add-ons and Painting

A Carving Tutorial by Brandant Robinson
Theoldstump.blogspot.com

In this final part of Carving the Caricature Bust tutorial we will create a few non-wood add-ons
to bump up the charm factor, create a suitable base for a superb presentation, and paint the completed
piece. In short, we will complete the entire piece and get it ready for display. I could have divided this
part of the tutorial into two since this installment is rather long, but I was anxious to get this piece
finished up.
As in all of my tutorials, the following is a quick listing of my carving philosophies. I hope you
will take the time to ponder on each one and absorb their meaning. You may refer back to previous
sections of this tutorial for a more in-depth discussion of each point.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Learn techniques, not steps.

Carving is fun.
Learn from your mistakes. Adapt and overcome.
Use the tools at your disposal.
Work to develop your own unique carving style.
There is no right or wrong way, only different ways.

Many of the techniques described in this part of the tutorial are not technically woodcarving,
but I my humble opinion, they really add to the overall appearance of the piece. I hope you enjoy
learning a little something new. Now, let's get started.

To begin with, we will make a beautiful base on which to present our hard work. The main thing
to consider when designing a base is that a good base will add to the overall appearance of the finished
piece in a positive way. A poorly designed base can often detract from the piece you are trying to
showcase. Since we have worked hard, and have a great little carving, we want the base to put the
carving in its best light, so we will make a suitable base.
This base is comprised of three parts: a dowel for the top, a small disk in the middle and a large
disk for the bottom. I turned the dowel out of Honduras Rosewood on my lathe to fit within the hollow

that was created underneath the Gambler's vest in the previous tutorial. I realize that you may not have
access to a lathe. Don't let this discourage you. You can also create this section by carefully cutting out
the cylinder on your band saw followed by some sanding, by hand carving the piece with your carving
tools, or by purchasing a pre-turned spindle from a supplier. Just work with what you have available to
you.
The two disks are cut out of 3/4 inch stock on the band saw. I used some scrap pieces of
bubinga wood that a friend gave me for this project because it closely resembles the Honduras
Rosewood. The species of wood doesn't really matter. Just pick something that pleases you. To cut out
the disks, I use a circle cutting jig on my band saw and follow up with a circle sanding jig on my disk
sander to true things up and remove the saw marks. If you don't these jigs, just trace a circle on your
stock and cut it out freehand. Finish up by sanding the edges smooth with a sanding block to create the
circle. The diameters of the large and small disks measure 4 inches and 3 inches respectively. These
measurements give a large enough surface to visually anchor the piece while making it physically stable
as well.
Once the pieces are cut out and edge sanded, I shape the top edges of each piece with a router.
Make sure you lay out each piece first so that the grain is used to its best advantage, i.e. pick the best
surfaces to use for the front of the base. I used a 1/4" beading bit to create a nice profile on the small
piece and a 3/8" cove bit on the large piece. Notice on the large piece that I did not route around the
entire circumference. I left a short section about 3 inches long for a place to mount a nameplate.
You may also notice from the above photos that I have drilled multiple holes in the pieces. The
dowel gets a center hole on both the top and bottom. Both the large and small disks get a hole drilled
the entire way through at their centers. With the pieces temporarily clamped together (use a small
dowel or brad through the center holes to line them up) drill two more holes that go completely through
the large piece and halfway through the small piece. Countersink the holes to hide the screw heads.
Refer to the above photos where the first shows the top view of the pieces, the second shows the
bottom view, and the third shows an angled view of the pieces for reference. Finish up by sanding
everything smooth. I sand up to 220 grit.

Let's begin the assembly of the base. First, we need to attach the dowel to the small disk. This
is done with a single wood screw through the middle hole. I also put a small drop of wood glue between
the two pieces so that the dowel will not spin around. Notice in the first photo that I carefully inspected
the pieces to choose the best grain for the front of the base. That knot in the Honduras Rosewood is
really something else.

Next, the bottom piece gets attached. It's a simple process with two wood screws pulling
everything together tightly.

I like to sign my carvings on the back of the base. To do this I just sign the piece with a pencil
and burn along the pencil lines with my wood burner to permanently mark the carving.

Here's the test fit. I think the carving and the base work together quite well. The base design
will certainly add to the overall presentation.

With the base finished, it's time to move on to the add-ons. We begin by making a hand of
cards for this old Gambler to play with. We need six in all, five for his hand and one for that ace under
his hat. I used some scrap pieces of copper flashing to make my cards. Any other metal that can be
painted will do just as well, copper is what I had laying around my shop. The pieces of copper that I had
were a little too thick, so I just hammered them out a little with hammer and anvil. I think the
hammering process actually adds to the look of the cards, giving them some extra texture.
The bottom photo shows a piece of index card that I cut and re-cut until I got it down to the size
of playing card that looked right to scale. This will be the pattern for cutting the metal to shape.

The top photo shows the pattern placed on top of one of the copper cards. I guess I hammered
the copper out enough since it's about the right size. I just held the paper pattern in place as I cut the
copper around it with a pair of metal sheers. I kept some of the ragged edges to add to the charm of a
well-used deck of cards. The bottom photo shows the copper cards and the carnage that was left over.

Here is a test fit. Looks good to me.

I considered several methods of attaching the hand of cards together. Solder was the first to
come to mind, but solder can sometimes be a messy business when fusing multiple object together. I
settled on a mechanical means of attachment.
The first photo shows the hand of cards clamped together in a fan shape. While clamped
together, I drill a small hole through the hand of cards. Just make sure before you drill the hole that you
will be passing through each of the cards and not miss one. We don't want any stragglers falling off.
Next, I clipped off the head of a finishing nail and push it through the hole. The second and third photos
show the nail passing through the hand of cards.

Now, we reach for the ball peen hammer and take the collection over to the anvil. With the ball
end of the hammer, we carefully tap the nail head from both sides. As we do this, the nail will
mushroom out and fill in the void of the hole. As we continue to tap, the nail continues to expand and
lock everything in place. Once everything is tight, just sand or file the nail head flat. The nail will all but
disappear when we get the cards painted, and since we place it where we did, it will be covered up by
the Gambler's fingers anyway.

Here's a test fit. Looks like we got it right.

Let's give these cards a little more shape. To do this, I bend the corners a little to separate the
cards slightly and give them a more pleasant shape. I also curve the whole hand so that they cup inward
toward the Gambler's thumb as cards to in real life. The above photos show the results.

I had to shave off a little more wood from the thumb to make the cards fit the Gambler's hand
properly. These photos show a nice, tight fit between the cards and the Gambler's hand. Things are
really coming together.

I decided that it would look better to have the secret card between the Gambler's fingers as
well. Therefore, I opened up a space between his right thumb and the fingers for the card to slip into as
shown in the first photo. After some bending and twisting, I formed the card into a pleasing shape
where it will be seen and a flat plane where it will be underneath the hat. The section under the hat
needs to be flat so not to interfere with the joint between the hat and the head.

Here is the first test fit of the secret card. You can see from the photos that if left this way,
there would be a gap between the head and the hat. While holding things in position, I make a couple
of pencil marks, one on either side of the card, on the hat to show me where we need to do some work.

After removing the hat, I hold the card in place and trace around the corner. This way, I will
have a reference mark so that the card is in the same place as I work on the hat/head joint. The bottom
photo shows the pencil marks that we made in the previous step. Using a small gouge, I cut out the area
between the marks little by little, testing the fit each time until the fit is tight with no gaps.

There, that's a much better fit. Now there is no gap and the head fits up inside the hat without
any problem.

As a final way to connect the card solidly into place. I decided to drill a hole through the card
and drive a nail through the hole into the head. This way, the card will not pull out, even if the glue
should fail. After driving the nail, I clip off the excess and leave just a small stub for the card to fasten
over.

Now, we move on to the next add-on, the tie tack. I think he will look nice with a little bling on
his tie. I thought that we would make it in the shape of a horse shoe to keep with the western theme.
To make the tie tack, I will use a small piece of wire as shown in the first photo. To get the right size, I go
through my drill bits until I find one that looks about right. Next, we bend the wire around the drill bit
into a U-shape as shown in the last picture.

With a pair of needle nose pliers, bend the tips of the horseshoe back slightly for a little more
detail and clip the ends off to shape as shown in the second picture. Once we have the shape, we
flatten it between hammer and anvil.

Now we need a way to attach the tie tack to the carving. To do this, we will solder a pin to the
back. I clip the head off a finishing nail and sand the end flat as shown in the first photo. Dip the tip of
the nail into some flux to prepare for soldering. The third photo shows the horseshoe with a dot of flux
in the place of attachment and a small piece of solder that I clipped off the roll. Just a small piece is all
we will need.

Since it takes two hands to solder the connection, I'll have to describe the process in words. I
hold the nail in place perpendicular to the horseshoe with a pair of pliers at the point of connection. I
touch my hot soldering iron to the piece of solder to pick it up. Next, touch the tip of the soldering iron
to the fluxed joint until the solder flows between the two pieces of metal. Remove the soldering iron
and hold the pieces together for a few seconds until the solder hardens. And there you have it, a nice
joint that will hold forever. If you have a little too much solder like I did, just file or sand off the excess
so that the tie tack will sit flat against the carving.

To make the hole in the carving, I just used a nail of the same size and push it into the tie with a
pair of pliers. Next, clip off the end of the nail and push it into place. Finally, I bend the horseshoe
around the tie while in place to form it around the wood. It might be a little big, but I kind of like it that
way. It makes quite the statement.

It's time to make a matching hole in the carving so that we can attach him to his base. To do
this, I snip off a small piece of dowel that fits in the base hole that is long enough to stick out above the
base. With a pencil, I color the tip of the dowel that will act to transfer a mark to the carving. Position
the carving over the dowel and get it centered. Once you have it in the right position, press down and
give the carving a little twist. The third photo shows the transferred pencil on the carving. This shows
us where to drill the matching hole.

The top photo shows the carving with the hole drilled to accept a small dowel. the bottom
photo shows how the piece will look once attached. I think this is going to look great.

With all the add-ons made, it's time to move on to painting. In preparation of painting, I like to
use my wood burner to burn in some transition lines. I burn lines at the junctions where one color will
meet another and to accent deep spots in the carving. The burn lines will do two things. First, they will
help to keep colors from bleeding over into other areas as we paint. Second, they will be visible
highlights to make the deep recesses pop. This is not a necessary step, but I find it very valuable.

I begin the painting process by spraying the cards and the tie tack with a thin layer of spray
paint. Make sure that you use a paint that is made for metal, the color is immaterial as we will be
painting over it. The spray paint gives us a base layer that we can paint acrylics over, since acrylics
doesn't adhere to metal very well.

Here is a photo of my painting setup. the small tub holds all of my paints, brushes and water
cups that I use. I don't use very many paints, so this small tub is large enough to keep everything
together.
The paint tray is one that I put together from a scrap piece of copper flashing. The sides are
bent up and soldered together so that it is water tight. I have a piece of white paper in the bottom of
the tray and a thin piece of glass over top. This glass surface is where I mix all my paints and is easy to
clean with a small sprits of water and a razor blade. You can buy these paint trays already made if you
want one, but don't have the means or desire to make one. You can certainly use something else as
well. I've used the plastic trays that have the little dishes in them quite extensively too. You can even
use a disposable plate as your pallet. The point is, it doesn't have to be fancy, this is just what I have
found works for me.
I keep a cup of warm water to use to thin out my paints and to wash my brushes between
colors. Also, keep a paper towel or two handy to blot with and to dry off your brushes.

The first photo shows the paints that I use. They are just acrylic paints that you can find at any
craft store. They come in squeeze tubes and will last for a long time. If the paint starts to get a little
thick in the bottles, just add a little drizzle of water and shake. It will restore them back to the proper
consistency.
I like to start my painting process on the head. It's a good rule to follow to paint the light colors
first and move to the dark colors after. This way, if you happen to slop over a little paint, the darker
color may well cover up the mistake. Since the skin color is the lightest one on the Gambler's face, we
will start there. I use a mixture of Red Iron Oxide and Yellow Ochre to create an acceptable skin tone.
I've used the bottled skin paints, but they are always way to pink.
As shown in the second photo, I use plenty of water and very little paint to create a thinned out
solution. Really what you are creating is a stain that will soak into the wood.

Here is the face after applying the thinned out paints. Notice how the color of the wood still
shows through. You can even see the grain lines if you look closely. This is exactly what we want.
There are many carvers/painters out there that like to wet their carvings first before painting
them. I've tried it that way in the past, but I find that I have more control working on dry wood. After
all, I'm still wetting the carving because I use such thinned down paints. Just use whatever method that
gives you the best results.

I mix in a little more Red Iron Oxide to the skin color to make it darker. I use this color to paint
the top tips of the ears, the bottom lip, the top of the nose and the cheeks. This richens the facial colors
and gives the impression that these areas have been exposed to the sun. The second photo shows the
ball or tip of the nose after I have painted it with straight Red Iron Oxide. That's where the most sun will
fall on the face and it is often the darkest tone. Make sure that you blend the colors in well so that you
do not have a line where the colors meet.

Since we already have the skin-tone color mixed up, we might as well paint the hands and
exposed wrists as well.

I paint the hair, mustache, and the eyebrows with a rich brown color called Ashphaltum. This is
one of my favorite colors of brown which I use. We will build up the colors on the hair until we get the
color we are looking for. These layers of color give the piece a deeper, richer look that a single color as
you will see in the next few steps.

Using Dark Burnt Umber, I use a thin mixture to highlight the deep creases of the hair using a
small brush. This will give the hair a much darker appearance than before and make the high points
stand out.

It's time to add some grey to his hair to age the old codger. To do this, we will use a technique
called dry brushing. The first photo is a picture of the brush that I use for this technique. It has short,
stout bristles and works great. I squeeze out a little Bridgeport Grey paint which is a light grey color on
my pallet. Without thinning the paint, I load the brush by tapping it into the paint and rubbing it on the
pallet. I then brush across a dry paper towel a few times to get out most of the paint. With a very light
hand, I brush across the hair, leaving behind some grey highlights on all of the high spots. If you get
clumps or streaks, rub the brush on the paper towel a little more to get rid of the excess paint. The
second picture shows our progress.

I follow up the grey by dry brushing straight white using the same technique as before. This
essentially brings our Gambler into his middle ages. Looks good to me.

Since the white is already out, I paint the eyes using a very small brush. Paint the white without
thinning. I leave the burn lines exposed which helps to separate the eyes from the lids. We will
eventually paint in some pupils, but we will wait until we decide which direction we want him looking.

Using a color called Midnight Blue, we give our Gambler a 5 o'clock shadow. Midnight Blue is a
very strong color. You only need a tiny bit in a large amount of water to get a good color. Paint the
areas on the cheeks, chin and neck where facial hair would grow. I also paint around the eyes to make
them a little richer in color.

I use a dark purple paint called Chocolate Cherry to paint the hat band. Nothing fancy here, just
get good coverage and try not to slop any over.

Next we paint the hat with a color called Charcoal. It's a really dark grey color. I debated
between straight black and grey and finally settled on a compromise. I think I chose right.

It doesn't show up very well in this photo, but I have used some Black paint to paint a sweat line
around the line of the hat where the head touches it. This area is generally darker due to the wearer
perspiring.

The first photo above shows another set of "brushes" that I use. They are various dowels and a
tooth pick that has been cut off on both ends. I use these when I want to make a round dot of paint on
a piece. Since we want to give the hat a little something-something, we will used these to give it some
style. You will first notice in the second photo that I have use the dry brushing technique to add some
white highlights to the hat. I have also added dots to the band of diminishing size going around both the
front and the back of the band.

Using Metallic Silver paint, I apply a silver dot over each black dot, allowing a small ring of black
to remain. This ring of black helps to set the silver off from the band. I think that's enough detail for the
hat. Let's move on to something else.

We paint the shirt with White paint. When I paint with white paint, I don't thin it out as much as
I do other colors. This way, I get a good, solid field of white. Don't forget to paint the collar and the
cuffs of the sleeves.

With Black, I paint the collar of the jacket. The dark, black color looks almost like black velvet
which is just what I'm looking for.

I paint the tie with Charcoal and the vest with Bridgport Grey. Notice how the burn lines really
help to make the transitions of the vest pop?

Next, to keep the colors coordinated, I paint the vest pocket with the same charcoal as the tie. I
then add some White pin stripes to the vest. To make the pin stripes, I used thin white paint and a small
liner brush. My pin stripes turned out a little bolder than I anticipated, but I kind of like it that way.

We paint the jacket with the same Chocolate Cherry color that we used to paint the hat band.
This color will really make our Gambler look classy. Don't forget to paint inside the jacket as well as
some of it might be visible around the base dowel.

I add a little bit of Black to my Chocolate Cherry and use it to highlight the deep folds and
creases of the jacket. Make sure that you blend the colors well so that there is not a line dividing the
colors. You want them to flow together seamlessly.

I use a little Metallic Gold paint on the vest buttons to make them pop. I guess he must be good
at his profession in order to afford such fancy duds.

Using the "dot" technique with the dowels that we used before, I create snaps on the collar
above the tie with silver and cuff links with gold on the shirt cuffs.

I put the head back into the torso to decide where I wanted him to be looking. I decided that I
would have him looking down and to his left, not too far, but just a little bit. Using Black paint straight
out of the bottle, I made a pair of dots for the center of the pupils.

The first picture shows the eyes after the pupils have been enlarged. You can see that he is
definitely looking down to his left. The second photo shows the finished eyes after a white highlight has
been added. Just use the tip of a toothpick dipped in white paint to make the highlight. Take care that
the highlights are located in the same place on each pupil.

Here is our Gambler so far. Boy, he's really looking sharp.

The first photo shows the tie tack after it has been painted with Metallic Silver. I also used a
toothpick to give some black dots where the nail holes would be located.
The second and third photos show the secret card after it has been painted. I paint a good layer
of white for the base and use straight Black and Crimson for the lettering, boarder and the motif on the
back of the card. I figured that the most likely candidate to have stashed away in his hat would be an
ace, so, here it is. I picked a simple hatch patter for the back of the cards since it looks nice, doesn't
detract from the piece, and frankly because I'm not a good enough painter to make anything very fancy.
Use your imagination as you paint your deck.

Here is the Gambler's hand of cards. Now it's quite apparent why he'd be reaching for that Ace
of Clubs!

Now it's time to give the Gambler his name and finish up with the final details of the piece. Here
is what I use to create a name plate for my carvings. I have a roll of oak veneer tape that is used to
finish the edges of plywood in cabinetry projects. I find it works great for putting a name on my carving
bases. I also use a round hold punch, scissors, two small brass brads, tape, and a print out of the name
that I have chosen for the piece. I print the name out on my computer using a script-style font in several
different sizes so that I have a selection to choose from.

Since the name plate needs to fit within the section of the lower base left unrouted, I use this to
determine the length of the plate. Since my stock was 3/4 inch thick, and the veneer tape is slightly
wider than this, I have to trim down the width as well. The first photo shows the name plate cut to
length and width. Using the whole punch, I clip off a quarter circle from each of the corners of the name
plate to give it a pleasing shape.

After choosing the right size of font from my computer printout, I cut it out, leaving enough
paper to fold around the back of the name plate. After centering the lettering, I wrap the excess paper
around the back and tape it in place as shown in the first photo. As shown in the second photo, I
scribble over the back of the paper with a pencil to create my poor-man version carbon paper.

After tracing over the lettering, you can see in the top picture that the makeshift carbon paper
worked great. Now, using a wood burner on a fairly low setting, I trace over the letters to create the
final product.

The veneer tape has heat-sensitive glue on the back to adhere itself to other wood. I hold the
name plate in place and use a heat gun to melt the glue. Actually I use my wife's hair dryer for this job
and it seems to work great. You can also iron the tape in place, but I prefer the hair dryer method.
Once the name plate is glued in place, I drill holes in the ends and drive the decorative brads into place.
Make sure that you predrill the nail holes if you are using hard wood as you don't want to split the base.
I think this method makes a pretty nifty looking name plate and sticks with the medium of wood.

I like to put a felt pad on the bottom of my carvings so that there is no chance of them marring
up the surface of the shelf, mantle, or desk where they will be displayed. To do this, I recycle what is left
of my computer printout and trace around the base. I then draw a line slightly inside the circle. I don't
want the felt to be visible when the piece is displayed, so I trim it back slightly from the edge. Now, I cut
out the inner circle which I will use as a pattern to cut out the felt.

Now it's time to protect all of our hard work for generations to come. To do this I use Minwax
polyurethane, but any brand of polyurethane will do. For the base, I chose to go with a clear gloss finish
to make it nice and shiny. It took two coats to give me a nice, glassy finish. Don't forget to sand
between coats so that the finish is nice and smooth.

For the carving itself, I again use Minwax Polyurethane, but this time, I use the satin variety. I
apply it with a small brush, let it soak in a little while I dry the brush off, and then remove any finish that
hasn't soaked in with the dry brush. Now, just set him aside to dry over night. I just propped the carving
onto the base with a dowel, but will not actually attach them until the finish dries. Once the
polyurethane is completely dry, I glue the carving to the base with a 1/8" dowel and wood glue.
As a side note, the hand of cards was attached to the hand with a drop of superglue at each
point of contact between the wood and the cards. Just make sure that you have at least two points of
contact and they will stay put forever.

To put the finishing touches on the piece, we use the pattern that we cut out to make a felt pad
for the bottom of the base. After pinning the pattern to the felt, I simply cut around it with a sharp pair
of scissors.

Here is the felt pad cut out and ready to be attached. In the background you will see a bottle of
rubber cement. This stuff works great to attach felt to wood.

Apply the rubber cement to the bottom of the wood base and one side of the felt pad. Let both
dry until they are tacky. Once they are tacky, press them both together and smooth it out using your
fingers. The contact adhesive creates a strong bond between the material and the wood. You can also
rub off any extra glue on the wood or stray felt fibers with your fingers.

Now that everything else is done, we can add the final detail, a watch chain. I found a package
of gold-colored chain at the craft store that was scaled about right for the figure. I cut off a length of
chain and held it up to the figure to make sure to get the right amount of slack. Next, using a piece of
thin wire, I treaded it through the last link and twisted the wire up tightly as shown in the second photo
above. After doing this to both sides, I snip off each end to end up with what is shown in the bottom
photo.

Using a push pin, I make two holes into the figure to accept the watch chain. The first hole goes
directly below the bottom button hole and the second goes into the vest pocket. After the holes were
made, I push the wires into the holes until the chain is installed securely. After a drop of super glue into
each hole, the chain is attached permanently.

The only thing left to do is sit back and take a few pictures of our finished piece and enjoy the
smiles from our friends and family as they see our carving for the first time. I think he turned into a
great piece, worthy of any display case. The details all add to the piece, the base makes for a nice
presentation, and the charm of the overall carving simply brings a smile to my face. What a joy and a
pleasure he was to create.
With, this concludes the tutorial of Carving the Caricature Bust. I'm glad that you joined me on
this little carving adventure. I would love to see a photo of your finished Gamblers if you would be
willing to share. Just drop me a line at theoldstump@live.com. I promise not to post any photos
publically without your consent. The final few pages of this tutorial are reserved for a few more photos
of the finished piece.
Happy carving
Brandant Robinson