Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Tech-Not

I have gone through a few different phases to my "hobby" of reading comics. I started as a wee lad reading anything I could get my hands on. Cover. No cover. It didn't matter to me what condition they were in. It wasn't about monetary worth, but rather personal worth. The story was worth more to me than whatever change I could have gotten for trying to sell them.
I had stayed in this mind set for a few years,then the Spawn craze hit. I remember kids reading books with gloves on so as not to damage their precious comic. People also bought multiple copies of issues. Absolute insanity. I would love to see how many people still have those issues or are even reading comics anymore.
Then in my mid twenties it happened. I needed to read as much as possible. Grabbing issues of complete garbage. Dogs of War? Really? A book about samurai dogs. Good god, the shit I would get. I used to pride myself in the fact tht I could move apartments with only my Corrolla, them I had started to accumulate far too many long boxes of comics. Soon, it would be a badge of honor to see how many comics one had.
This brings me to an item that I had recently received. A Kindle Fire. This little gadget has the ability to turn into a high tech comic reader. It is with this that I am struggling with. I get the ease of digital comics. There is no longer a storage problem. Everything can be moved into a "cloud". Whatever the fuck that is. It also gives you the opprotunity to save the gas traveling too your local comic shop. I have to admit the digital doo-hickey is really cool. I truly love reading comics on it. What I don't like is that I like going to the comic shop. I like holding a folded piece of paper. I like smelling paper!
For now I am going to read both ways and try to keep each one happy. Time will tell.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New Creations

Just got done finishing up two new creations. Feast your weary eyes upon the might of Colossus and Daredevil! Fine, I will admit the the first character isn't setting the world a flame, but at least bask in the power of Daredevil!! Poor Colossus. Just a man wrapped up in sheet metal. After hearing that power, I would be lining up for blind and heightened senses.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

New Batman

Here is the new style I am trying with everyone's favorite guy who dresses up like a bat. Man, it really sounds like it would not be an interesting character at all. I will repeat. A man who dresses up like a bat. Still weird. Anyhoo, here is WeirdoMan.

Step 5

Here is the almost finished product. I think there are a couple of spots that I want to touch up, but overall he turned out good. I am pretty happy with it.
I enjoyed the added contest that ran along with this project. I think I will try to do that more often. It kept me moving quicker than I normally do. Thanks to all of the participants.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Step 4

Well, here is the last step of carving. Someone should get it by now. I will sand it after this and prime and paint it.

For this particular project, I will be running a contest along with it. I will be posting a picture every day or every other day and the object is to guess what character it is that I am making. The winner of this contest will receive a free 6" Batman. To enter, you must post a comment below the day's blog. Please, one entry per person per day. The contest will end when someone guesses the correct character. And as always, bribes are accepted and expected.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Step 3

Getting closer to doing the defining parts of the figure, but for now this is what I have. Remember that it is a touch rough. I do not typically sand until the end.
I also apologize for the quality of the picture. i guess they don't make flip phones with cutting edge camera technology.
For this particular project, I will be running a contest along with it. I will be posting a picture every day or every other day and the object is to guess what character it is that I am making. The winner of this contest will receive a free 6" Batman. To enter, you must post a comment below the day's blog. Please, one entry per person per day. The contest will end when someone guesses the correct character. And as always, bribes are accepted and expected

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Step 2

Well, here is the next installment of my new commission.
For this particular project, I will be running a contest along with it. I will be posting a picture every day or every other day and the object is to guess what character it is that I am making. The winner of this contest will receive a free 6" Batman. To enter, you must post a comment below the day's blog. Please, one entry per person per day. The contest will end when someone guesses the correct character. And as always, bribes are accepted and expected.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Step one

I have just gotten a new commission from a friend of mine and have decided to take pictures throughout the process. Obviously, the first installment will be a picture of the block of wood. It is a 2" x 2" x 12".

For this particular project, I will be running a contest along with it. I will be posting a picture every day or every other day and the object is to guess what character it is that I am making. The winner of this contest will receive a free 6" Batman. To enter, you must post a comment below the day's blog. Please, one entry per person per day. The contest will end when someone guesses the correct character. And as always, bribes are accepted and expected.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Constantine

Tonight I decided to do something different and follow my wife's lead. I chose to pick up a canvas and try my hand at some two dimensional artwork. It really is different then carving a block of wood and painting what is left. I am not familiar with having to worry about depth and highlighting in this format. Well anyhow, here is one of my favorite characters. Please grab a pint of black and light up a Silk Cut for our main con-man, John Consantine.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

New Leaf

It was during my last commission piece that I have looked at maybe changing up how I carve superheroes. I decided to do them in a bust style instead of just the head. I typically do this with just my Superman, but really like how it turned out. Here they are.


I am currently working on a Daredevil and will probably do a Batman after.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Hellboy

It was almost a year ago that I had wanted to carve a Hellboy. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I finally completed one. I have been a huge fan of Mike Mignola and Hellboy, and had wanted to do Hellboy as one of my first superhero carvings. I tried and tried, but could not figure out a way to get him the way that I saw him. I had screwed up so many pieces of the typical size of wood that I normally use, and decided to carve him from a bigger piece. I had gotten a 3"x3"x6" piece and started hacking away. It didn't take long to realize that it wasn't going to be easy and I had set it aside to tackle less taxing projects. As I became more comfortable in my style, I had started to notice my unfinished Hellboy. I spent the end of last week and the weekend to finish outstanding projects and this was one of them. I could not be more proud of deciding to finish what I had started ten months ago.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Scan Time

Scan Time. A wonderful time of the year. Tomorrow we will be heading to the Scandinavian Festival here in Charlotte and we will begin our preparations for our 2nd annual Viking party here at our house. We will be having games, meat,and mead. I had wanted to do more of a traditional food course, but I am not exactly sure how to ferment shark meat. Oh well, I can research it for next year. I am also excited to say that this year we will be having a costume contest and I have made a special trophy for the event. I have carved a Thor that we will put the name of the winner on the back and continue to do so year after year. I am sorry to say that the winner will only be able to take pictures with the carving. I am way too close to it to let it go out of the house. It is the first one that I have done that I do not want to part with.
Also in honor of our 2 weeks of Scandinavian fun, I would like to post a picture that sums up why I love comic books. This picture is from a writer (Garth Ennis) and artist(Glenn Fabry) that I have enjoyed for years. The panel shows just how goofy superheroes can be, and how difficult it is to take them seriously sometimes. It is from the mini series Thor Vikings, and shows just how much influence cable t.v. has on a Norse God.


Rock on, Thor dude!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Heroes

I attended the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find Pop Swap today. It was an awesome time. It was great to see people bring in items from their own collection to sell or even, to give away. I also got to meet some fantastic artists. It was an event like this that gets me so excited to read comics and carve wood! I am almost thinking of biting the bullet and signing up for a booth at the upcoming Heroes Con.
Met with some people and brought up the idea of giving artists "blank" Batmans and seeing how well other people paint. If there is anyone that would like to participate, let me know. I will carve the character and you do the painting. All I ask is for a photo to put into an album. Maybe if we get enough, we could auction off for a charity. Let me know!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Upcoming Shows: The Big Crafty & NoDaRioty All Arts Market

I am wicked excited to have TWO craft shows lined up for the month of July!


Make plans to travel on out to beautiful Asheville, NC and find myself and my wife (Super Me and FlockLocks) at The Big Crafty on Sunday, July 10th from noon-6p at Pack Place. Visit their website for more details and a complete list of vendors!



I'll be back at the NoDaRioty All Arts Market being held Friday, July 15th from 6p-10p. I had to take June off from carving and shows due to my bad-ass knife fight I had with myself. As usual, free admission & $3 to park. Visit their website for driving directions and other info!

Woo! I better get carving. Hope to see you!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Almost there

It looks as though I have a couple of more days til I get these godforsaken stiches out. It has given me time to plan out my next big project; a JLA vs. Avengers chess set!!! I actually cut myself while carving the Dark Knight. I am really excited to get started on this new challenge.
I will have to endure one more weekend of scouring Netflix for anything remotely interesting. I just finished up the great movie Swingers.It is crazy how young everyone was in that movie. It just doesn't seem like it has been that many years since it came out.
I have moved on to the Real History of Wrestlemania. I have been hooked on the WWF documentaries lately.
Well, it's back to more movies and more coffee.

Be Safe!!!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Kevin Smith: Comic Book Shop Reality Show



What are your thoughts on this? Have we had enough reality tv? I'm torn.

I am kind of intrigued about reality tv tapping into the comic book thing. No surprise, really, with all of the comic book related movies hitting the big screen the past few years.

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/06/08/kevin-smith-reality-show/

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Worst Blogger Ever

It is true. I am the worst "blogger" ever. I haven't checked, but I am pretty sure that I have had this blog for around 4 months. This will be my third post. Blah. I figured that due to my recent injury, I will have two weeks of just bloggin' away. Joy. It isn't that I don't enjoy it, but only that I can't think to do it. I will try to be more diligent with it.

On to my recent injury. I cut myself. It bled. That pretty much sums up my moronic disregard to safety. I guess that I needed an event like this to really drive home the fact that the knives I use are sharp. Really sharp. In fact I have found a video that will demonstrate just how this would have looked to a passerby:



One more week and I will be back to normal. I can not wait!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Spandex Splinters' photostream

Wonder WomanWolverineTwo FaceThorThorThe Joker
The JokerIncredible HulkTank Girl & BoogaSupermanSpockLovey Dovey Batman
BatmanBatmanNightcrawlerKang the ConquerorIronmanWar Machine
GrifterGreen LanternGreen LanternGreen ArrowBatmanBatman

Finally getting around to creating an online gallery of the carvings I have done to date. There are a bunch still missing but I hope to have them posted soon. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Choochmagooz: Woodchuck Wednesday - Boys will be Boys

Choochmagooz: Woodchuck Wednesday - Boys will be Boys: "Todays Woodchuck shall remain unnamed... His secret Identity stealthily concealed... We only know him as Spandex Splinters And he is my He..."

Friday, February 18, 2011

Stupid Sickness

Well, I have not done anything in a week. I guess I can't say "anything", I have had the pleasure of going to work each day. I just haven't had the opportunity to do any carving or painting this week due to a sickness that I just can't shake. Today I was told that I have two ear infections and a sinus infection. Blech! I took this super medication and will hopefully be back to creating tomorrow. It isn't so bad though, I can't hear fricking anything. I guess it might be considered a blessing having two kids that won't ever be quiet. I do need to get better in order to get some guys completed for my All Arts Market coming up in a couple of weeks. I have ten guys done and would like to have over twenty. I will have my little hands movin' in the coming days. I thought I might post a picture of what my workspace looks like before I get started to carve.

These are the tools of the trade. Coffee, prescription medication, and knives. It is a calming combination of tools. They all need to be used, if taken only in a pair, the effects can be dangerous. These will hopefully all be part of my day tomorrow, but for now I must go to sleep.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Safety First

This is my first post on this blog and I would like to start with a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Safety! As of last night I had only encountered small cuts on my hands. Those small cuts could have been avoided if I had only worn all of my appropriate safety gear. Last night was my first big scare. I was foolishly cutting a piece of wood and was cutting towards my body. This isn't such a bad thing, but it doesn't help when you are tired and not paying attention. I also want to add that this piece of wood is friggin' huge. It is borderline a fence post. Anyhow, the knife jumped out of the cut that i was making and it sliced into my wrist. I no likey bleeding. Instead of taking a picture or going into great detail I have employed a local artist to render this tragedy in a pencil drawing to calm the fears of my more squeamish readers.



I know. Terrifying. I am surprised that I didn't need stitches. This has put me out of commission for the next day or two and it could have been avoided if I had slowed down and pulled my head out of my ass. I am going to start my craigslist search for a long sleeve Kevlar shirt right now. Short first post. Plenty more to come. Happy Carving!!!!