John, I hardly knew ya

I am staring at loads of unfinished projects. Wood to be carved and carved wood to be painted. Why have I been idle? It is all do to being reunited with an old flame. I have fallen again for a man that I previously had a monthly relationship with. Here is a picture of him.

Yep. My main man John Constantine. For some strange reason, I had stopped reading Hellblazer many years ago. Due to unfortunate events, I had decided to watch the movie again. Yes, the one with the guy from Point Break not named Swazye. For as much as I had been upset at the fact that Reeves was cast as a British con-man, I loved the movie! After watching the movie again, I had started to think about the comic. What happened to John? Why did I stop reading it? Why am I am asking so many questions to myself? I got off my arse and got to picking up some back issues. Actually that is not completely true. I stayed firmly planted on my arse as I looked for back issues on the computer.
I have been re-reading old issues and have started to read the newer issue. I feel that my comic reading has taken a turn for the best. I have been wondering what I had been missing from my monthly list. Now I know. John, we are stuck with each other. Deal with it!

Saga #5

Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Folks, it has happened! I am so excited and it has been killing me for days. I have been wanting to write this blog since last week, but according to a woman that I live with, one does not "blog" on the weekend. Apparently, no one reads blogs on Friday and Saturday night. I am assuming that this is due to people being out and about and not at home in front of their computer. I can find it difficult to think this way for the simple fact that on the weekend, that is exactly where I am.

Months ago I had posted a picture and explanation of a carving I did for the comic Saga by Brian K. Vaughn. It had taken months to hear back and it was completely worth it. I have been given the dubious honor of being the winner of some swag from the Almighty Prize Drawer!

The free stuff(which includes a white shoelace and an expired pass to a Halloween event at Universal Studios) is great and I will always cherish it, but it was the kid words that Mr. Vaughn had given me. First off he called me a sculptor. He then went on to call the carving "impossibly cool". It is times like this that keep one's creative juices going. It is always nice to get kind words from someone that you look up to.

While I am wicked pumped that this has happened to me, it would be even better if you checked it out for yourselves. That is Saga issue #5. You should be reading it anyway!

One last thing...I GOT PUBLISHED IN A COMIC BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Selling Wood

My wife and I were having a conversation about art and how one goes about pricing said art. As usual, I have a difference of opinion about this subject. It is probably due to the fact that first, I do not make a living off of art. Second, I do not consider what I do as art.
I don't get what makes someone's art better or even "worth" more than another individual's. Again, I don't consider what I do as art but rather I have found an outlet for me to pay homage to a form of art that I have loved for decades. Aargh! I am having a difficult time trying to get my point out of head. I guess it is this: I am under the impression that we do art(or craft or have a hobby) for ourselves. I am not sure that I have looked at what I do and get overly concerned whether someone else is going to like it.(although, I love it when I get good feedback!!!!) I am kind of thinking that my work is worth the cost of materials and a smidge more for the cost of band-aids and a little for time. Honestly, if someone expresses interest in something that I did, I am hopping all around the house. There is not a better feeling for me than selling something that was made by, ME.
Please help me out with this. How do YOU value art?

Knives

I have been doing this bloggin' for a little bit now and have realized that I have never given any credit to the great companies that I get all of my knives and wood from.
The wood comes from a company in the Smokies of TN. They are Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers. If you have any needs as far as wood carving is concerned, I would not go anywhere else!
The knives I use are ones that I consider to be both practical and a piece of art all at the same time. They are made by Helvie Knives. Here is a picture of the one that I use the most.

If you want to visit their website it is at Helvie Knives. If you are interested please check out these great companies!!

Hawkeye update

Just got done putting a base coat on the old Marvel Archer. Here it is!

It isnt the best picture and it isn't a complete dude yet. Hopefully, I can work on it throughout the week and have it done by the weekend. I have a couple of suprise ideas that I am thinking of adding. I guess we shall see.

Huge Hawkeye

I have been wanting to start doing "project" pieces. These are carvings that should take me weeks to complete. I have started with doing a Hawkeye. I have no idea why I wanted to do this character. As far as dudes with bows goes, I am definitely an Oliver Queen kind of guy. I am assuming that it is the color scheme that had sucked me in. It seems like a better guy to do on a large scale.
By large scale, I am talking a block of wood that is 3" x 3" x 12". It looks like this:

I have been woking away on it for a week and have gotten to this point here:

I am hoping to have the carving done by the end of the week and get it into the paint lab. I really can't wait to see it with some color! That is all for now. I will send pitures as I progress.