Minni Decoy

I finally got around to painting these small decoys. The first one I painted the head with acrylics and the body with linseed oil and burnt umber oil paint. I saw a decoy done this way and I liked the way it looked, I didn't go into a lot of detail on the second decoy. It represents a hunting decoy rather than a decorative decoy. I had a decoy maker and hunter tell me that what matters is if the ducks are attracted to the decoy. I used an extender to the paint to give me more time to blend the paint on the head. To give a little gloss to the eyes I used my wife's top coat for nails.   

Borromean Rings

Borromean  rings consists of three rings, linked so they can't be pulled apart. But no individual ring links with any other ring. Removing any one ring results in unlinked rings. Starting out you saw out the shape. I used a 1 3/4 inch square block. the ring shapes are 1/4 inch. The next step is to carve out the little squares. Then use a small drill and drill the inside corners in all directions. Start rounding the outside rings. Then use a small knife, gouge to separate the rings and finish rounding.  

 

Tex

I hadn't carved a bottle stopper in a couple years. I have a little attitude in this guy. I'm going to chip carve a design on the base and leave it a natural color with just a sealer. Some things you see after a paint job that you might not like. It's a learning process and can be changed on the next carving.