Rocking Horse Documentary

[Howie French]

Wow Louis, seeing that picture with the tack on, your horse looks magnificent. I can only imagine what the final pictures are going
to reveal.

Merry Christmas and Good Health to you and your family for 2007.

Howie

[Pam Niedermayer]

Whew, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the carving vise to come into play. Stunning, Louis, still can't get over that neck.

Pam

[Louis Bois]

Thanks again Howie...and Pam, you didn't think I was going to go much further without breaking out "the vise" did you?...and as for this neck fixation...we have to talk!

Living in a sick household is no joy...as I'm sure most of you know. Why does is always happen at Christmas?!? I guess we let our guard down and attempt to relax...that's the killer. My wife and son still have it bad...but I'm suprisingly o.k....QUICK, KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!

One of the areas that I find lacking somewhat in Mr. Dew's book are photos of the underside of the horse...never really get a good shot of what's happening under there....so I'll try and make up for it by documenting it a bit more.

I'm in the middle of refining the legs and shaping the joints where they meet the body. There's LOTS of grunt work here and the horse needs to be moved around a fair bit to make sure things are symmetrical...especially in my small space. Once the bottom is roughly done, I'll bring the sides closer to completion, which in turn will involve rounding the back and rear. I'll hopefully have a horse that's ready for sanding by the end of this week...wishful thinking.

Hope everyone's having a great holiday.

Cheers!

[Louis Bois]

and a final shot...

[Jim Becker]

Those last shots look like medeval torture for the poor horse, Louis!! But in all seriousness, this is really kewel stuff. What a work of art!

[Roy Wall]

Louis,

Hoping the best for your Family this Christmas Season. ( I know they're sick.....best wishes for speedy recovery!)

Looking good, real good!!!

[Louis Bois]

Thanks for the well wishes Roy!

Jim, sorta brings the term "drawn and quartered" to mind, doesn't it? Nice "lid" on your avatar by the way...kinda brings to mind that dead animal you wore on your noggin' when you were in the Ukraine

Just a short stint in the lower level today as I spent part of the day at work...yeah, I know I'm supposed to be off...go figure.

I worked on the gluteus maximus region...someones been doing their lunges!!! I also did some more work on the belly, though it's difficult to tell from the photos.

I also patched that little "faux pas" at the base of the neck...and of course I threw in a few gratuitous neck shots for Pam!

Cheers,

[Louis Bois]

...the patch and the gratuitous neck shots...

[Louis Bois]

A few progress pics since the last post...

I've got the body more or less where it should be at the moment, with a good belly "swell" and the shoulders and back rounded for a more natural look. It's more "caricaturish" than a real horse, but that's the desired effect here. Actual proportions of a real horse would be too fragile for a toy.

I'm going to have to refine the face a bit...it's somewhat noticeable in the photos...as the bridle (bit) is too tight a fit in the mouth. I'll take advantage of this fact to make a few changes that were bothering me...

I've started to sand the chest area to round things over a bit more. My patch on the base of the neck worked well...everything seems to be under control...EXCEPT FOR TIME!!!! Only 22 days left and quite a bit to do.

I have a few days off next week...so I'll hopefully catch up. At least I didn't have to turn the posts for the stand (don't have a lathe) so an experienced turner friend of mine volunteered to turn the black walnut for me!!!

...more soon...

[Louis Bois]

...a few more...showing where I need to refine the gullet/neck area...

[Jim Becker]

Nice "lid" on your avatar by the way...kinda brings to mind that dead animal you wore on your noggin' when you were in the Ukraine

Well...it was Russia, but you were close. And yes, rabbit fur dyes nicely in Photoshop.

Since I've changed back to "normal" (whatever that is... ), I'll add this for continuity...

xmas-av.gif

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Outstanding work as you continue with this project. Oy, the hours! But the end result is going to be "wow"! BTW, I love the fact that you're photos are B&W/monotone. It's really adding something special to the pictorial.

[Louis Bois]

Jim, you have the honorary 100th post!!! Congratulations!!!

...and Russia...Ukraine...isn't it all the same once you're east of France?!?

Thanks again...and remember that hours mean nothing to a project like this one. I estimate that it would take 2 full weeks to do it from start to finish...instead of this sporadic approach of mine...so not too bad, all things considered. I'm really enjoying the texture of these photos as well...could be a regular thing for me from now on...

I've taken the horse where it needs to be before the first round of sanding. I'm going to go over the whole thing with 120 grit and decide where I'd like to add some muscle details. I'll definitely be adding some grooves to the neck. I need to do this right or it could definitely ruin the look of it.

I'll probably add a bit of detailing to the legs as well...not too much as it will most likely be lost in the painting...same goes for the back since the saddlery will cover most of it up.

I need to cut notches in the hooves for the rails, as well as cut some recesses in the back to accommodate the stirrups and saddle back. More on this later.

...well, we're getting there folks...no time to get too fussy as the deadline looms and there's still the unknown factor...THE PAINT!!

The base is relatively straightforward...except for the little something extra I want to add to it...yup...there's always that little something extra. I'm a glutton for punishment!

G'night.

[Louis Bois]

...a few more money shots...

[Louis Bois]

A few more hours today...refined the legs and thinned them out a bit, as well as giving the whole thing a rough sanding just to see if there were any high spots...or obvious defects to fix.

I'll take a needed break to sharpen some tools tomorrow and finish carving the muscle details this weekend...and hopefully start painting.

...tick...tock...tick...tock...

[Pam Niedermayer]

These last photos reminded me of Da Vinci's problems with commissioned triumphant statuary. Seems that he, and other sculptors as well, had problems making the rear legs strong enough to support the rest of the horse/man sculpture and still look like rear legs. Of course, all the generals wanted their statues to be on rearing horses.

Pam