First attempt at deadwood

[RoadManDenDron]

Before pic



After some hand carving



After some dremel carving

 

[Paradox]

Good first attempt.

The key to convincing dead wood is to hide any indication of tool marks if possible.

 

[Tieball]

Excellent start. Some natural weathering will be helpful.

I tried the mini-torch path, however, I really like the natural weathering and color change better. I often use a brass brush for cleanup which also provides nice grain groves…when I brush in the right direction. Patience helps. A brass brush will help eliminate a majority of the flaws. I also use tools from my old woodblock carving for block prints. I have to constantly be careful with what I do. There are no quick shortcuts. A quick out-of-control tool move usually results in me stabbing my lefthand somewhere (I’m right handed with the tool). A stab usually follows a quick internal reminder that I shouldn't be carving this way. Sometimes I listen to my mind. Sometimes I don’t and just act to quick. And then shake my head to deal with another cut.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Thank you both! Really appreciate the tips and feedback.

@Paradox To my untrained eye I thought I had hid the tool marks! Haha! up top by the old branch stub there appears to be a very straight slice but that turned out to be a splinter.

I did end up making quite a groove just under that stub when I was trying to do it by hand, it was really tricky to work between the deadwood on the tree side (not enough room) eventually I gave up and decided to use the power tools haha.

@Tieball i planned to torch to get a lot of the fluffy stuff off but haven't got round to it yet, we have had rain pretty much every day since I did this and I noticed black dots all over the dead wood so I think its starting to weather naturally now

 

[Lorax7]

One trick that I find works really well for creating natural looking deadwood is to tear fiber bundles off slowly by grabbing them with pliers and pulling. For a jin, you can just crush the tip with the pliers to separate the fibers, then grab a small bundle and pull slowly to tear along the grain. For shari, you can use a pick to dig in and lift the end of a small fiber bundle. Then, grab it with the pliers and pull along the grain to tear it off.

Working this way produces a result that doesn’t show tool marks. It takes longer to do though.

 

[Tieball]

One trick that I find works really well for creating natural looking deadwood is to tear fiber bundles off slowly by grabbing them with pliers and pulling. For a jin, you can just crush the tip with the pliers to separate the fibers, then grab a small bundle and pull slowly to tear along the grain. For shari, you can use a pick to dig in and lift the end of a small fiber bundle. Then, grab it with the pliers and pull along the grain to tear it off.

Working this way produces a result that doesn’t show tool marks. It takes longer to do though.

I like the “a little at a time” method of pulling away fibers. It’s a deadwood area. Nothing that I pull away will regrow to patch up mistakes I make. Taking it slowly gives me the time needed to evaluate what I’m doing, offers a level of control, see the overall effect I’m producing, how much more I want to pull and often eventually results in an adjacent area needing work while I’m pulling. I think I appreciate the overall result of my work in stages while I’m working.

 

[Tieball]

I sometimes torch an area with my mini-sized butane torch once I know I’ve done all of the fiber pulling I need to accomplish. Pulling more usually means I need to torch more. Torching, in my slower pace method at least, usually results in areas I might want to change more once I see the dimensional qualities that torching produced. There’s also a point in weathering when I want to relax, examine what I did and let the natural effects of rain, watering, sun and wind take control. I’ve seen a lot of trees over-torched…it looks like fake weathering…too burned-out to be considered realistic. The area looks like a toasted marshmallow that was burned beyond recognition…unless that burn stage is the desired effect targeted. I’m usually trying to achieve weathering and not fire damage.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

I started out peeling with pliers (second pic) I found this very difficult on the inner side but it seemed to work pretty well on the outersides

A lot of the marks I see where deliberate attempts to match these grains with either a brass brush bit on the dremel or a very fine carving bit

I can see a 'fold' inside the cutout from the wheel, at first i thought this looked like an uneven snap but now I see it looks pretty artificial

And I left the top small branch stub flat on top despite carving holes in it and i can see this also looks artificial

Any other bits I am missing? Hoping to develop my understanding as well as the tree as its one of my better pieces! Is it too late to carve when the wood gets harder?

 

[Lorax7]

I like the “a little at a time” method of pulling away fibers. It’s a deadwood area. Nothing that I pull away will regrow to patch up mistakes I make. Taking it slowly gives me the time needed to evaluate what I’m doing, offers a level of control, see the overall effect I’m producing, how much more I want to pull and often eventually results in an adjacent area needing work while I’m pulling. I think I appreciate the overall result of my work in stages while I’m working.

A little at a time is exactly what I was advocating.