Archive | Activity RSS feed for this section

More Wood

4 May

Aunty Dearest has given me another five boxes of wood last weekend. So much wood, so little time. And I had to sieve through the supply to ensure the pieces are actually good to be carved. I say this because recently I carved a Big Citizen on a block that has a knot within the wood grains. I didn’t think it would pose a tough challenge but it did.

I should have been more careful in the first place when selecting and glueing the pieces together to make the big block. The imperfection was super hard and came out in a chunk, leaving a big gap in my poor Citizen’s shape. I think it will take me awhile to get this piece done up properly.

Meanwhile the five boxes were vetted as pieces that were uneven, cracked and have knots had to be thrown away. In a way it was painful to throw away all the wood but it had to be done for the good of the Citizens of Gigglesville.

Tags: , , ,

A Great Supplement

3 May

Wood Filler is the next best thing to have for any wood carving enthusiast I must say. I found this tube at Daiso and thought it would be a great supplement to aid my carving. And indeed it is.

There are times when the pressure to shape the wood is too great and little chunks come off, the Wood Filler is then used to smoothen out the mini craters. And after sanding down and paint added, you can’t even tell there was a mini crater in the first place! I love it.

IMG_3152.jpg

Tags: , , ,

Undecided

30 Apr

Now that I am carving bigger pieces with the Meranti wood from Aunty Dearest, I am unsure how to categorize them. As you know, there are the Citizens, Superheroes, Monuments and Friends of Gigglesville, and each piece is labeled and recorded. Those who leave Gigglesville are granted passports to enable the migration.

Then there are the Gnomes who have grown in numbers and are now in their own hamlet, Gnomie-wood. Certain pieces like the Superheroes and Monuments stay put but I am still undecided whether the Gnomes can leave, I like them too much. We shall see.

Now these pieces, the giant Citizens are putting me in a bind. They look like the Citizens of Gigglesville but they are not Citizens because of their size nor are they Monuments because they are single pieces, not stacked up. See my predicament?

Maybe I should create another new category. Besides these differences, they also have a felt cloth underneath, making them more like paper weights than anything else!

Hmm… I have to sort this out soon.

IMG_3051.jpg

Tags: , , , ,

Replenishing the Supplies, Part 2

26 Apr

After much thought, I decided to repaint the two-tier Monument. From its original of being all dark brown, I thought one species being bronze might look more regal. And I think it does.

I then tested on a three-tier Monument. Compared to an earlier piece looking colourful and very playful, the brown/bronze/brown version looks more serious and monumental. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong to paint all these up.

IMG_3179.jpg

IMG_3178.jpg

Tags: , , ,

Replenishing the Supplies

20 Apr

The carving is in full swing! And the supplies need to be replenished. I was able to get these items last week during the slow work week to add to my stock – new gesso, gloss varnish, new colors and of course more balsa which I still need for the regular sized Citizens! I thought it would be a change to try several different brands of supplies from my usual.

And I think it’s exciting to see what comes out from the new colors especially the solid bronze. Stay tuned.

IMG_3047.jpg

Tags: , , ,

A New Tracker, Part 3

19 Apr

Recently, I had to replace my activity wearable, the Xiaomi Mi Band2 with a new unit of the same model. The OLED of the old one has been very dim and I can hardly see what is showing on the screen especially under bright conditions, whether indoors or outdoors. Plus there was a couple of occasions the reading went haywire.

I guess it’s time to change. After all, I have had the old unit since Aug 2016 and the lifespan is almost up. The new unit came last Friday, courtesy of online shopping. I love online shopping!

When I put both side by side to compare, the difference is pretty obvious in its brightness. Well, goodbye old Mi Band2, you have served me well but now you need to be retired; and hello new Mi Band2, you are the way to go to continue tracking my activities, strides taken, calories burnt and all.

IMG_3087.jpg

The old and the new

Tags: , , ,

Biggest Challenge Ahead

17 Apr

Last week, I took a big plunge and attempted my biggest piece ever! All these while, the biggest I have done are four-inch tall carvings, Halloween Owl, Dinky and the first giant Gnome, from ready sizes of the basswood.

Now this chunk is two pieces of Meranti glued together to become a towering 7.5 inch block. An ugly block to begin with but it’s not stopping me, even with the outline drawn and redrawn for a better proportion.

Within three days, I managed to complete the piece and the biggest Gnome ever in Gnomie-wood was ‘born’. It’s seven inches tall after sanding down and towers over the rest. It’s just simply adorable. Love it.

IMG_3110.jpg

IMG_3106.jpg

Tags: , , , ,

And So It Continues

16 Apr

Three weeks ago (before the laparoscopic surgery) on a hot Sunday morning, the carving began. This latest Monument is different from the earlier pieces in many ways, the most obvious being the choice of wood – Meranti versus balsa. Then it’s the characters on the totem pole.

Previous pieces have different species of Citizens stacked up. This piece has only one species, looking the same yet different in their expressions. And it wasn’t easy to execute because being a denser wood, it was quite a challenge to shape the smaller area of curves and crevices. Definitely different from shaping a single big Citizen.

Patience is the key I guess. And at the height of this excitement, I overlooked having a platform like the others for this new piece. Oh well. Every piece is unique in its own way.

IMG_2888.jpg

Tags: , , , , , ,

A New Test Piece

12 Apr

When I was recuperating at home last week, the itch to carve got the better of me. As I couldn’t push myself to read and painting up the little Citizens and Baby Whale was very quick, I started carving on Friday when I felt I was strong enough to handle my tools.

This piece is another test piece and took three days to complete. A little different from my other original pieces, this is a copied character. I borrowed M2’s plushie, Apeach, a Kakao Friends Muzi series character and thought that it would be a good challenge test piece.

I wanted to see if I can emulate an existing 3D character with my carving ability. From an initial 2D outline on the wood to carving the real thing into a shapely 3D character, it’s not as easy as I thought! A lot of visualising and planning despite having the plushie in front of me.

I take heart that I was able to shape the body and carve away as much wood as possible without breaking any limbs. Unlike Dinky the Dinosaur who had chopstick limbs added on, Apeach has its limbs intact. Although there were some kinks and unevenness, the wood filler was able to fix these.

I am pleased with my effort.

IMG_3055.jpg

IMG_3057.jpg

Tags: , , , , , ,

Staying Home

9 Apr

For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t go into the office the whole of last week and just stayed home to recuperate. The laparoscopy was successful in diagnosing and resolving the Cyst, Endometriosis and Adhesions issues.

I must admit it was nice for a change to be home the first two days, doing nothing and enjoying the peace (official pet number one was very quiet), napping, resting and focusing on gaining my strength.

By the third day, I contemplated reading the Genghis Khan novel that’s been collecting dust but just can’t seem to push myself to do it. So I ended up painting some Citizens of Gigglesville and a new baby whale that were waiting to be completed. It was good quality me time.

I am back at work today.

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →