Carving a Female Cardinal- A Tutorial

After getting the head the proper dimensions and the eyes located, it is time to move on to the roughing in stage. This is where the bird is rounded to final dimensions and major feather groups are defined.

After Roughing in, I then define the individual feathers and get them set in.

The individual feathers are in, and lightly burned, some splits are also burned in at this time.

The breast, and the under tail covert are stoned in, after defining some of the feather groups with a series of humps and bumps.

Once the back feathers are defined they are stoned in, using a white or blue cylinder stone and a light touch.

Notice that I have left the crest area and the nape uncarved at this point.  I am still thinking how I want to proceed with an idea of plumage.  I will think about it a little while.

 Then I determine where the tarsus are going to be by measuring against the reference material; beginning at the tail.  Once the holes are drilled, it is ready for me think about leg construction, size, and habitat.

 After carving the crest initially, I realized that I didn't like the results of what I was trying to achieve.

The pictures show how the crest should look.  The corrections were made with Apoxie Sculpt; which is a two part epoxy which is carveable when dried.  I like this look a lot better than the previous attempt.

 

Click Here to see the finished Pictures