I'm never happy with , what you see is what you get. I like to try other things not that important to any one but me. So here I am fixing to carve me some red birds and I noticed the big trees in the back ground????   So, I'm watching them ungrow!

It takes longer to smooth the wood than all the the rest put together.

The coloring went in steps and stages for most of these colors I haven't used enough to know how much to apply. I still have the clearcoat to go and that will change the colors some and maybe for the better????

 The first of August was the first time we have ever seen the females in the feeders. All the years before the females would sit on the rim of the feeder while the males would take the hulls off the nut and then go up and feed the females...We think the females finally got so hungry for they only got fed a couple of seeds before the males would fly away somewhere. Our feeders only have the black sun flower seeds.

  I'm still dabbing a little color here and there but its sure easy to screw up with too much at a time so I get a little squeamish at this stage of the game.

 

Looks great. Maybe add a touch of brighter yellow and rustier red. 

I should have shown all the colors I tried and one was a fluorescent yellow. I have about six different colors on each bird then gave up. The good part of using water base is just wait till the water dries a little then I can try something else with out having to remove any paint.

  The reason I reduced the size of the trees, it takes much work grinding a wide tree round and I would have had to add an extra inch in height before I started.

  The best part of using an air brush is I go by drops of paint instead of half a quart of lacquer as I am playing the guessing game in making up a color to try. Two or three drops of two or three different colors is enough to find out if that is the color I am looking for.

Our female red birds are not that color here in Breckenridge,Tx  and this picture has Aspens like we had where we stayed in Colo. Some call them something else but can't remember the other name.

Try river birch Jess... great start to another envelope stretching project

Now all I got to do is rub the pieces down with 0000 steel wool.

Awesome piece Jess

Great looking piece.

Artiste!