MathFish
Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2015
- Messages
- 181
This Christmas came and again, I found myself working on more fish carvings. Throughout 2019 I ended up making 23 little fish carvings from July through December. However, I kind of lost my mojo for carving little fish and I didn't complete a single carving in 2020. I carved some, but didn't paint them. I had some unpainted carvings from 2019 and when I tried to paint them, I just couldn't seem to get the colors or the brush strokes quite right and I ended up hanging up my carving tools and paint brushes...
A few weeks before Christmas, I got a request to carve a little wild rainbow trout and another to carve a walleye. I hesitantly said that I would give it a try... I was a bit worried about the walleye, so I began studying images and made my sketch for a walleye pattern.
I also got inspired to also finish two lingering carving projects, a friend asked me to make a smallmouth and a rainbow back in February of 2020, and I ended up finishing those two as well.
I took some photos of the process of how I make them because I saw that drakeking412 had highlighted my first two carvings in his blog article that was featured in the homepage - Seven Ideas for Cabin Fever this Winter. I figured some people might want to see my process of making these. I didn't take any photos of the painting of the walleye though. When I get focused on painting and I'm in the groove, it's tough to set down the fish and remember to snap photos as I am layering on the colors. This is probably because I really don't know what I am doing and I am just kind of making it up as I go when I sit down to paint.
Here are some photos of the carving process:
The sketch & blank block - The wood is basswood.
The pattern glued onto the block
Rough cut out on the scroll saw - I cut out the side view pattern first and then glue the upper and lower scrap pieces back onto the block and then cut out the pattern from the top view.
The final rough cut
Preliminary carving to expose and shape all of the fins
First rough sanding using 150 grit
Final sanding using 220 grit with gill, mouth, eye and dorsal fin details carved - I put a thin coating of super glue over the dorsal fin to reinforce the wood to try to avoid chipping when I carefully cut out the spikes in the dorsal fin.
Painted fish - I learned that to achieve the texture of colors on this walleye that dabbing the paintbrush as opposed to using paint strokes helped me to achieve a better pattern for the coloration of the fish.
Fish with clear coat applied
Final result - I was very pleased with how this fish turned out. I was skeptical that I would be able to carve the fins - especially the dorsal fin with all of the spikes. I also thought that it would be very difficult to paint the color scheme since these fish have a very subtle pattern to them.
In the end, I am glad that I was requested to make this fish that I otherwise probably never would have carved. I have only ever caught one walleye and it wasn't with fly fishing gear but it was in a creek that could be fished with a fly rod. I ended up making two copies of this fish so that I would have one for my growing collection. When I was finished with it, I decided to checked and see if people fly fish for walleye since I had no knowledge of it and not surprisingly, people do! Maybe one day I'll have to give it a try.
Here are some photos of the other carvings that I worked on this past week and finished up today along with the two walleyes.
If you're interested in seeing some of my carvings from last year, here is a link to my last carving post: Other Carvings Post
Next, I plan to make a small wild cutthroat trout and a small wild California golden trout. If and when I pull those off, I'll share that work here too. Thankfully my wife is still okay with me having my little trout carvings around the house - at least for now she is...
Thanks for reading.
A few weeks before Christmas, I got a request to carve a little wild rainbow trout and another to carve a walleye. I hesitantly said that I would give it a try... I was a bit worried about the walleye, so I began studying images and made my sketch for a walleye pattern.
I also got inspired to also finish two lingering carving projects, a friend asked me to make a smallmouth and a rainbow back in February of 2020, and I ended up finishing those two as well.
I took some photos of the process of how I make them because I saw that drakeking412 had highlighted my first two carvings in his blog article that was featured in the homepage - Seven Ideas for Cabin Fever this Winter. I figured some people might want to see my process of making these. I didn't take any photos of the painting of the walleye though. When I get focused on painting and I'm in the groove, it's tough to set down the fish and remember to snap photos as I am layering on the colors. This is probably because I really don't know what I am doing and I am just kind of making it up as I go when I sit down to paint.
Here are some photos of the carving process:
The sketch & blank block - The wood is basswood.
The pattern glued onto the block
Rough cut out on the scroll saw - I cut out the side view pattern first and then glue the upper and lower scrap pieces back onto the block and then cut out the pattern from the top view.
The final rough cut
Preliminary carving to expose and shape all of the fins
First rough sanding using 150 grit
Final sanding using 220 grit with gill, mouth, eye and dorsal fin details carved - I put a thin coating of super glue over the dorsal fin to reinforce the wood to try to avoid chipping when I carefully cut out the spikes in the dorsal fin.
Painted fish - I learned that to achieve the texture of colors on this walleye that dabbing the paintbrush as opposed to using paint strokes helped me to achieve a better pattern for the coloration of the fish.
Fish with clear coat applied
Final result - I was very pleased with how this fish turned out. I was skeptical that I would be able to carve the fins - especially the dorsal fin with all of the spikes. I also thought that it would be very difficult to paint the color scheme since these fish have a very subtle pattern to them.
In the end, I am glad that I was requested to make this fish that I otherwise probably never would have carved. I have only ever caught one walleye and it wasn't with fly fishing gear but it was in a creek that could be fished with a fly rod. I ended up making two copies of this fish so that I would have one for my growing collection. When I was finished with it, I decided to checked and see if people fly fish for walleye since I had no knowledge of it and not surprisingly, people do! Maybe one day I'll have to give it a try.
Here are some photos of the other carvings that I worked on this past week and finished up today along with the two walleyes.
If you're interested in seeing some of my carvings from last year, here is a link to my last carving post: Other Carvings Post
Next, I plan to make a small wild cutthroat trout and a small wild California golden trout. If and when I pull those off, I'll share that work here too. Thankfully my wife is still okay with me having my little trout carvings around the house - at least for now she is...
Thanks for reading.
