Tiki wood carving
 

This is my first attempt at any type of carving at all. I learnt as I went. I'm happy with the way it turned out, I think.
I'm trying to decide if I should leave the texture or sand it down.
I'm also trying to decide if I should stain it or not. I can't find a stain I like, though.

http://www.toddfx.com/pics/carving.jpg
http://www.toddfx.com/pics/carving2.JPG
http://www.toddfx.com/pics/carving3.JPG

Oh, and heres a couple renders of the low poly 3D model I did of it before hand to use as my reference :D I designed it myself, by the way.
http://www.toddfx.com/pics/tiki3d1.jpg
http://www.toddfx.com/pics/tiki3d2.jpg

That looks awesome, todd. :)
I really like the design.
You don't wanna mess with that badass diety. :D

I'd suggest going over it with a fine grade sandpaper to take off the splinters, but leave behind the toolmarks.
As for staining it, I would go with a medium-dark stain.
But it's your baby, you do what feels right to you.

Great job. :thumbsup:

cool! how big is it/how heavey is it?

Great work. If you put a few coats of Spar Polyurethane, it'll yellow the wood just a little to give it a nice tint, and three coats will protect it against moisture. I'd put a little on some of the scrap first to see if it's the look your searching for.

Now you have to run a gas line and igniter into its mouth ;)

Great Job! I wish I had the time..........

Seriously! Then connect it to your doorbell so it shoots fire at solicitors who ring your doorbell!

Thanks guys, glad you like it :)

Nice idea, MrSelfDestruct, that would be awesome :D

First of all - GEEK!! You did a 3d mock up on you 'puter first! That's so geeky, it's great.

Second of all - This is badass. You should be really proud of this, expecially since it is your first time. I would suggest keeping it nice and rough, just like it is, but do a really dark stain.

I was thinking what clavus just said .. a really dark stain but keep the texture just the way it is. AWESOME JOB, you have 'mad skillz' ;)

Man that is so awesome. Carvings are cool and supposed to be hard to do but you did great!
damn throw on some dark stain on that baby and it'd look at home in any jungle themed room.

That's bad ass - and I think you should definately leave the texture!

what Fre said......lose the splinters.


this is an amazing piece.


ever thought of selling your work?


..and how long did it take for you to do this?


again,amazing piece.

excellent piece of work! :crazy:

were you inspired by the statues on Easter Island?

Wow, most impressive. I agree with Clavus: leave the texture but give it some stain.
I really think you should pursue woodcarving further, as you seem to have a pretty good handle on it (especially given your FIRST TIME)! I'd love to see what other sorts of carving you could come up with.

thats very wicked .. how long did that take to do?

That is the nuts! I reckon you could leave as is. I like the colour. What wood are it?

I appretiate all the comments :) Glad you guys like it.

A few people asked how long it took:
-I worked on it very leisurely over the course of 3 weeks or so. Probably around 10-15 total hours.
Also, it's about 10 inches tall.

I stained it at the beginning of this week, but was waiting for a nice day when I could take a good picture of it - it's been rainy all week here. This still isn't the best picture I think; it makes it look just a bit too bright. I think i'm happy with it though.

http://www.toddfx.com/pics/carving5.jpg

I don't forsee me doing any more carvings like this in the near future, unless I'm suddenly inspired by something. Probably one day, though.

Just need a tiki bar to go with...nice, very nice! :)

looks like alot of work. nice job