COPYRIGHT: PAUL BURNETT 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1 WILDLIFE STUDIES -- THE TIMBER WOLF

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2 RELISTIC LEATHER CARVING WILD LIFE STUDY - THE TIMBER WOLF I have waited 30 years to write an instructional manual on how to use the F926 tool. I believe that the F926 is the most versatile figure carving tool ever designed. We have Al Stohlman to thank for that. In the year 1981 I received a package of tools from Tandy with a note saying: These are the new figure carving tools designed by Al, see what you think of them. The book is forthcoming. They were a peculiar looking set of tools and I had no idea how or why many of them were made. One of the tools was a F926. After months of experimenting with them I figured most of them out but really fell in love with what the F926 could do. Months later the book Figure Carving Finesse was published and the new tools were introduced to the market place. Immediately I began to teach classes on how to use them at my local Tandy Store. The F926 I had originally received had a broad point much like an F976 or F910 pointed beveler would have with a series of side points. I noticed that as more and more tools came in to sell, the points were getting narrower and narrower until they finally looked like a chisel at the front. This destroyed the variety of fur effects that I could achieve with mine. I complained and was told Al did not design the tool as I had received it, but with the chisel point and was demanding that it be corrected. As would stand to reason Tandy followed the design of the inventor. Long story short, Al got his way despite my efforts for 30 years to convince Al and others that the broad point would work better. I have posted the complete 30 year saga of the F926 tool as a Free Tutorial at and As my time is running out, I decided that I would put into writing the value of the tool, so the information would not be lost forever. I realize that there are only a few tools in circulation that have the broad point, some others just a little narrow but still effective. You would had to have the good fortune to get one of the first few hundreds that were made. I have only been able to find a few people with a tool even close to the one I was originally sent from Tandy. But there is good news. I have been in recent contact with Tandy as they are re-tooling their tool line and have indicated that they will make it with the broad point. I received a prototype, but it still needs work. Hopefully they will continue their efforts. I leave it up to you now to encourage them to make the tool. I have also sent information to other tool makers in hopes they will also be encouraged to make it with a broad point. I have fought the good fight now it your turn. STUDY REFERENCES As with anything you decide to carve and color the more study you do on the front end the better will be your results. I have used many sources to tool and color this timber wolf. These four are probably the best of the many references. You should find your own and do your own research. I highly recommend the North Light Book: Wildlife Painting Basics Wolves, Foxes & Coyotes by Jan Martin McGuire. There are many very good wildlife artists today. You can gather a lot of research material from magazines such as Wildlife Art News. The ads pictured here are from that magazine. The wolf in summer coat with greenery and floral was from an old calendar and I have no idea when or where it originated. I am not suggesting you copy other peoples work but most really good wildlife artists have done a great deal of research in order to paint their subjects so, their work is well worth studying. Al Agnew is one of my favor- 2

3 3 Here I have given you some indication of the high and low places of the forms that will shape the wolf s features. The dark ink lines are the lines that will be cut with the swivel knife. Compare this with the cut pattern shown on page 3 so that you will cut it correctly. DIVISIONS OF THE BASIC FORMS I have sectioned the basic forms of this wolf s head for you. You will need to transfer these divisions with very light lines so that you can build the forms with the tools. Compare this to the transfer made on the leather shown on page 3

4 4 Great care should be taken in tracing and transferring the pattern to the leather. I use a plastic transfer film rather than a paper so that I can make my transfers immediately after applying moisture to the leather. If you wait until the leather returns to its natural color the lines will burnish into the leather and may show up in the finished work. THE TRANSFERRED LAYOUT Even greater care in needed when cutting the pattern as there are no erasers for cut lines. Pay close attention and understand how each line is cut, especially at the mouth, nose and eyes. All the little humps and bumps in a line mean changes in form and unless they are cut correctly the forms will not appear realistic. This is explained in my course Realistic Leather Carving. It is also important that the correct angles are maintained when cutting the furry outlines they determine the correct hair direction. Notice that they are all cut from the outside and fade into the form The slight dip in the cut line establishes a change in form refer to page 5 Notice how these lines fade out at the end THE CUT PATTERN

5 BEVELING THE FACIAL FEATURES The- foremost parts of the wolf s head are beveled first. I began at the snout. Remember that the rule for beveling is to bevel as deep as the line is cut. As the mouth line is cut very lightly above the chin. It is cut deeper at the corners of the mouth. The beveling should match that. Cut deep bevel deep, Cut light bevel light. Some beveling was done on lines that were not cut such as around the outer edges of the snout. The deepest beveling is the upper part of the nostril opening. I used a deep pitched undercut beveler at these places, then beveled out with either a small beveler or figure carving beveler. A small beveler i.e. B935 or 936 could be used. For the eyes I used my smaller deep pitched beveler. You can also use a smooth B935 bevel but you will need to lean the tool to the toe to prevent flattening the eye ball. A modeling spoon can also be used any place you would use a deep pitch beveler. Deep pitch figure carving bevelers are usually available as high priced custom tools, so that is why I mention that a modeling spoon will do the job, maybe even better in some cases. You will notice that I had to use my F902 pointed beveler just below the ears as the fur line is in front of the ears. Once this foremost fur line was beveled then the outline of the ears were beveled. BEVELING THE FURRY OUTLINE If you followed my advice and made these cuts from the outside fading into the figure, then this job will go a lot better for you. The point of the F902 more or less fits into these lines, leaving a series of little points. You don t have to place the tool into each and every cut individually; you walk it down the line keeping the point of the tool just inside the cuts. If your tool is made with a nice sharp point as taught in RLC Wildlife Study American Kestrel, it will either find a line or make its own with each impression. You will also notice the angle of the cut determines the angle you hold the tool. The tool center line should be in line with the angle of each cut. As the cut angle constantly changes so your tool should change with them to always stay in proper alignment. This is most important as it establishes the angle of the hair growth, in turn, giving you a more realistic appearance. 5

6 ESTABLISHING THE BASIC FORMS Now you will build the basic forms using the light lines that were transferred at the beginning and not cut. The major shapes were all established with the F926 tool that has a broad angle point such as you would find on a F976 or F910 pointed beveler. Therefore it stands to reason that the major shapes could be established with a F910 lined pointed beveler provided it has fine line leading edge as described in the Kestrel Study Guide. The beauty of a properly made F926 tool with the broad angle point is that it allows you to build shapes. A tool made with a chisel point will not allow you to do this. What you will get is a series of small cuts that look like it was done with a lacing chisel. You may be able to build somewhat of a shape with the chisel point tool (or at least the appearance of one) by controlling the depth of the impressions. There are many other advantages of the broad pointed tool, the main one being the illusion of softness, which is so important for realistic carving and coloring. See page 2 for more information on the F926 tool ADDING THE TEXTURE WITH F926 All the texturing (except the final stages illustrated on the next page) was done with the F926 tool. All sorts of subtle textures can be obtained with this tool by tilting it to the heel, the toe, or to either side. It is truly a marvelous tool and I personally think it is the most versatile figure carving tool ever made. The finer hair details on the nose and snout were done last in drier leather so that texture could be achieved without changing the shape or depressing the leather. The subtleties and effects that can be achieved with this tool are difficult to explain in writing so I recommend that you experiment on scrap leather with your tool to see what effects it will create. In the video version of this study you will be better able to see how this tool is used to achieve the realism. VIDIO INSTRUCITONS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THIS TIMBER WOLF 1ST QUARTER OF

7 THE TIMBER WOLF COMPLETELY TOOLED The matted fur on the neck was created using the modified F910 tool that I used to make feathers on the American Kestrel. Basically it is a F910 lined pointed beveler modified to the size of an F902 pointed beveler with a refined point. Instructions for altering this tool are given in the American Kestrel Wildlife Study. The lines were made by walking the tool forward on the toe instead of walking it to the side, as is normally used to create a series of points. I suppose you could use a swivel knife, but the effect would not be the same. After the matt lines were created I used the F926 tool to fit in some of the triangle points of the lines to create an uneven texture making the matted fur appear more natural. I added some swivel knife cuts along the perimeter of the head and neck in an irregular fashion in order to break up the tooling pattern, again, to give it a more natural look. Once the leather was nearly dry (no visual appearance of wet leather) I used the F898 to re-bevel the perimeter then finished the background matting with the larger F900. Don t forget to sign your work. 7

8 COLORING THE TIMBER WOLF I like to paint my background first. For the background I chose to keep a natural leather look, so you could just keep it natural leather if you desire, or you can choose another color. in most cases I like to paint my backgrounds. Should I get a little speck of paint on it I can quickly wipe it off or paint over if I fail to immediately notice it. If it is left natural it is pretty much there, so you will have to paint it in order to correct the mishap. For the background I mixed 1 part Light Brown with 2 parts White, which closely resembles natural leather. I did not thin the mixture. I begin my painting pretty much as I do my tooling, by establishing the major forms. I usually use a middle tone (value) gray to do this. By establishing the major forms, it helps me to know where the light and shadows (high and low usually) will occur. For this middle tone (value) gray I mixed 1 part Black, 7 parts White and a touch of Yellow to warm it up. I then thinned it 50 percent with water. The #5 Round brush (I recommend LoewCornell 7000 series or Royal Majestic) was used for the smaller areas around the eye and snout and #8 Round for larger areas. Use only tip loads of paint so that you can achieve the fading effect. Remember the rule: Always point the brush away from the blend. That means that the point of the brush will more than likely be on a recessed area against a raised area. The next thing I like to do is to establish any patterns or markings. In this case the White areas of the wolf are the most prominent. I used White thinned 50% with water and applied with #5 and #8 Round brushes. Don t overload your brush or have it too wet. You are not trying to paint a solid white. This is an undertone so try to keep it somewhat transparent. On the neck use a drier brush to that the White does not run into the recesses of the texture, but stays on the top surface. Notice that the gray will show through the white. You will notice that I painted a very light half circle on the lower part of the eye balls. Actually you are, by omission, establishing the pupil. Do not get this too white! Keep transparent! 8

9 Continuing with the eyes you will mix a dot of Lime Green/ Yellow/White in equal parts and paint over the half circle of White in the eyes. There are patterns of rust colored (sienna) markings on the wolf. I mixed this color with 1 part Light Brown and 1 part Orange. I thinned this mixture 50 percent with water. It is a little difficult to distinguish exact areas of sienna from the natural leather so refer back to page two and that will help. Basically the sienna color is on the outer perimeter of the major forms and at the inside corner of the eyes and the top of the snout. Don t over work this color..you are still making undertones. Next, I added more white to the gray mixture in step one and thinned it with quite a bit of water, probably another 50 percent. I then painted this wash over the entire head. I next mixed a Dark Burnt Umber color by using Cova Dark Brown with a touch of Black. Very little Black is required to achieve this color. It should be the color of Dark Chocolate candy. You will also need more of this color later so use four or five drops of Dark Brown. Take a little of this mixture and thin it about 75 percent, or more, with water and apply another wash with this over the entire head. In the finishing of the piece you will use Hi-Liter to accent the recesses. This will give you an idea as to where the recesses are that will hold the antiquing agent. It also helps you re-establish the recessed areas for painting the later, darker stages. LIGHT DARK BURNT UMBER WASH LIGHT GRAY WASH 9

10 If you need to restate the sienna (rust colored) areas now would be a good time to do that, just don t get carried away and over paint it. Usually all it will take will be a few dry-brush strokes over the high places. Now you will take the remaining mixture of Dark Burnt Umber and thin it about 50 percent with water. Using tip loads of paint and #5 and #8 brushes you will restate the major forms again. You will pretty much repaint the areas of middle value gray that you did in step one. Only load your brush with a tip load of paint. You want to use up the paint quickly so that you can achieve the blends. Remember to keep the point of the brush away from the blends. This will allow you to achieve nice blends from the darker areas into the lighter areas. Mix 1 part Black with 1 part water (a typical 50 percent mixture) to paint the black markings. Refer back to page two and notice that the Al Agnew and the Sandra Johansson sculpture has a more solid white neck than the other two wolves pictured, which have a black area on the neck. As my wolf more closely resembles the Al Agnew wolf, I went with his colors. I used a #5 brush to paint my blacks as I didn t want to use too much black. The pupils of the eyes are carefully placed and the surrounding areas of the eyes are painted black. The nose and front of the snout is painted black along with the mouth line. You want to make the black markings against the white markings on the cheeks a little more solid where they meet to better distinguish them. The areas in the furry parts are all blended into the brown areas so that you have a black-brown fading into a brown fading into the sienna. There should be no hard lines in these areas, only soft blends of color. The only hard line is where the black meets the white on the cheek. 10

11 COMPLETED TIMBER WOLF BEFORE HI-LITER (SEE COVER FOR WOLF AFTER HI-LITE HAS BEEN APPLIED) The final stage is to enhance the white and black areas with thick mixtures of White and Black, just as they come in the jar. Do not have much moisture in your brush and use very small tip loads. In the white areas you only want to hi-light the whitest (highest) areas. On the neck use dry-brush flat stroke so as to just skim the tops of the textured area. Using Black straight from the jar restate the nose and the eyes as these are the blackest areas. Finally, I brighten the greenish yellow half circle in the eye. You will notice that it is brighter on the left side (wolf s right) of each eye. The catch-light on the nose and the pupils are painted with a very light gray (White with a tiny touch of Black, thin 50% with water), not white. I usually wait several hours before applying two coats of Satin Sheen with a large flat brush. If you use an aerosol spray the wait doesn t have to be that long. I then wait several more hours for the Satin Sheen to dry thoroughly before applying Dark Brown Hi-Liter. Don t use oil based antique or All-In-One to antique. Use a water based acrylic Hi-Liter. THE VIDEO HAS A MORE DETAILED PAINTING DEMOSTRATION 11