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Been a while since I posted anything...work is wearing me out this summer...but I just finished this one over the weekend. This a new pattern I drew up this spring and finally finished painting. Painting this one over about a 4 month span working on it 10-15 minutes at a time when I could get free. Was slow but still fun.

Let me know what ya'll think. Did a lot of playing and experimenting on this one.

I don't see or shoot a lot of cans but I think it looks great!

Very nice!

Excellent work.

He looks happy, which is nice because it seems the trend these days is pissed off

Beautiful!

Awesome!

Looks great!

Great looking can Scott. I've got one on the bench I'm about to start painting. What colors are you using for the head?

looks awesome!

RickC wrote:Great looking can Scott. I've got one on the bench I'm about to start painting. What colors are you using for the head?

Rick the base color is Burnt Sienna with a little Raw Umber. Then I drybrush with black or yellow to either shade or highlight and area.



Thanks for the comments guys. I had forgotten how much fun it was to do cans. I need to do a few more.

Thanks Scott, this one is my first one but I have enjoyed and plan on doing a few more for myself.

Rick I'm hoping to get back in the swing of carving this fall after work slows down. Spent some time this past spring redrawing patterns but didn't get any shop time. Finally getting back to where it's fun again. I took it a little too serious for a few years and it almost ruined the whole experience for me.

Yeah I can see that. I was going down that road worrying about getting decoys ready for shows. Woke up one day and said bag that! If I can I will but its not going to drive my carving. Its just fun for me.

So is that a competition/display piece or a high class working decoy?

3legged_lab wrote:So is that a competition/display piece or a high class working decoy?

I consider it just a normal simple gunning block. It'll be in a bag with all the others this fall. Just a decoy.

Scott R wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:So is that a competition/display piece or a high class working decoy?

I consider it just a normal simple gunning block. It'll be in a bag with all the others this fall. Just a decoy.

That's one of the most beautiful "gunning blocks" I've ever seen! Awesome work!

sws002 wrote:

Scott R wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:So is that a competition/display piece or a high class working decoy?

I consider it just a normal simple gunning block. It'll be in a bag with all the others this fall. Just a decoy.

That's one of the most beautiful "gunning blocks" I've ever seen! Awesome work!

Thanks for the kind comment. I think the hardest thing is the 1st time I drop it, or it kisses the gunnel while pulling in a longline, or I hit with the boat. Occasionally one gets shot. That knocks the new off of one real fast.

Don't get me wrong...I like the way a new decoy looks fresh off the paint table. But one that has been used for 10-15 seasons and has the paint scrubbed off in spots, maybe chipped from a hard lick on the boat, ground in mud on it, stained up from dirty water, and maybe even a few pellets is just beautiful. Each one is a book of stories of good hunts, bad hunts, spending time with friends, etc. Once they get to that point I think they are just cool looking

Scott R wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:So is that a competition/display piece or a high class working decoy?

I consider it just a normal simple gunning block. It'll be in a bag with all the others this fall. Just a decoy.

It would be a display piece at my house

Scott R wrote:Been a while since I posted anything...work is wearing me out this summer...but I just finished this one over the weekend. This a new pattern I drew up this spring and finally finished painting. Painting this one over about a 4 month span working on it 10-15 minutes at a time when I could get free. Was slow but still fun.

Let me know what ya'll think. Did a lot of playing and experimenting on this one.

Man that's an awesome job . One thing I have never done making my own decoys . I want to make some teal first then black ducks .

Beautiful job.

firstflight wrote:
Man that's an awesome job . One thing I have never done making my own decoys . I want to make some teal first then black ducks .

Jump right in and do it. Really nothing to it...just takes some patience and time. Black ducks would be a good one to start with. They can painted as simple or as complex as you want. There are also a lot of good patterns out there for them.

Just find someone close to where you live that carves and ask them if you can sit in with them while they do a bird or if they will help you do one. There are a lot of good tutorials on several sites also that can be of help. There is way more info available to new carvers now than back when I started. Heck...a lot of guys 1st birds are better than what I do now.

Scott R wrote:

firstflight wrote:
Man that's an awesome job . One thing I have never done making my own decoys . I want to make some teal first then black ducks .

Jump right in and do it. Really nothing to it...just takes some patience and time. Black ducks would be a good one to start with. They can painted as simple or as complex as you want. There are also a lot of good patterns out there for them.

Just find someone close to where you live that carves and ask them if you can sit in with them while they do a bird or if they will help you do one. There are a lot of good tutorials on several sites also that can be of help. There is way more info available to new carvers now than back when I started. Heck...a lot of guys 1st birds are better than what I do now.

Thanks for the information ,I will look in to some sites .There's nobody around me that carves decoys 90% are deer hunters . Or the new duck commanders lol .

Are patterns necessary? Not trying to be a jerk, just curious. I'd like to give it a try, just piddling around (you know, with the improper tools, on an improper wood ), and thought if I do, I'd like to keep it as close to free as possible.

Probably not necessary but they will make it a WHOLE LOT EASIER. I think there are some free patterns posted over on workingdecoys.net.

Some guys will give up one if you ask them. Some won't if they have invested a lot of time in developing a good one. Never hurts to ask.

Yeah, I saw a pattern book at the Ward Museum. It was about 40 pages, and was $350. I almost shit. I may have to go back and just take pics of a couple pages, and measure how big the book is. Allegedly.

Couldn't you just trace a decoy and go from there? Wouldn't be a museum piece but seems like a good starting point. Course I don't know shit about carving. Only tried it twice.

You're two up on me, then.

Just get a 3D printer

Is have to make one first. And I'm pretty sure that's beyond my pay grade.