patterns

i was wondering what other bird carvers do for patterns?
i purchased a book 'carving song birds' and started an eastern blue bird which is in the final stages of painting when my wife saw it she said it was to big.and i looked at some of the other patterns and found several that were not acurate.
western tanager had the wrong beak.
can anyone recommend a good book or are the species specific books better

[icarve2003]

Hi Frank,

I would recommend Rosalyn Leach Daisey's books. They take you throuhg every step of the carving and painting and she used study skins as a guide.

I will photocopy some pages and send them to you, I still have your address. Any particular bird you're interested in? I have both of her Songbird books

Chris.

[mysticpeterson]

i agree i would use that book also i had that book from my carving club and it was great very informative

[David_Aaron_Sercel]

Now I draw my own patterns, but when I was just starting out I really liked
the ones in the reference guides that are put out by Wildfowl Carving Magazine.
Also the ones in Rosalyn Daisey's books, they are very well done. When I make
a pattern I just find somewhere, like another pattern, to get the measurements
for that particular bird, and then find a photo that has a pose that is like I
want, and use the photo as a reference to draw my pattern. If you would like,
I could email you some patterns. I have gathered a pretty large collection
of them, mainly songbirds.


I too would recommend the books by Rosalyn Daisey, they are very informative.
Also, one book that I especially like is the book on carving a cardinal by Bob *
Guge. You can also order patterns for about any species that you want from *
Gordon Stiller. the ones of his that I have seen were very accurate. *
Here is his website: http://www.stillerpatterns.com/

David,
Nice work station some how I visioned you as an older person funny how we do that have a picture in our mind what a person might look like and then when we see them or meet them the vision is all together different. I can just image how good you will be when you are my age because your work is excellent now. I was curious David as to your dust collector is it one you purchased or did you make it yourself?
Colin

[David_Aaron_Sercel]

Colin,

It is one that I bought, a DC720.

thanksfor the tips fellows i'll look around for Rosalyn leach Daisey's book.

[mdallensr]

Girzzly had that dust collector (or one like it) on sale for $79.00 a few months ago. I bought it and like it.

[woodcarver55555]

The songbird books by Rosalyn Leach Daisey are the ones that my mentor highly recomended. I keep my eye out for them on E-Bay. They about 50 each, new. I bought mine on ebay and got both of them togeather , including shipping for 38.00 . Mine are just like new. In fact I got them om a friday and got to meet Rosalyn Leach Daisey the next day at the show in Washington , NC. My wife ribbed me that night, ' You should have taken your books to the show and got her to autograph them '. Keep your eye on ebay every 4 or 5 days. I have also bought back issues of Wildfowl Carving ( that they no longer have back issues of) and Wildfowl Carving Reference Guides. Just take note of what the shipping is, sometimes you can buy a book at Amazon.com's new and used listing at a very fair price. Good Luck

Making patterns, If you go to the field guides, Petersons, Birds of North America, I believe most of them give a length underneath each picture of the bird. When your coming up with a pattern, it is an excellent guide to follow. If the length is Ok, usually the rest will come to shape. One thing to watch carefully when your developing a pattern for a bird, is to check the length of the tail. If the length of the overall bird is correct, and the tail length, eigther short or long , will make a difference in the size of the body. Most birds are more attractive small, opposed to too large.