I got to work on the head, giving the guitarist a dreamy expression, as though lost in his beautiful melodies!
The hat and the hair was to match the drummer’s, except with a design of stars on the hat rather than a moon.
I gave him a diamond pattern on the edge of the cloak, and added the guitar strings.
I debated for a while about the best way to carve the strings; ideally they should be made to be raised off the guitar neck, but with such a small area to work on it could end up a real mess and just look very unclear. Also there would be a concern over very thin long strips being durable over any length of time. I’m not aiming for realism with this carving, the designs are quite stylized, and so I thought just a suggestion of the strings would work. I’m still pondering about the absence of frets; I tested carving horizontal lines (the strings) crossed by vertical lines (the frets) on a small part of the trunk, but it put strain on the spaces between the strings. Looking at the photos now I think the guitar does need the frets, and I can’t think of another way to do them. I’ll try it next time.
I’d been given a CD by Freddy James, “The Doctor”, which featured a drawing of a 1937 Dobro on the cover ~ and it was requested this was to be the model for the carving.
The musician carvings have to work together, and with the drum on the other stump being very simple, I didn’t want to overdo the detail on the guitar. Also, I didn’t want the guitar to be the main focal point, standing out above all else.
The latest pop duo to hit the scene ~ or is it the Medieval Tyrannosaurus Rex?!