Deer

 

  Yesterday, I made a deer for our yard.  Eva had talked about wanting something to add character to the otherwise dead winter yard.  We looked a a variety of things on the Net and as always I went my own way anyway.  I did closely examine several of the internet examples to get an idea of what sort of proportions  worked best.  The trick is to get the general size, shape and proportion so even something this rustic and non-representational  will be perceived as a deer.  It is also important to remember that your "art" may be better if it doesn't try to copy real life too closely.

  

  I had the good luck to pick up the cedar body on the side of the road a while ago and then get the head just the other day.  Dried cedar is very light and so spindly legs are plenty strong enough.  The neck needed to be thicker than the legs but I didn't have a natural branch available so I roughed up an aged 2 x 2.  The building process was not complicated, creating the design and gathering the materials together took the majority of my time.  I even made several sketches first.  All the angles are drilled free hand and set by eye, once the general plan was formed it was easy.  Making up my mind took the most time. 

   

  Rustic wood working might be a good place to start your wood working career since it doesn't really require any special or expensive tools.  I have the good fortune to have inherited two excellent draw knives but lower cost alternatives are out there if you look and can sharpen your tools properly. Any drill that will turn a large spade bit is adequate.  The saw I use for tough lumber is a cheap pull saw from the local hardware store.  I have two very good edge tools in the hatchet and bench knife, but again decent quality tools are readily available for a decent price. 

  I will keep my eye out for materials to make a fawn for the spring time.

 cheers ianw