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Description
This was actually a birthday present for Jeepcat, and the first time I'd really tackled a wood working project outside of casual whittling.
This took a cumulative total of three days to do, using a variety of tools ranging from Dremel tips, sand paper, wood chisels, as well as glass, paint, and sculpy.

This paticular owl doesn't actually exist given that it's a combination of a Barn owl and a nameless type I found via Google.
The barn owl had the shape and features I was after, but I'd decided early on that I wanted to have glass eyes set into the wood, and the barn owls almost pitch black eyes were just damned creepy.
The eyes were actually made using little glass baubles that normally decorate aquariums or whatnot (in this case, our Enchantica cabinet) with sculpy used for the pupils and a flecked paint technique for the irises. They are also installed from behind, which is how I managed to have the wood overlap them like that.
As I was making them, I found the effect of the eyes lighting up when held against lamps, too neat to not keep. So when it came time to set them a bit more permanently, I used hot glue, leaving the holes behind, mostly hollow. The center image shows the finished effect.

Dae was kind enough (see: given no other choice) to give critique and tips on where changes needed to be made, as well as providing line work on a few areas like the feathers, and the overall shape of the eyes. Without her help, this piece would have stayed fairly nondescript and shapeless.

Certain details like the tree the owl rests atop, were shaped out early in the first day, and gained more character every time I revisited them. What started as excess wood, became a feature piece. I feel that details like the slightly hollowed broken branch add character, making sure there is a little something to see from every angle.

In an attempt to help make the piece "pop" a bit more, I broke out the wood burning kit and began to lightly singe the inner areas of the bark on the tree. Unfortunately, as you can see, my technique could do with some work. Several areas were over cooked, or spilled over. In the end, I used one of my soldering irons with a needle tip to approach with a more cautious hand. Once I got a feel for the soldering iron, I began to improve on areas, making finer bark lines, as well as darkening the bits that should have been black, but were still catching too much light. (The area under the tail feathers for instance)
When the tree had been finished, the owl was actually ignorable by compare. Not the effect I'd been going for at all. So, with chisels in hand, I carved the wood around the owl a bit more, trying to basically point at it with the lines, and then burned along them as well. Afterward, I went sparingly over a few areas on the owl itself, helping bring some details out, trying to fix the accidental smoothing effect the lighter wood had.

All in all, the project was a lot of fun. Terrifying at times, but definitely a nice challenge. Sure there are things I'd like to fix like the "flat" feeling you get when looking at it from the side, but given this was my first attempt at this sort of stuff, I'm pleased with it.
I think I will be trying my hand at more wood work in the future.

Description
This was actually a birthday present for Jeepcat, and the first time I'd really tackled a wood working project outside of casual whittling.
This took a cumulative total of three days to do, using a variety of tools ranging from Dremel tips, sand paper, wood chisels, as well as glass, paint, and sculpy.

This paticular owl doesn't actually exist given that it's a combination of a Barn owl and a nameless type I found via Google.
The barn owl had the shape and features I was after, but I'd decided early on that I wanted to have glass eyes set into the wood, and the barn owls almost pitch black eyes were just damned creepy.
The eyes were actually made using little glass baubles that normally decorate aquariums or whatnot (in this case, our Enchantica cabinet) with sculpy used for the pupils and a flecked paint technique for the irises. They are also installed from behind, which is how I managed to have the wood overlap them like that.
As I was making them, I found the effect of the eyes lighting up when held against lamps, too neat to not keep. So when it came time to set them a bit more permanently, I used hot glue, leaving the holes behind, mostly hollow. The center image shows the finished effect.

Dae was kind enough (see: given no other choice) to give critique and tips on where changes needed to be made, as well as providing line work on a few areas like the feathers, and the overall shape of the eyes. Without her help, this piece would have stayed fairly nondescript and shapeless.

Certain details like the tree the owl rests atop, were shaped out early in the first day, and gained more character every time I revisited them. What started as excess wood, became a feature piece. I feel that details like the slightly hollowed broken branch add character, making sure there is a little something to see from every angle.

In an attempt to help make the piece "pop" a bit more, I broke out the wood burning kit and began to lightly singe the inner areas of the bark on the tree. Unfortunately, as you can see, my technique could do with some work. Several areas were over cooked, or spilled over. In the end, I used one of my soldering irons with a needle tip to approach with a more cautious hand. Once I got a feel for the soldering iron, I began to improve on areas, making finer bark lines, as well as darkening the bits that should have been black, but were still catching too much light. (The area under the tail feathers for instance)
When the tree had been finished, the owl was actually ignorable by compare. Not the effect I'd been going for at all. So, with chisels in hand, I carved the wood around the owl a bit more, trying to basically point at it with the lines, and then burned along them as well. Afterward, I went sparingly over a few areas on the owl itself, helping bring some details out, trying to fix the accidental smoothing effect the lighter wood had.

All in all, the project was a lot of fun. Terrifying at times, but definitely a nice challenge. Sure there are things I'd like to fix like the "flat" feeling you get when looking at it from the side, but given this was my first attempt at this sort of stuff, I'm pleased with it.
I think I will be trying my hand at more wood work in the future.