Perched on a Gourd, Part One (Broad-billed Hummingbird)

MATERIALS

• Hard-shelled gourd, preferably with a thick shell
• Hole saw
• Pencil
• Sandpaper
• Lacquer sanding sealer
• Cactus thorn clusters, either real or created from wire
• Glue (Gap-filling superglue and/or two-part epoxy work well)
• Two copies of the pattern
• Spray adhesive
• 1″ x 1″ x 3″ piece of basswood, tupelo, or other wood of your choice
• A small piece of hardwood dowel
• Wood glue
• Drill with brad-point bit
• Large paperclip
• 24-gauge wire
• Carving tools—I use a Ram HST micro motor, which accommodates two different hand-pieces and speed ranges. One handpiece has a 1/8″ collet, and the other handpiece has a 1/4″ collet for larger burs. On occasion, I will use a Foredom when extra torque is needed.
• Carving burs—I use fine-grit Saburrtooth structured carbide carving burs for gross removal and shaping. My favorite shapes are cylinders and dovetails with safe ends. For finer detailing, I use steel engraving burs, diamonds, and stones.

I’ve been a woodcarver since the 1980s, and initially, my carvings were traditional duck  decoys and game birds. Over the years, I experimented with various carving media such as antler and stone, but in the mid-1990s, I stumbled upon a medium that has held my interest for years. Carv-ing hard-shelled gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) feels  similar to carving basswood, but because gourds have a hollow form, the carvings are done in relief and are not fully dimensional. I decided to com-bine my two interests and began creating sculptur-al gourd vessels with relief carvings and wood bird carvings added.

Most of my work is sold at art galleries alongside paintings and other media, and the overall artistry is the prime allure for general art collectors. Collectors want a well-done piece, but unlike woodcarving competition judges, they are less concerned with small details that expert bird carvers would notice. Some shortcuts make my work more affordable; think of this as being in a similar vein as carving a “smoothie” figure that less affluent collectors might purchase and enjoy. For special commissions or more discerning collectors, attention to detail is more important. I make both detailed and simpler carvings depending on the intended audience.

In the past few years, I have entered both gourd carvings and bird sculptures in the Desert Wood-carvers competition in Phoenix, Arizona. In some areas, wood carving, wood working, and gourd competitions are merging, with all groups benefiting from the larger combined audience and entries.

I generally carve life-size hummingbirds because their scale is appropriate for gourd sculptures. I have done pieces with other small songbirds, but hummingbirds are my favorite subject. I live in Arizona, which has a large variety of local and migrating hummingbirds. Some live at higher elevations or near water sources, and they are also common backyard birds.

The broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latiros-tris) is common in Mexico and southern Arizona. The adult males are easily distinguished by their colorful, iridescent bodies and red-orange, black-tipped bills. They range from 3¼ to 4 inches long and have notched tails. The females and juveniles are smaller and less colorful than the adult males. For this project, we will be shaping a hard-shelled gourd into a cactus habitat for our broad-billed hummingbird.

Note that these simplified instructions are in-tended for intermediate-level carvers. An advanced carver might use their skills to modify and refine their finished carving far beyond what I am show-ing here. I do use shortcuts that aren’t for carving purists, but there is still a place in the hobby for simpler, less time-consuming carvings. Always remember that you are not just carving a bird; you are creating a work of art in which all elements work together in harmony.

For more information about gourds, including growers or sources in your area, check out  the American Gourd Society’s website, americangourdsociety.org. There are many books about gourds in local libraries and plenty of information online as well.

CARVING THE GOURD

NOTE: When carving a relief into a hollow form such as a gourd, be aware of the depth you can carve so you don’t accidentally cut through the shell and make an unintentional hole. Check the depth by holding the gourd up to a bright light and peer-ing inside to see if any area has an orangish glow. That glow means the shell is getting too thin in that area.

1. For this piece, I used a canteen gourd (gourds are usually named by their shape). This gourd looked very thick when it was initially cut open, but after a thorough scraping and cleaning of the interior, the final thickness was about 1/2 inch. This is still considered to be a thick gourd; most gourds average around ¼ inch thick. Some varieties will grow thicker with the help of a knowledgeable grower and favorable weather. Thicker gourds allow for more dimensional carving. This picture shows the gourd after cutting an opening using a hole saw. However, more than half of this thickness is soft pulp and seeds that must be cleaned out before carving begins.

2. Draw vertical lines to mark where you will carve. Actual indentations and ridges on a cactus are not perfect or symmetrical, but this is an artistic interpretation of the subject.

3. Start the carving with a large-headed cylinder or inverted cone shape, preferably one with a safe end. I use either a 1″-diameter Saburrtooth cylinder or a dovetail bur in a Foredom tool for fast removal of material. Carve a deep, angled groove along the right-hand side of each line. This groove should be deepest along the pencil line.

4. Next, flip the gourd upside down and repeat the cuts on the other side of the lines to create V-shaped grooves.

5. At this point, I switch to a micro motor carver and use smaller burs with finer grits to further shape the carving. When I am satisfied with the shape, I use a drum sander and hand sanding to smooth the entire gourd, then seal it with lacquer sanding sealer.

6. Draw three horizontal lines around the gourd to mark where clusters of actual cactus spines or artificial spines made from different gauges of wire will be added after the painting has been completed.

7. Use a ball bur to cut dimples to mark the spine positions. The spine clusters will be added after the gourd has been painted.

8. I have access to real cactus spines and often use them on my gourd sculptures. I carefully clip the tip of each spine for safety. Note: cacti are protected species; I use barrel cactus thorn clusters harvested from dead specimens on private property. The spine clusters are removed by grabbing and twisting at the base of each cluster using a pair of needle-nose pliers. Each cluster base is trimmed to remove any soft pulp, leaving a small, hard, oval base for mounting. As an alternative to real spines, clusters may be created using different gauges of wire. Use fine wire to wrap the base of a bundle of mixed-gauge copper or brass wires. This holds them together while you solder the bundle at the base. Bend the individual wires outward and trim and file as needed. The spine clusters are added only after the gourd has been painted. More on this in part two.

9. Optional: I added flower buds to my project. The buds could be carved from wood, or they could be turned on a lathe and then carved. I made a variety of sizes and mounted them on dowels long enough for me to hold comfortably during the painting stage. Buds often vary in size on the same plant, ranging from about 1/2 to 1-1/4 inches tall, with the opening blooms ranging from around 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 inches tall, depending on the cactus size and the flowers’ stage of opening. They should look proportional to the gourd and spines you have chosen. Draw the petal overlaps, then carve them with a small, inverted cone bur. Sand the petals smooth, then spray them with sanding sealer when the carving is completed.

CARVING THE HUMMINGBIRD

10. Cut apart and glue one copy of the pattern (top and side views) onto a block of your preferred carving wood using spray adhesive, and keep another copy of the pattern for reference as you carve. The bill will be added after the body has been cut. Broad-billed hummingbirds frequently rest with their wings folded under their tails. The bottom-view pattern gives a better perspective of how the wings fit under the notched tail.

11. The bill is made from an inserted hardwood dowel. Use a brad-point wood drill bit of slightly smaller diameter than the dowel to drill a hole at the front of the head, checking the drilling angle to ensure the bill direction matches the pattern. Grind or sand away some of the dowel’s diameter at one end so that the dowel fits snugly into the hole and up against the cutout. Secure the dowel into the cutout with wood glue.

12. Roughly shape the cutout by rounding the sharp corners of the lower body and head. With every step, refer to the pattern and redraw it onto the block as needed. The wing feathers rest in a vertical position under the tail so that the folded primaries look widest when viewed from the side and thinnest when viewed from below. Remove material from the tail and wing areas to position them correctly. The wing tips come close together or meet under the tail. Rough out where the lower-tail coverts and belly feathers are visible between the folded wings. Don’t add details at this point. Re-draw the top and side wing patterns.

13. Next, establish the upper edge of the wings, always referring to the original pattern and redrawing as necessary onto the roughly carved bird. Between the wing and the mantle (marked with an X) is an area where the top-view pattern and side-view pattern don’t appear to align. Carve straight down from the top-view line to where it meets the side profile view, then carefully round over the wing and the mantle to match the pattern.

14. In this photo, the upper wing on the left side has been carved to separate it from the mantle. Carve both sides in this manner.

15. Next, carve the separation between the lower part of the wing, sides, and flank. The wing should stand out from the body at this point. Lightly sand the area and redraw the wing pattern on both sides. Shape the tail-feather group into a slightly arched form, but leave enough material for refining later. Redraw the tail feathers.

16. Carve the head shape, including the eye-channel depression that runs backwards from the bill. The top of the head above the eye channel is narrower, while the cheek areas below the eyes are wider. The top of the head is somewhat flat. Refer to the pattern and mark the eyes; both eyes should be at the same height and distance from the bill. Check these placements by viewing directly from the front and looking down from the top. This is a good time to rough carve the bill, leaving enough material to avoid possible breakage. For these gourd/bird projects, I usually paint the bird’s eyes. After painting, I use a drop of “Diamond Glaze” to give the eye a domed shape. This is a timesaver for noncompetition art pieces. However, glass eyes are always a great choice. If you prefer to use glass, plan to use 3-millimeter dark brown eyes.

17. Use the bottom- and top-view patterns to redraw the feather groups.

18. If you haven’t already done so, refine the area where the coverts stop and the tail feathers are exposed, then shape the profiles between the tail, coverts, and vent areas.

TEXTURING

For small birds destined for gourd projects, I spend less time on details and will often texture feathers using an engraving bur or a small diamond. This technique, especially if working with basswood, will leave “fuzzies.” After the piece is finished, I singe the carving with a small butane torch. I fol-low that by brushing the entire bird with a brass brush, always following the feather direction. This removes the fuzzy residue while preserving the texture and leaves a cleaner, slightly hardened sur-face. I only use this technique on carvings destined for use on my gourds. The birds I carve for a gourd project are measured in hours from start to finish, while a competition bird is measured by days.

19. Cut the individual feathers on both the top and bottom of the tail. Round over the upper-tail coverts.

20. Carve the individual feathers on the wings. Start at the front with the smaller covert feathers and work backwards to the primaries. Hummingbirds have 10 primary feathers, but it’s not necessary to have every single one showing. In nature, some feathers are obscured, and on a small hummingbird, carving them is challenging. I used a small dental bur to carve the feather separations, then I added the feather texture. Later, I’ll use a wood burner to add a few feather splits.

21. If you prefer, burn the primaries and tail instead of carving them.

22. Use a flame-shaped diamond or ruby bur to add a slight crease at the centerline of the breast and belly. Draw on some feathering guidelines, then texture the feathers from the throat to the vent and from wing to wing. I prefer to use a small diamond bur, but a stone or ceramic rod also works well for the feather texture. The feathers at the throat are small and become larger as they move down the belly and the flank. I don’t carve any individual feathers, as texturing the pattern looks more natural. The texturing should follow a curving, fan shape for each feather, and the feathers should be somewhat irregularly staggered. Avoid having them laid out in a symmetrical “fish-scale” pattern.

23. Refine the bill size, thickness, and angle. This hummingbird gets its name from its wide bill base. The lower mandible is slightly narrower than the upper mandible. There are small nostril grooves on either side of the bill. The bill is fragile after thinning, so treat it with a coat of thin superglue to add strength. Use a ruby or diamond carver to shape the cheeks. This should be subtle and not overly pronounced. I carve the eyes, but if you are using glass eyes, drill 3-millimeter holes at the marked locations for eye placement at this time. If you wish, add some slightly raised feathers at the top of the head. Carve the outline of these feathers using a flame-tip diamond bur, then slightly round each raised feather. Smooth the underlying feathers below. Add feather texturing to the rest of the head.

24. Finish the carving by adding the feathers of the mantle, rump, and upper-tail coverts. For more detail, lift feathers between the feather groups in a similar manner to how the head feathers were lifted.

25. Drill a small hole just behind where the feet will go and add a mounting post made from a heavy-duty paperclip. This provides something to hold onto while painting, and eventually it will be clipped short and used to mount the bird onto the gourd shell. At this time, I also add two-toed wire feet; simplified feet are fine for these projects and will help in positioning the hummingbird on the gourd. I fold and crimp two pieces of 24-gauge wire into “feet” and glue them into holes drilled into the bird at the appropriate locations. When the carving is finished, lightly spray it with lacquer sanding sealer in preparation for painting with acrylics.

This is article is part of a two-part series. You can read Perched on a Gourd Part Two: Painting here.