Great Horned Owl Carving Demonstration

 

The art of bird carving is not “wooden taxidermy.” The natural world is alive with beauty, and the kingdom of birds contributes mightily to this.

Bird carving is sculpture in its highest and purest sense, where the subject matter is drawn from more than 9,500 members of this unique, varied, and beautiful family of feathered invertebrates. Within this diverse family is a dazzling array of sizes, shapes, feather colors, patterns, and plumage variations. From the cryptic patterning throughout the body of a great horned owl to the brilliant colors of a male eastern bluebird, the visual spectrum among birds is vast.

Bird carving artists are faced with the daunting challenge of replicating the elusive beauty of birds by skillfully shaping the hard surface of a block of wood, texturing, and correctly applying color to replicate the essence of the living creature as faithfully as possible. The high degree to which this has evolved in the hands of the modern masters of decorative bird carving is mind-boggling.

Early in 2021, I was presented with a dream commission. My skills would be put to the test by creating The Pursuit, featuring a life-size great horned owl in flight. I was feeling at the “top of my game,” and thought that I was certainly up for this. I mean, who doesn’t like a good challenge?

Before my carving tools ever touch the surface of the wood, however, I needed to have some idea of what I would be facing. Hours of research and the study of living great horned owls were essential. As I’ve often said, you can’t carve what you don’t know.

Carved from Louisiana tupelo wood, my mighty great horned owl launches himself into the air in pursuit of prey. The hand-painted crystal eyes will be locked onto three hapless ring-necked pheasants in flight. The owl was created from four separate pieces of wood, and the body was hollowed out to a wall thickness of approximately 1/4″ to 3/8″ throughout. This facilitates stability and overall lightness.

I invite you to follow along as the journey of creativity unfolds!

1. After my research, my next step in the complex process was to create a life-size foam mockup of my owl in flight. I wanted to convey the essence of space, speed, momentum, and dynamic motion in a static sculpture—and that can be very challenging! Doing the mockup helped get me on the right track. Visually, proper design elements contained within the context of the piece must all contribute to, and not distract from, the story being told. Rather than simply carving away and hoping for the best, I used my foam mockup in three dimensions to help me work out problems prior to committing to the wood. It is my working sketch and is quite helpful in determining things like balance, proportion, and the all-important connecting support to the base.

2. Once the foam mockup of the carving has been finalized and completed, I bring out a block of tupelo to compare for size and configuration.

3. With the centerline established, the block is now ready for carving. I always double-check all measurements prior to committing to the carving process.

4. Some of the most important carving takes place during this stage. I like to compare the process to building a house—if the foundation is poorly done, the whole house will fail. As I proceed with the carving, I keep the foam mockup nearby as a visual guide I can check whenever I need to.

5. At this stage, you can begin to see the body evolve and the sections taking shape as I slowly proceed through the rough-out process using a small electric chain saw.

6. I carve the wings from separate pieces of tupelo, locating the joint a little below the midsection of the wing. This aids in stability and makes carving and texturing a bit easier.

7. This is always an exciting part of the carving process! You can really get a sense of how the bird is going to come alive with some careful planning and carving.

8. I use a Foredom flexible-shaft tool with a Typhoon bit to further shape the wing. My personal favorite Foredoms are the TX or SR units.

9. Overall shaping occurs very quickly. You can see the layout of the tail and upper-tail coverts emerging at this point.

10. I faced a critical decision at this stage. A very important factor in the success of this carving is weight. To lighten it, I will hollow out as much of the inside excess wood as safely possible, and to achieve this, I choose to cut off the head, which will provide easier access to the internal material.

11. The band saw can be a very useful machine when it comes to operations such as this. Bingo! The head has been successfully cut off.

12. I rely on my band saw for a lot of rough-out procedures. Here, you can see I am shaping the wings, including the top and bottom areas of the wing surface.

13. Further shaping is achieved using the chain saw. With some practice, this tool can be a really efficient way to sculpt and rough-out large carvings. It is especially handy for undercutting the lower portions of the wings.

14. Throughout the process, I constantly refer to good, clear, informative reference photos and assorted materials. These are essential in maintaining an accurate reproduction of your given species.

15. I also constantly cross-check against my original foam model to ensure accuracy. This is especially important in areas like the face, eye, and beak to confirm accurate proportions. This small area carries the whole piece! If you miss this, you could be the finest feather painter in the world, but your carving still won’t look right.

16. Maintaining that all-important centerline is crucial. Look at your carving in the mirror, and any imbalances will become immediately obvious. I’m ready to set the eyes and further refine the head, carefully following my reference photos (or checking the carving against a live bird, if possible).

17. I like to set the eyes as early in the process as I can. This way, the bird will be looking at me, and I can bring out the attitude I want for the bird. Portraying the bird’s “attitude” is especially critical when carving a species such as an owl.

18. Here you can see the contour U markings all over the left side of the head. I continue the shaping and contouring using a variety of rotary tools, including a 1/4″ ruby ball run at full speed (55,000 rpm). This will give the final surface the softness I am looking for.

19. The refining process continues with the carving in of the pinecone-like facial fluff under and above the beak. These delicate feathers are carved using a small diamond point mounted in a rotary hand-piece and operated at high speed. The area is then carefully sanded. I have even begun woodburning in the texturing as well. As I proceed, I add more and more detail to the face and beak areas.

20. I am fortunate to have a raptor rehabilitation center nearby so I can constantly go back and check my bird against a real owl to ensure accuracy. These midterm checkups are so important!

21. As I said, there’s nothing like having access to a live bird, or even a good quality study skin, to ensure accuracy in all parts of the carving process. Here I am cross-referencing my owl’s tail against a recently deceased owl at the raptor rehab center.

22. I hit the jackpot! I found a stunning reference view of the underside of the left wing of an adult great horned owl—it’s incredibly valuable reference material.

23. Back in the studio, I am recharged and ready to continue. Work can now proceed with the correct layout of all the major flight feathers in the upper and underside areas of the owl’s wings.

24. After carving in all those flight feathers as accurately as I can, I do a lot of sanding to get a really smooth surface, using 220-, 400-, and ultimately, 600-grit paper for the final sanding. Yes, this is time consuming, but it makes for a much cleaner and tighter woodburned texture. Notice all the feather ripples carved in as well. This adds a lot of volume to each feather. After all the sanding I turn my attention to the important task of woodburning in millions of fine lines to emulate the fine texture of each feather. The time has come to lay out the feather shafts and begin the texturing process on the wings.

25. Woodburning is an art unto itself, and I love to burn. I have always used the Colwood Detailer systems for burning. I try to keep my burning lines consistent and rhythmically as close as possible to achieve a soft surface effect.

26. The burning and texturing process takes a lot of time. You must be patient and willing to just settle in and get the work done. Soft music playing in the background helps, and during evening sessions, I find that a nice glass of wine helps the time go by very pleasantly!

27. I do a section at a time, and slowly but surely the burning process proceeds. Notice the stark difference in this photo between the burned and unburned surface throughout the wing as I continue on and on.

28. Now, at long last, the burning is complete, and the wing is ready to paint. Phew! . . . this is always a very happy time.

29. You can clearly see that all the component parts are really coming together. I do a cross-check as I assemble the bird to make sure everything matches up.

30. The burning on the head requires a lot of very fine feathering, especially between the ear tufts. I pay particular attention to this, working with a lot of patience and a very sharp burning tip.

31. Different areas of the head can be burned to create the effect that you are looking for as you progress through the bird. Often, I will change the heat settings to create a bit of variety on the surface.

32. The head is now completely textured. I stoned the facial discs with a small white stone instead of burning as the feather structure here—the filoplumes—is quite distinctive.

33. This angle reveals the various types of texturing techniques I use to produce the varied effects of feathers throughout the head of the owl.

34. I burn the upper-tail coverts using a technique I refer to as “outboard burning,” a method similar to the way I did the back of the bird, in which I pull my burning pen inward toward the feather root. Darkening the outer edges of the feathers creates a shadow effect on the wood.

35. Another view showing how the back burning was handled.

36. To ensure a good clean burning, you must really spend time preparing the surface of the wood by sanding first. The final sanding here was accomplished with 600-grit paper.

37. Slowly but surely, the burning process brings the carving to life. The textural diversity will be highlighted by the painting—in fact, I think of texturing as the first step of the painting process.

38. Another tip: As I work on the carving, I rest the bird on a soft pillow. This provides stability and helps prevent the carving from accidentally slipping off the workbench or my lap as I’m working.

39. More burning is revealed in the left wing. Note that the upper-wing section is burned to show the correct feathering and proportional layout of all the feathers.

40. I love assembling the entire piece as the burning progresses. It gives me a much-earned sense of accomplishment knowing that the finish line is not far off!

41. Here’s another nice side view of the work as it progresses.

42. A view of the left side reveals the well-planned flow and correct positioning of all of the feathers in relationship to one another.

43. The back view clearly reveals the dynamic forward thrust of the piece as it is coming to life.

Floyd Scholz is universally recognized as one of the world’s preeminent woodcarvers and painters of birds. He is five-time U.S. national champion and 2005 World Master’s Best in Show champion, and his portrayals of eagles, hawks, owls, and other birds have won him a large, enthusiastic international following. In 2014, Floyd was recognized as a Living Legend by the Ward Foundation. As the author of seven award-winning books on raptors, he has a passion for birds and a love of art he shares with generations of bird-lovers and artists worldwide.