Intarsia Mandarin Duck

[Claymore]

Hi,
I started making Intarsia projects earlier this year and love to experiment, one of my projects was a Mandarin Duck made from Pine and stained bright colours (sorry guys I know some of ya hate painted/stained/dyed Intarsia but I was using Pine to practice and looked a bit bland in raw pine finish)
The design isn't from a regular Intarsia pattern as per Kathy Wise and Judy Gale Roberts etc but from a small clipart image i found and enlarged.
My more recent projects are using hardwoods like Oak/Walnut/Beech etc.
 I have attached a photo hope you like it.
Cheers
Brian

[pddesertrat]

Looks very good.

[lwilli]

Brian, I like it very much. I especially like the shaping and detail work. I love the colors and personally it doesn't matter whether it is painted, dyed or natural. Remember Intarsia is a form of art and it's all about making it your own. It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and from where I'm standing it looks pretty darn good!!

Louis

[spirithorse]

Good job, Brian,
Even Judy Gale Roberts uses different shades of red cedar instead of a variety of
different species of wood.
Thanks for sharing and God Bless!
Spirithorse

[pierre62]

Very nice done look pretty.

[Claymore]

Hi,
Thanks everyone and glad you like the Duck, I live in a very rural area and its hard to find any decent hardwoods and if you do they are VERY expensive so as a beginner i started with the pine but tend to use more Oak and Beech now and have found a great source for the Oak..... old furniture from junk stores/carboots etc  I buy the old tables nobody wants and chop them up for lots of excellent solid hardwoods and usually pay around ?4.00 for a table so nice and cheap and also recycling junk at the same time! I also have plenty of Walnut/Teak/Mahogany/Silver Birch etc all from old furniture and even oak chopping boards.
I have attached a couple more of my beginner pieces, a Hare from Judy Gale Roberts book and a Kathy Wise horses head  both made from Oak/Mahogany and Walnut. The finish is just clear wax and I am always trying to improve this as they are still miles behind the beautiful work i have seen you guys make on here but its early days in my Intarsia hobby and always happy for any tips on ways to improve my work.
Cheers
Brian

[Claymore]

Oooooooopps forgot the hare photo

[lwilli]

Wow! If these are examples of your beginning projects I can't wait to see what you'll be creating a year from now. The world is full of extremely talented people.

Louis

[Brian Pardue]

nice work

[wombatie]

Brian I love everything about your duck, you did the colors beautifully.  The Hare and the horse are great too but my favorite is the duck.  Well done.

Marg

[pierre62]

The horse head and rabbit are very nice too, thanks for sharing.

[spirithorse]

Great work, Brian,
I absolutely adore the Hare! The Horse is very nice also.
The only improvement that I could suggest is, it appears you
took some short-cuts with grain direction. I don't know that for a fact
because I don't have those two patterns but, I think you could have
rotated some of the grain direction to make it obvious that each piece
had to be cut separately.
This is definitely meant to be a suggestion and not a criticism.
All the intarsia projects you have shown us are great!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Claymore]

Hi,
Thanks for the advice and don't worry I'm happy to get tips on how to improve my work, you can only learn so much from books so to get advice from the people who have already mastered it is great 
I agree the grain direction is very important and adds depth to the finished item so  will take that onboard and where possible will try and get it right.
Thanks and take care
Brian

[Claymore]

Hi,
Here's another 2 Intarsia's I made recently the Mice on Cheese is a Cathy Wise design with a brass clock insert, the Fox is a pretty small one at around 7" tall and 1/2" thick including the backboard and the design was a clipart i found online and just adapted it to suit Intarsia, the wood is Mahogany, Silver Birch and Beech with white woodstain also tiny bit of Walnut for the ears.
It was pretty fiddly to do due to the size and I might make another one day but much larger.
Hope you like them
Brian