Since then, every time I walked past this piece of wood, I felt a presence of a face wanting to come out. It was kind of erie. So yesterday, I took the plunge. I hefted it onto my shoulder and packed it on back to the shop. I still had a temporary pallet/table sitting outside, and knowing I was about to make a real big mess, decided this was where the action was going to happen.
I started with a few lines drawn with a permanent marker, then just jumped in with my angle grinder.
The face, really starting to take shape.
Fine tuning his features. Still some work to do.
Remember the "My Little Buddy" commercials from the 80's? Me and my new pal.
The blade on the angle grinder is a Lancelot blade- two disks with a slot for holding a chainsaw chain, and makes short work of rough carving. (Thanks for the tip Uncle Ron!)
Did the whole carving with this tool- no sanding, no chiseling, just fired up the grinder and let 'er rip!
The completed Moai head sculpture in his new home, keeping watch near my front door. I plan on painting the eyes like they do on the real ones, just to creep out the neighbors a little more.
A little tid bit on the original sculptures- They're found on Easter Island, off the coast of Chile. There's not a lot known of these guys, and were originally thought to be just head sculptures. When they started excavating them, they were found to be whole body sculptures, the rest was just buried underground! The tallest so far is 33 feet high, weighing in at 82 tons. They're found all over the perimeter of the island, keeping watch. (Thanks, Wiki.)
