Monster Head Study No. 5 - A Nasty Little Devil!

Has it been since last November that I last shared with you one of my little monster head studies? Wow. For a some background, here is where you can catch up on my posts about Monster Head Study No. 1, Monster Head Study No. 2, Monster Head Study No. 3, and Monster Head Study No. 4. This one is No. 5.

As with the all of the wooden monster heads thus far, this one started out as a 1 inch diameter hardwood ball. These come in packs of 12. Though they have no knots, they are very hard and difficult carve with hand tools. As with Monster Head No. 4, much of this one was shaped by holding it against a 1 inch stationary belt sander. Mine is an old homemade tool, but it's basically like the one shown below (but not quite as nice). It's amazing how much "carving" I do on this machine.

Once again, the head is a sphere. Two of flat planes form the nose and eye areas. The mouth was also shaped on the sander by using the edge of the sanding belt to notch into the wooden ball. I like the downward turn of the lower part of his mouth. I think it makes him look like he may be saying something unfriendly.

The eyes are a little different on this one. I found a package of assorted wooden beads and selected a dark spherical one about 3/8" in diameter. Using an Xacto Razor Saw, I somehow cut slices off of opposite sides where the hole is located. I then cut angled pieces off the top of each one to give they eyes that angry look. The bead slices were then glued on either side of the nose.

I cut a tiny wooden wheel in half and those became the ears for the monster. They are like these wooden wheels, but even smaller -- only about 1/2" in diameter. The ends of a 10" bamboo skewers became the horns. These pieces were glued into holes drilled into the top of the head.

Of the five monsters presented so far, I like this one best. He looks like a nasty little devil, but still has a whimsical quality. He'd be fun to watch from a distance, but you wouldn't want him running loose in your house. I like the proportion and placement of the horns. I also like bulging, dark eyes. And, those tiny wooden wheels make surprisingly good ears!

That's all for now. There are many more monster head studies to come so stay tuned.

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