Nick Glenn Art Carvings

Shotgun Guitar

2010-12-05T16:32:00.001-08:00

This one was for Ty of the band Shotgun Hustler. The black bird image is carved out and filled in with black. I only did about three coats of white paint with two coats of satin clear coat so that you can still see the grain in the ash wood. The electronics were kept simple for a Eddie Van Halen feel to the guitar, if I could have made a volume knob that went to 11 I would :)

Pop Pistol Guitar

2010-11-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

This one is a little different, commissioned by Alex of the band Pop Pistol to best represent the type of music he creates and also Astronomy. So I decided to use the carving as texture rather than to make an actual image and then paint it with metallic paint as if it were a canvas. So this sculpture is mimicking the cratered surface of Jupiter's moon as taken by the Hubble telescope. I even took a step further and added LEDs that light up underneath the transparent pickguard for an added celestial-ish effect. I'm pretty excited with the way it turned out, it represents what Alex creates and helps him create it.

"Day of the Dead" Guitar v.2 with Nina Diaz

2010-06-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here's my second attempt at the Day of the Dead design for a guitar. It's pretty similar to the first with little changes in the design, but much higher quality in the execution. Nina Diaz from the band Girl In A Coma was kind enough to pose with the guitar for me. Be sure to click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Build A Guitar? You Bet I Did!

2010-04-13T18:07:00.001-07:00

So I decided to carve and modify a guitar. I had a clear pick guard made and etched the back neck plate with a Day of the Dead skull to bring it all together. This was an insane learning experience to say the least. During this project I learned how to assemble and wire the guitar, and it was a lot of fun but a real pain to get it perfect in my eyes.

Nikki Stressed

2010-03-28T11:06:00.001-07:00

Here's a fun one of Nikki. I cropped the photo so that it would take up the whole area of the board. I also decided to add color to this one as well, I think it needed more contrast so the red helped a lot.

Dog Commissions

2010-02-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

For the past six months or so I've been working on these commissions. They are the first carvings I have done of any type of animal, and for the most part I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. Don't really know what's next on carving agenda, but I'm going to have to come up with something before the first weekend of March when the UT steamroller event takes place.

Flowers Number Three

2009-07-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is the third version of the "Flowers" carving I have done. I did this one for my sister and it is the largest rendition yet at two feet by four feet. It's a very basic carving but I really like how it looks in black and white.

Abstract

2009-07-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Can't really explain this carving. I was sketching at work and did this design on a piece of notebook paper and I decided to turn it into a large carving.

Sameer is Happy

2009-04-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a portrait of Sameer that I just finished applying paint to. He planned on cutting his hair so I had to get him to pose for my art before he did such a horrible thing. Art is slow going but I'm trying to motivate myself again, hopefully I'll be posting more often than not once I get back into the groove of things.

Joesph and Jenny Together

2009-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

Here's both portraits together, basically how they would be hung when shown. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Joesph Completed

2009-01-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

Finished Jenny's better half, artistically speaking of course. This took about 2 weeks. It will be place to the upper left of Jenny's portrait so that it looks like Joesph is looking down at her and their headphones are connected. I'll publish a picture of them together on my next post.

Giant Day Of The Dead Is Done!

2008-12-30T17:22:00.001-08:00

Well I have finally completed my first attempt at a 4' by 8' carving, and it only took about 6 months. For what it's worth I'm really happy how it turned out. My main problem with this piece being done is that I have no place to store it until I decide to show it, and it takes up a lot of space in my studio.
My next piece will be of Joesph to complement the one I did of Jenny a little while ago. It'll be a couple of weeks before I finish that one, so until then . . . Happy New Year!

Jenny Tunes

2008-11-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

My newest portrait is of Jenny:This one is going to be paired with another portrait of Joesph that I just started (she's going to be looking up at him).
I actually have been working on my giant Day of the Dead carving, but I probably won't post any progress till it's finished. I can't just work on it and nothing else because it's incredibly boring to carve, so I've been working on other pieces so I can keep myself from getting burned out.

Flower Carving

2008-11-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

This is my second attempt at carving flowers. It's only about 1/3 the size of my normal carvings and about half the size of my last flower carving. It took me about three days to complete.
My bathroom is done being remodeled so I have a shower again, which is awesome. So now I can do my work outside after my "9 to 5" and not worry about if I'm going to be able to wash off the half inch of saw dust that collects on me.

"Tanya All Together"

2008-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, that was a Mitch Hedberg joke. Click on it to see it much bigger.

I Painted the Tanya Portraits

2008-10-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Ok they're all totally completed now. Pretty happy for the most part on how these turned out. My large Day of the Dead piece is still moving very slowly, and it looks like a couple of weeks at the very least before it's done.
My bathroom is being remodeled at the moment which results in me having to shower in the gym at my office. So working outside in the evenings has pretty much been put on hold until my bathroom is done and I can take the late night showers that I'm used to. Fun stuff, I know. Otherwise everything else is going smoothly for me, and for that I am blessed.

Day of the Dead . . . The Beginning.

2008-09-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

So now I'm starting on my giant 8 foot by 4 foot Day of the Dead carving for my October show. To say that I've gotten in up over my head would be an extreme understatement. This is after two full days of work, haven't even finish carving the full outline of the piece yet. I have a long road up ahead of me.
It's going to basically be a really big version of the skull I have below, but there will be three in a row.

Another From Last Show (Different Angle)

2008-08-28T12:38:00.001-07:00

Here's the same set up but shot from a slightly different angle . I'm just really happy how this show came out, and that it was successful, and that it was successful at Ruta Maya; they're just good people.
My next show is also going to be at Ruta Maya but with different type of work, no portraits. As I've said in the earlier post it's going to revolve around El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and it's going to involve color! But not that much color . . . maybe two colors, or three, I don't know yet. It's not going to be as big as this last show just because of the small amount of time I have to work on it. But like everything else I work on, I'll post the progress here.

Photo From May Show

2008-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of all the portraits displayed together at my last show in May.

Three Tanyas Are Completed

2008-08-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

As I've said before I really dislike the rain, and because of the most recent rain we've been having, I've had to take longer to finally finish carving the last portrait of Tanya. But alas, it is finished.
I took total advantage of the sunny day we had and finished sanding and sealing all three of the portraits. Now all that it left is the painting, and I can do that inside. I don't know why, but these three portraits have been more of a pain in my side than all six of the last portraits, I hope this isn't a continuing trend.
Next I'm starting on a "Day of the Dead" piece for an October show I'm having, it's going to be 4 feet by 8 feet (I'm already regretting making it so big and I haven't even started). I'll post the progress I make on it during September.

What A Headache

2008-08-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Finally done carving the second one of Tanya. This one was a nightmare and a learning experience all rolled into one. You can see the dark spots at the top of the carving, those are burn marks. My router started going out and actually set the board on fire in a few (many) places. Yes, in fact one of those times the router produced a large spark which ended up setting my right hand on fire, good thing I was wearing thick leather gloves. Anyway that lead to me biting-the-bullet and buying an industrial router with a lot more torque. The difference is amazing! It cuts through the wood like butter with much less effort on my part, but the down-side is that I go through router bits much quicker . . . oh well.

I've also begun working on Tanya's last carving. With the new router it's going pretty well, the only thing that's holding me back is time and rain. I really hate when it rains, not just because I can't carve but the humidity really bothers me. I always feel wet and uncomfortable when it rains. Hopefully the weatherman is wrong and it won't rain the rest of this week.

Second On Its Way

2008-08-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

I've started on the second one of Tanya yesterday. I like this one more just because there's more of an expression on her face, and because of that it's a little bit harder to carve. My main worry is that I have to make it consistent with the first carving so anyone can tell that they are both portraits of the same person. So that means my carve lines have to stay pretty similar across the series, which is something that I'm not that great at. I can't really rely on carving by "feel" like I usually do, now I have to measure and compare as I go, not quite as Zen as I would like it to be.

I'm At it Again

2008-08-05T10:03:00.001-07:00

Already done carving this one, just a tad late posting it.

Here I go again on my own . . . well not quite. I've started new pieces for my next show with help from some awesome people who are kind enough to model for me. These are of Tanya. Not real sure where my next show will be for these, don't know if San Antonio is tired of me yet, but when I find out I'll let everyone know.

Finished

2008-04-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here they are completed. I'm going to put them up in Ruta Maya tomorrow with a few others. Please come out Friday and see the show, it should be pretty good. I'm going to keep posting on this blog randomly with other pieces as I complete them, but I'll warn you now that I'm taking a long break after this, so you probably won't see anything new till mid summer. I want to thank everyone again for the support as I prepared for this show, I really couldn't have done it without you.

White Paint

2008-03-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

I've started to lay down the white primer latex onto the boards. It's a pretty big pain to get the paint into all the grooves, so it takes me a little over an hour to finish a board. If you notice some pink on the portraits, that is due to the stain that I applied to the boards earlier, and after sanding some still remains. I don't really worry about this because everything that has a pink tint to it now will be covered in black when I'm finished.

Marissa's on Board (Well, Not Really)

2008-03-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

I showed this to Marissa and she said "What Jackson sibling do I look like? Not Michael, not Janet." Good thing another customer was standing right there and picked up who it was immediately because I was seriously beginning to think of which picture I should carve of Marissa to replace this one. I'm painting the portraits now and hopefully will have them finished by the end of next week . . . hopefully.

Sanding and Sealing Backs

2008-03-12T15:15:00.001-07:00

These are a couple of pics of the portraits drying on my porch after I finished sanding and sealing the backs of the boards. I do my best to make the completed works as weatherproof as I can, though they are definitely not meant to stay outside when completed. The paint I apply to the portrait side of the boards does a really good job of sealing off what I have carved, but I like to take the time to apply a clear coat finish to the backs of the boards just to keep out any moisture that may get to the portrait.

They Just Don't Make Them Like They Used To . . .

2008-03-04T18:59:00.001-08:00

. . . Or they might, I don't really know.I started out with just two routers (pretend that the third one in the picture isn't there). My main router that I've had for years and to the right (middle), my newer back-up.
Then my first and oldest died on me. This actually really sucked because this router was really powerful and handled long periods of carving without a hiccup . . . well, almost without a hiccup. So now I had to use my back-up router. This one over-heated regularly and had about 5,000 less rpm when on full speed, so using it set me back.
Of course my back-up router burned up (yep, it literally caught on fire), which wasn't a real surprise but more of a tragedy since I was about 15 minutes away from totally completing my last portrait in the series. Very lucky for me it ended up being my birthday on Saturday so I had some money my parents gave me as a gift (thanks Mom, thanks Dad) so I could go to Lowes and get the third router you're looking at now. It operates a little better than my original back-up router but not by much, nevertheless I was able to finish carving today. Finished! Wow, it really feels good to type that. Now all I have ahead of me is sanding and painting, which is a lot of work but no where near as tedious.

Ok, I'm A Liar. Here's Some More.

2008-02-25T10:25:00.001-08:00

When I first started posting I said that I wouldn't show the carvings painted and finished, well I lied, kinda. In my process after I "finish" the carvings I like to stain them so I can make any changes before I paint them. So here's Yasmina's, Alex's and Rebecca's portraits stained and touched-up. I'm still working on Rochelle's carving and I might . . . MIGHT, add a seventh portrait, it really depends on my progress in the next week or so. I was outside all day yesterday (Sunday) carving and got some wicked blisters on my hands, so the progress I make this week will probably be minimal. I think I need to get some golfing or batting gloves to protect my hands while I'm carving, something without too much padding so I don't lose too much feel.

Rochelle To Board

2008-02-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm getting better at carving, drawing these on the boards still take quites a while. This is the last one, I think. I don't know if I'll decide to add another portrait to make it an overall count to seven. It really depends on if all of these turn out as well as I hoped once they're all completed. This week has flown bye for me, kinda wish I could get some of that time back. I would probably use the time to stare at a spot on the wall or do something else monotonous so I could really see where that retrieved time goes. Who am I kidding? I'd most likely use the time to have a beer and watch a repeat of Family Guy . . . mmmmm, beer.

Alex Carving Completed

2008-02-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

I'm very thankful for the weather we've been having and I'm doing my best to take advantage of it while it's still nice outside. Worked for a couple of hours today and finished up Alex's portrait for the most part. I've noticed it's been staying light outside about an hour longer than when I started, which is absolutely awesome since the only real time I get to work on the carvings is after 5pm. This blog is a big reason I'm working so well on this series, there's a lot of pressure to try and have a new post everyday, a good kind of pressure though. Another thing I'm doing is not cutting my hair until I'm completely done. "So it gets a little shaggy, so what?" you might say. But when my hair starts growing over my ears it annoys the hell out of me. I know it's still a pretty weird thing to do, but if I wasn't weird I wouldn't be so dedicated to my art.

Alex Beginning Carving

2008-02-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm really trying to keep my rhythm now. So because of that I skipped posting the "Alex Drawing on Board Post". I'm very happy to say that I've found the "zone" in the creation of the carvings. I literally space-out and find a very happy place (yes, much like Happy Gilmore) and I just go-with-the-flow. I did this in a little over 45 minutes, which would have been more like 4 hours three weeks ago, no joke. My goal is to have everything done by the end of March so I can have all of April to promote the show.

Marissa Carving Finished

2008-02-15T11:52:00.001-08:00

Really didn't think I would get this finished before the weekend. I really hope it turns out well once I paint it. If I hang a different carving of Marissa, you'll know how this one turned out. I'm going to be visiting friends in Austin this weekend so I probably won't have an update until Monday.

Marissa Beginning Carving

2008-02-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

I went home a little early because the weather was really beautiful and just sitting at my desk all day was killing me. I got in about an hour more for carving than I usually do on the weekdays. I'm using this portrait of Marissa because of the great expression on her face. My main challenge is getting her lips correct, because she's puckering and smiling at the same time. So my main focus is to make her look like she's smiling and not pouting, not something that I'm really used to dealing with when doing these large scale carvings. It'd be a lot easier if life had "Ctrl-Z" (actually Command-Z).

Marissa To Board

2008-02-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

The finish on this wood is a bit darker than the past three, so I'm thinking I might have to go over it again with a Sharpie so I won't lose the image once the carving starts and saw dust is all over the board. Hopefully it stays nice outside the rest of this week so I can knock this one out before the weekend, though I doubt I'll be able to.

Rebecca Carving Completed

2008-02-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ok with three done I'm now at the half way point to the finish line. It's like I'm at the Wednesday of my progress; not as cool as Friday but it's a heck of a lot better than Monday. Wait, tomorrow's Monday . . . crap.

Rebecca Carving Started

2008-02-09T22:29:00.001-08:00

I was able to start carving Rebecca's image yesterday. Hopefully tonight I'll get to start putting the remaining three portraits onto the boards.

Yasmina Carving Complete

2008-02-09T22:17:00.001-08:00

I finished Yasmina's carving a couple of days ago. Which also just happened to be the day when I found out just how allergic I am to saw dust. I took my mask off early not really thinking about how much saw dust kicks up when I air blast the board before I bring it inside. Let's just say that I experienced a migraine like never before and breathing becomes increasingly difficult each minute until I take some Benadryl and Ibuprofen.

Rochelle Beginning Sketch

2008-02-06T15:20:00.001-08:00

Ok I have six sketches actually done, now there is no excuse for me to not get all the carvings started. I appreciate all the support from everyone, it has really motivated me beyond anything that I had originally foresaw. The anticipation of May for me now is like when I waited for Christmas as a child, a little over whelming but over all exciting.

A Very Cold Morning

2008-02-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

This is pretty much what you would've seen if you came into my backyard yesterday morning. I think my neighbor still has no idea what I'm really doing when I'm back there, or that I'm smiling when I wave to her. The other day the DHL guy came back there to give me a package but wouldn't get close enough to actually hand it over to me. He just placed it on the ground and backed away. Probably didn't help that I was holding a giant buzz-saw while looking like this.

Alex Beginning Sketch

2008-02-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a sketch of Alex, I forgot to take any progress shots . . . all I can say is that yesterday was a really long day and my brain wasn't really firing on all cylinders. It's first Friday for February so that means I officially have only three months to get everything completed with only 1 and a half carvings done. I'm not panicking just yet. See me two weeks till the due date, then you'll see how I really handle stress.

Yasmina Beginning Carving

2008-01-30T17:24:00.001-08:00

It's hard for me to get any real carving done during the week since I only get about an hour of light outside after I get home from work, yes the ol' 9 to 5. So I've started Yasmina's carving but haven't really made too much progress on it yet. I think I'll start on Alex's sketch later tonight but probably won't finish it till tomorrow evening because it's been a long day and I'm sleepy.

Rebecca Sketches

2008-01-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

This was a great photo that I didn't think was right for the series but I still wanted to practice drawing it. I was hunched over my drawing table for over four hours trying to get this as close to the original picture as possible, I'm still not completely happy with what I have got.

Marissa Beginning Sketch

2008-01-28T20:08:00.001-08:00

I'm basically just doing the sketches for the fun of it now. I took probably 40 to 50 photos of Marissa to get a couple of good ones I could choose from. But in her defense she was actually working the whole time; so I basically , like a weirdo, stalked her around Ruta Maya for a good part of an hour hoping to catch a great candid shot. This is one of them. Thanks again Marissa.

Rebecca To Board

2008-01-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

Here's Rebecca's (please forgive me if I butchered the spelling) image drawn on a board. I got around 10 great photos from her in probably a little over 30 seconds. This is the one I think works the best for the vertical composition of the portrait. Knowing that this image stands well on it's own, I can't wait to get it with the others to see how it works in the series . . . well depending if I don't screw it up when I start to carve it, Knock-On-Wood, Ha! . . . Sorry, that was bad.

Yasmina To Board

2008-01-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

I know, it's not the same image of Yasmina as in the previous sketch. I decided to use this picture of Yasmina due to the positive reaction most people who work with her gave me upon seeing this photo. After looking it over, and then repeatedly switching back and forth between this photo and the first sketch I have to agree with everyone else. I'll hopefully start to carve it sometime this week, but probably not tomorrow since the weatherman is calling for rain using his telepathic weather predicting super-powers.

Oisin Carving Done

2008-01-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a creepy close-up:
Wow, ok. After just 7 hours of carving I actually have finished Oisin's image. To say that I wasn't nervous as hell and didn't tip-toe around the carving for fear that I would slip and accidentally make Oisin a cyclops would make me a big fat liar. Just to let you know, I'm not going to post any of the finished portraits (all painted and sexy) just because I want all of them to be viewed together as a whole. One down five to go.

Oisin To Board

2008-01-24T22:12:00.001-08:00

Instead of doing another sketch I decided to start preparing the boards for carving. One board usually takes me about 2-3 hours to get the image on to where I like it, but this one only took me about an hour and a half since I did the sketch first as a warm up the night before. I'll start carving Oisin's image on Saturday if the weather is decent.

Oisin Beginning Sketch

2008-01-23T20:40:00.001-08:00

More than just practice, these sketches are a way for me to kill time until the weather gets a little bit better so I can start carving. I actually considered to start carving despite of the weather but the high humidity reaps havoc on the wood and can make it twice as hard to carve, and that's more money out of my pocket for replacing router bits. So for now I will continue to sketch. This is Oisin.

Yasmina Beginning Sketch

2008-01-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to actually do some normal sketches for these carvings. Usually I just do a simple outline right on the wood and then start carving while using the original picture as a visual reference, a little risky but fun. I figured that completely drawing out the portrait first wouldn't hurt for practice for this series. My real fear is that the references used for these portraits are people who actually live in SA and work at Ruta Maya, so if the portraits don't somewhat resemble the models I look like an ass. This one is of Yasmina.