I hope you might enjoy a walk along the paths of an artist's mind, while designing a theme piece of art.



Here's how I approached my decisions regarding the artwork on the Yukon Orion 62:

The topic is the Mythological Character ... "Orion". Or ... "Orion the Hunter". Orion is one of the constellations seen in the night sky. Civilizations have looked at the patterns of bright stars, and attributed patterns to them. A person, a creature. Brilliant stars make up the extreme points of a design - or strong points within a given character.

For a character from the Classic Heroic Period of Art History ... I'm certainly going to see how other artists, through the ages, have protrayed Orion. I found a universal strong figure. He had classic features often seen on Greek, Roman, and Renaissance statues. The Hunter was depicted with a variety of weapons - most often a large knife. He was often depicted with a freshly killed Lion Skin draped over his arm.

And so ... I absorbed this input ... and then let my mind do it's work. It does this best if I stay out of it's way. I began to draw and to think.

I never copy work. I don't even copy MY OWN work. I have too many fresh ideas to revisit previous ones. I began to draw a strong classic character. (Hard to do while looking in a mirror ... hahahha. But I kept at it.



I knew I wanted my character to be armed with a long dagger and shield. They signify classic strength and action. I wasn't drawn to the fresh kill lion skin drape. I decided to choose a moment in time ... BEFORE the normally protrayed image. I wanted my character to be expressing action - and not posing like a statue. While researching - I learned that the "Orion Nebula" was part of the constellation of Orion. As you know - a Nebula is a vast cluster of stars. I imagined a man going up against a Lion ... and a thought began to form.

If you recall - I mentioned in my earlier post ... that I had drawn a "stylized Orion Nebula" out in front of my character. I drew it as a swirling expanding pattern ... but kept to the vines and scrolls which previously ornamented the rifle - and which make up classic design elements.



I now have the character, the Nebula, and the Pistol grip carved to about 75%. If you would care to think about a man going up against a lion, he would be a bit short of tools with ONLY a dagger and shield. BUT!!!! What if he were to "Fling a Nebula of Stars" over the fierce lion - in the manner of a Gladiator's Net! The Lion would entangle itself and Orion the Hunter would definitely change the balance of power.



And so - my character is shown in the act of tossing out the Nebula Net .... to ensnare the Lion.



And, you will note subtle STARS dispersed throughout my scroll Nebula.



Note the variety of designs I carved to depict near and distant stars.

Such has been the flow of thought. I've sought to bring action to a moment in time and portray a Classic figure in my own way - yet tie it in with the traditional methods of ornamenting a fine rifle. I hope you enjoy seeing it progress. There is always something missing until it's complete. It's in the mind of the artist to bring it all together, and make the light come on at the end.

Thanks for reading.
Gary

Gary,

Nice. It's a real pleasure to walk around in the gallery.

I'm happy to appreciate your work while you're around.

Lon

Thank you Lon, sincerely.

Very nice. Makes a regular old boring panel of checkering look pretty ho-hum, don't it?

You have captured it Expertly and Beautifully. That is Fantabulous. You could do and art carving exhibition in NYC or anywhere. I'd pay to come see it all.

Rick

Hi Gary,

Wow! I’m impressed. When I saw the Orion sketch, I never thought that it was going to be so detailed and exact once the carving was finished. You never stop to amaze us with your work.
I’m glad that you are finally working on a Barnes gun at your new shop. Good for you!!!

Julio

Thank you Julio,

I am glad you are pleased, my good friend. It is pleasing that you expressed your surprise at the "detail" early this morning. The image you saw was actually before I began adding the small detail!

Gary

Beautiful artwork and story to bring it together. Truely a masterpiece. Sure am glad you didn't stay stuck on knives as a canvas, we would miss all these larger pieces or have to squint to see the detail.

I don't think this Orion will be undergunned with a Yukon 62!

Great to be invited to hear and watch the on going saga.

Kent

Gary,
The carving looks great! I'm glad your starting to get back to the real work.
We greatly anticipate enjoying many more years of your wonderful creativity, now that you have moved to a better climate.
Congratulations on the progress.

Thank you Scott!
I appreciate the comments.
I have ideas choking me. Can't wait until I can be in the shop with my mind at ease and free to work. It's been much like trying to sing while being stung by a swarm of bees.
Hey ... I like getting a new toy occasionally too. I have a DeWalt 20volt lithium ion Impact driver kit on the way via Amazon! Yeah. That will be really useful and seems like a wonderful tool I don't have. Indy literally have a dozen cordless drills. But most of the batteries are tired and decoys I shift all day. One new battery is $39. For $59 you get TWO batteries AND another drill AND a charger AND a canvas carry bag AND a tool kit. Absurd. So any reasonable person gets the kit and tosses the brand new drill on the heap if drills he already has. They have gotten their $59 but its hard to believe their profit margin on the kit works out. Some hot shot probably figured an algorithm which deteines tat once a person has 23 drills, they WILL just start buying batteries alone at the outrageous price. . I hate modern society. Did I say that outloud? .
Thanks Scott. I appreciate it.
Gary

Attacked by the iPhone spell check demon once again .....

It seems like they are giving the cordless tools without profit and then they get you when you buy the extra batteries.

I've had pretty good luck with Makita cordless drills, I literally wore the first one out but it took about four house remodels to do it. The one I have now is the new-ish 18v Makita LXT lithium-ion series. I've got a couple of their cordless driver drills (wife got one as a surprise when I'd already ordered one for myself) and for a wonder they actually take the same batteries, which you can get in two capacities. I've also got a Makita cordless vacuum that takes the same batteries, which is very handy and has turned out to work surprisingly well. I'm thinking of getting other "bare" tools that take the same batteries, probably starting with the jigsaw.

That's when they'll drop the line, of course.

Yes - Makita makes great tools. No doubt.

The cordless are very handy for many, many things. They usually don't have anywhere near the spunk of any corded tool. But the cords will wind you up in a knot every time. Air hoses and electric cords - the bane of any shop! haha

Supposed to get the impact/driver tomorrow. If I survive the back injections - it will be a nice treat.

Gary